'End to End' has an appealing simplicity: riding a country from one extreme to the other. Top to bottom. Alpha and omega. All-embracing, complete.
You do the place, in all its authenticity and reality. Not only the beautiful scenery and tourist honeypots, but cement factories and humdrum garrison towns too. (You don't want too much of those, obviously, though a little gives you bragging rights as traveller-not-tourist.) Encountering the people, the places, the history. Interacting from the saddle in a reciprocal, positive way, impossible by any other form of locomotion.
You want a clear narrative: a strong sense of beginning, middle and end. Islands are promising for that reason. You want totality: the feeling you've at least glimpsed something of everything. Linear countries help with that. And you want a pleasant, practicable, affordable journey: most of us have finite holiday, and limited appetite for subsistence wild-camping.
All of which rules out some places too inconveniently shaped, crazily-driver, big or expensive, however Instagrammable. So, goodbye Iceland, Italy, Australia, USA, Japan, Antarctica, etc. I'm also discounting sabbatical-sized projects such as Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, or Tarifa to Nordkapp. And, conversely, weekendable drollery like the Isle of Man or Luxembourg. There are no definitive routes and we haven't included them all here. Yours should fit around your own requirements.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 2023 من Cycling Plus UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 2023 من Cycling Plus UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Air Apparent - Pollution hasn't gone away. It's still there in every lungful, even if we can't see it in the air or on the news. But there are reasons to breathe easier, thanks to pioneering projects using cycling 'citizen scientists'. Rob Ainsley took part in one...
The toxic effects of pollution have been known about for years. 'Just two things of which you must beware: Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air!' sang 1960s satirist Tom Lehrer.Over recent decades, though, pollution has dropped down our list of things to worry about, thanks to ominously capitalised concerns such as Climate Change, AI, Global Conflict, Species Collapse, etc. That doesn't, unfortunately, mean the problem has expired. Air quality often exceeds safe limits, with far-reaching and crippling effects on our health.
No limits
Not every adventure needs to be that epic, says bikepacking Scotland founder Markus Stitz
UNBOUND UNLEASHED
Josh Patterson was one of 34 starters for the inaugural edition of Unbound in 2006. Now, with more than 5,000 riders taking part in today's event, he charts the rise of the most important race in gravel
FOREST COMMISSION
Looking for a goal race in 2025 that'll stimulate the synapses and live long in the memory? You'd struggle to do better than ENID CRV in Finland
15 OF THE BEST ADVENTURES
Featuring Yorkshire, the USA, Sri Lanka and more, here are our picks of the world's greatest gravel races and routes
The stuff of dreams
Ned sings the praises of the Paris Olympics road-race course
"I rode 3,000 miles around Britain on a bamboo bike to highlight our climate crisis"
Recordbreaking cyclist and triathlete Kate Strong, 45, took to the road to raise awareness of environmental issues
FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE
We venture into the hidden gem of the glorious Creuse, one of France's least populated regions
STAR TREK
New tube shapes and carbon lay-up makes the eighth generation of Trek's legendary Madone an aero and climbing bike all rolled into one
GOLD RUSH
With conflict around the world, Paris 2024 was a ray of light. Here are our highs of a mighty Olympics
