Adventure is at the heart of why we ride – and, although we didn't know it at the time, why we started cycling in the first place.
Our adventures today may be more ambitious than those first pedal strokes, but cycling has the innate ability to broaden horizons.
From stress-relieving weekend getaways to the bike rides you've spent countless hours dreaming of, small thrills to discovering the world – at home and beyond – 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 favorite stories from our writers over the past week.
It's time to embrace the adventurer in you. Here are seven must-see features from Adventure Week on BikeRadar.
1) Katherine Moore's bikepacking adventure in Sri Lanka
For the last piece of our Horse for the course series, in which our writers compete themselves and their bikes in a driving challenge, Catherine Moore I traveled to Sri Lanka for a week-long coast-to-coast cycling trip.
Could Katherine's Ribble CGR withstand the potholed roads and mountain climbs of Sri Lanka?
For Katherine, it was the adventure of a lifetime.
2) It’s all about the bike
Sometimes an adventure begins with a moment of inspiration – an unfamiliar road or trail on a map, or a spark from the escapades of others. Sometimes, though, it all starts with a bike – and the adventures that follow.
Deputy editor of BikeRadar, Jack Lucis ready for a year of adventure, after having his dream dirt bike built earlier this year.
Jack describes “Brown Bike,” as it’s called, as his “vision of the perfect road bike for overnight, multi-surface trips, chasing the horizon and chasing adventure.”
In this article, Jack tells us why Brown Bike will be his adventure vehicle in 2024.
3) Understand the FKT phenomenon
FKTs – or Fastest Known Times – have become the latest trend in ultracycling. 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-contained, multi-terrain adventure.
Molly Weaver is the caretaker of Fastest known times in the UKholder of eight UK FKTs and your guide to understanding exactly what FKTs are.
You can also listen to the BikeRadar Podcast To find out more about FKT – go to Apple Podcasts Or Spotify to listen.
4) Celebrate female ultra-endurance cyclists
Fiona Kolbinger made headlines in 2019 when she won the 4000km transcontinental race, becoming the first female winner of one of cycling's toughest ultra-endurance races.
Most of the best ultra-endurance runners are women – and the tide seems to be turning in women's favor as hours turn into days, then weeks.
In our last Long readingBikeRadar's Jack Evans investigates the science and talks to two leading ultra cyclists, Lael Wilcox and Jenny Graham, to find out.
5) Bikepacking lessons from Cuba
Senior videographer at BikeRadar, Robyn Furtado, is no stranger to adventure. His long-term test bike, the Probing Caminotook her from the West Highland Way in Scotland to the Julian Alps in Slovenia, and last year she tackled her first ultra racethe Bright Midnight, a 1,000 km gravel event in northern Norway.
Robyn's latest trip took her to Cuba with her sister, for a Christmas cycling trip that offered a mix of the planned and the unplanned, the prepared and the spontaneous.
What better recipe for a real adventure? In one of our favorite Adventure Week features, Robyn shared six lessons she learned in Cuba.
6) Plan your own pilgrimage
Pilgrimages have been a place of adventure for millennia.
Perhaps the most famous cycling pilgrimage is the Camino de Santiago, the network of ancient pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela in western Spain, but there are many others.
Rob Ainsley is your guide for 10 cycling pilgrimages, from the Via Francigena to the Chemin de Saint-Columba.
7) It can all start from your front door
Markus Stitz is a man who knows a thing or two about adventure, having circumnavigated the world on a single-speed mountain bike in 2016.
But Markus is as passionate about local exploits – and enabling others to embark on their own adventures – as he is about 34,000km epics around the world.
To close out the week, BikeRadar's guest columnist shared his adventure philosophy and why biking adventures should be open to everyone, right from their front door.
