Female rider crosses Africa using an electric Cake – paultan.org

Riding solo across Africa from north to south, Sinje Gottwald, mounted on a Cake Kalk AP has set a record for longest unassisted solo ride on an electric motorcycle (e-bike). Starting her journey across the African continent in Spain in October 2022, Gottwald rode 13,000 km in 124 days, ending in South Africa in February 2023.

During her journey, Gottwald rode from Morocco to Gambia, then down the Ivory Coast, onwards through Ghana, transiting the challenging terrain of Mauritania and Senegal, famous as race locations in the iconic Paris-Dakar Rally. According to Gottwald, the Kalk AP performed flawlessly throughout save for a burn fuse that was easily fixed.

More surprisingly, Gottwald, who is Cake’s B2B Account Manager, did not suffer a single puncture along the way. Despite this, the Kalk AP e-bike, designed for short bursts of of fun riding, performed well beyond its design brief.

“Finding places to charge was the hardest part, in some areas it was extremely difficult, and I had to plan the day very thoroughly. Many times, I didn’t know if I would find a place to charge at all!” said Gottwald.

For the trans-continental trip, Gottwald carried two batteries, two chargers, spare parts including a controller, display, throttle, chain, and fuses, tools, a laptop in case the bike required a software update or remote support, a camera, and personal belongings. She added that maintenance on the Kalk AP was almost negligible, save lubricating and adjusting the chain.

Gottwald is a veteran motorcycle rider, first coming to public attention during her 2017 solo circumnavigation of the world as well as traveling overland from Europe to Asia, exploring Australia, traveling from South to North America overland, and from Morocco to Mali.

“With this adventure I not only wanted to open up my own and people’s views and ideas about this continent but also give an example of what is possible even if the challenges seem too big at first. We are capable of a lot more than we think,” Gottwald said.

Source: Read Full Article