Motor racing-Bottas revels in 420km cycle ride through snake-infested Malaysian jungle

Valtteri Bottas took an unconventional route to Singapore for this weekend's Formula One Grand ​Prix, with the Cadillac driver pedalling 420 km from Malaysia's Sepang ​while dodging cobras and pythons on what he described ‌as ​an "epic" jungle adventure. An avid cyclist, Bottas arrived in time for Thursday's media commitments at the Marina Bay Circuit after spending days traversing rural roads and dirt tracks on two wheels rather than taking the short flight.

Fans ‌followed his journey on social media, with the Finn getting route-planning help from Malaysian gravel cyclists, while a support vehicle was never far away. "I saw some snakes, which I was a little bit worried about, but actually they were pretty chill. They were just doing their thing," Bottas told reporters.

"I saw one cobra, ‌I saw one python just crossing the path in front of me. I saw some of those big lizards... One was on the path, ‌I had to jump over it with my bike because I saw it last minute." The 37-year-old said he got stuck behind a group of cows at one point and was even chased by a dog. He also rode after dark to beat the heat.

"What was wild was the riding at night in the jungle. The noise in there... your mind starts to ⁠play games, ​like what is out there?" Bottas added. "But ⁠then you just need to crack on and keep going. Riding with your lights at night, that was probably the most epic part... Normally a couple of hours at the end ⁠of the day in the dark, but I always started at around 2 pm.

"The first two hours were actually always the hardest, but then it starts to cool ​down a bit, then a little bit in the night as well." Bottas said much of the journey was off-road, with locals cheering him ⁠on after news of his cycling challenge went viral.

"Some bits were a little bit stressful, but then I would say probably the first evening when I first experienced the riding in the ⁠dark ​on a single track with the light, because I've never really done that before," he said. "So the first part was a bit stressful, but then I kind of got used to it. At least you know that in the wild there's nothing that is going to hunt you.

"I don't think ⁠there's any tigers or anything, so at least I hope. But I wasn't worried about those." Bottas said the bike trek helped him quickly put the ⁠disappointment of the race in Sepang behind ⁠him after a strategy gamble backfired and he spun his Cadillac into the gravel 10 laps in.

"During the ride, I had lots of time to think, which was mostly about this weekend," he added. "It's a sprint weekend, ‌which can be really an ‌opportunity for us. Hopefully, I can have a better weekend."