Adventure is at the heart of why we ride – and, even if we didn’t know it at the time, why we started turning the pedals in the first place.
Our adventures today may be more ambitious than those first few pedal strokes, but cycling has the innate ability to expand horizons.
From stress-relieving weekend escapes to bikepacking rides you’ve spent countless hours daydreaming about, little beats discovering the world – at home and further afield – on two wheels.
Last week, we celebrated all things adventure on BikeRadar with seven days of wanderlust. Now, we’re going to look back at some of our favourite stories from our writers over the past week.
It’s time to embrace your inner adventurer. Here are seven must-read features from Adventure Week on BikeRadar.
1) Katherine Moore’s Sri Lankan bikepacking adventure
For the latest piece in our Horse for the Course series, in which our writers pit themselves and their bike against a riding challenge, Katherine Moore headed to Sri Lanka for a week-long, coast-to-coast bikepacking trip.
Could Katherine’s Ribble CGR stand up to Sri Lanka’s broken roads and mountain climbs?
For Katherine, it was the adventure of a lifetime.
2) It’s all about the bike
Sometimes, an adventure starts with a moment of inspiration – an unknown road or trail on a map, or a spark from the escapades of others. Sometimes, though, it starts with a bike – and the adventures that follow.
BikeRadar’s deputy editor, Jack Luke, is ready for a year of adventure, having had his dream all-road bike built earlier this year.
Jack describes ‘Brown Bike’, as it’s dubbed, as his “vision of the perfect horizon-chasing multi-surface slaying adventurous overnight-trip specific road bike”.
In this piece, Jack tells us why Brown Bike will be his vehicle for adventure in 2024.
3) Understanding the FKT phenomenon
FKTs – or Fastest Known Times – have become ultra-cycling’s latest trend. An unofficial log of, you guessed it, the fastest known time on a given route.
It’s a phenomenon that combines remarkable feats of endurance, with a simplistic philosophy of self-supported, multi-terrain adventure.
Molly Weaver is the custodian of Fastest Known Times UK, the holder of eight UK FKTs and your guide in understanding exactly what FKTs are.
You can also listen to the BikeRadar Podcast to hear more about FKTs – head to Apple Podcasts or Spotify to tune in.
4) Celebrating female ultra-endurance cyclists
Fiona Kolbinger made headlines in 2019 by winning the 4,000km Transcontinental Race, becoming the first female victor in one of the hardest ultra-endurance races in cycling.
Many of the best ultra-endurance riders are women – and the tables appear to turn in favour of women as hours turn into days and then weeks.
In our latest Long Read, BikeRadar’s Jack Evans investigates the science and speaks to two leading ultra cyclists, Lael Wilcox and Jenny Graham, to find out.
5) Bikepacking lessons from Cuba
BikeRadar’s senior videographer, Robyn Furtado, is no stranger to adventure. Her long-term test bike, the Sonder Camino, has taken her from Scotland’s West Highland Way to Slovenia’s Julian Alps, and last year she tackled her first ultra race, the Bright Midnight, a 1,000km gravel event in the north of Norway.
Robyn’s latest trip took her to Cuba with her sister, for a Christmas bikepacking trip that provided a concoction of the planned and unplanned, the prepared and the spontaneous.
What better recipe for a true adventure? In one of our favourite features from Adventure Week, Robyn shared six lessons she learned in Cuba.
6) Plan your own pilgrimage
Pilgrimages have, for millennia, provided a backdrop for adventure.
The most famous bike pilgrimage may be the Camino de Santiago, the network of ancient pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela in western Spain, but there are plenty more besides.
Rob Ainsley is your guide to 10 pilgrimages to make by bike, from the Via Francigena to St Columba's Way.
- Read more: 10 pilgrimages to make by bike
7) It can all start from your front door
Markus Stitz is a man who knows a thing or two about adventure, having ridden a singlespeed mountain bike around the world in 2016.
But Markus is as passionate about home-grown exploits – and enabling others to embark on adventures of their own – as he is about 34,000km epics circumnavigating the globe.
To close out the week, BikeRadar’s guest columnist shared his philosophy for adventure, and why adventures by bike should be open to everyone, straight from their front door.
