Bike
Bike
10 adventures from around the world that show a universal love for biking
Join everyone from Courage Adams and Danny MacAskill to Rebecca Rusch and Brook Macdonald as they take on adventures around the world to explore what biking means to them.
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The bicycle is pretty much a universal item that you'll see in nearly every country in the world. Someone will always be riding a bike, whether simply as a mode of transport or those who use the two wheels for sporting purposes. The Cycling Around the World series gives athletes and individuals the chance to showcase the best their own countries and destinations have to offer in terms of riding, bike culture and beautiful terrain. In some cases, they'll even unearth personal stories that have meaning to them.
Here's the very best from the series with 10 destinations around the world featured.
01
Danny MacAskill – Edinburgh, Scotland
6 min
Wee day out
Danny MacAskill tears around rural Scotland, setting out to capture the simple fun of a ride in the country.
A day in the Scottish countryside means something different for mountain bike trials superstar Danny MacAskill as he explores the rural landscape near the capital of Edinburgh. As you would imagine this is no leisurely jaunt in the countryside given the nature of the trials tricks and stunts that MacAskill has been able to perform in edits such as Imaginate, Way Back Home and Postcard from San Francisco.
The rugged terrain and rolling hills of Scotland see MacAskill encounter hay bales, felled trees, and the odd puddle of rainwater. And, as ever, he finds inventive ways to tackle or get over them.
02
Brook Macdonald – Motueka, New Zealand
There was only one thing on the mind of mountain bike downhill pro Brook Macdonald following his recovery from a serious spinal injury back in 2019, and that was to see if he could stand up to the rigours of racing gnarly downhill tracks across the world at the Mercedes-Benz Mountain Bike World Cup. Macdonald imagined designing a dream track that would test his limits and remove those doubts.
Working alongside fellow mountain bike pro and track designer Remy Morton, this dream track became a reality in his native New Zealand and a course build was constructed at Woodstock Farm in Motueka on New Zealand's South Island. At 1.8km in length, with 440m of descending, Macdonald's Dream Track is one thrilling ride – a hardcore combination of high-speed, big jumps and technical sections that Macdonald ripped to pieces.
03
Khothalang Leuta – Roma, Lesotho
6 min
The fastest girl in the village
Khothalang Leuta discovers the joys of riding from the pump track in her hometown of Roma in Lesotho.
Out of Africa, and in Lesotho – a landlocked kingdom encircled by South Africa – comes the inspiring story of Khothalang Leuta, a girl breaking expectations by simply riding a bike. When a pump track was built in Roma in 2017, Leuta became so entranced by the track and knew she had to ride it. Not only did she ride it but she also began to record times that were faster than the boys. Her experiences led her to mentor youngsters coming to ride there.
Having won the national pump track championships in 2019, Leuta went on to represent Lesotho at the 2021 Red Bull Pump Track World Championship Finals in Lisbon, Portugal. She's now a positive role model for the young women of Lesotho, proving that they can achieve whatever they want to in life.
04
Payson McElveen – Akureyri to Vic, Iceland
13 min
Crossing Iceland with Payson McElveen
American Payson McElveen aims to be the first person to cycle across Iceland coast-to-coast in a single day.
American cyclist Payson McElveen's pursuit of adventure has taken him to some interesting places around the world, some were for pure pleasure, others a test of his own spirit and abilities as a bike rider. In 2021, McElveen made a FTK (Fastest Known Attempt) attempt to ride across Iceland, from Akureyri to Vic, covering 413km (257 miles) of the most rugged roads on earth in a single push. His ride, which lasted 19 hours and 45 minutes, were in freezing and rainy conditions and often on roads that were very rough to ride on.
05
Thomas Genon – Liège, Belgium
15 min
Riding mines in Belgium with Thomas Genon
Freeride mountain biker Thomas Genon carves his own lines in the same ground where his ancestors mined.
Belgian mountain bike freerider Thomas Genon dug deep into his family history in his 2022 edit Mine Line, returning to his home country for a project that brought him close to his past. Genon took his freeriding abilities to an abandoned coal mining location on the outskirts of his hometown of Liège, Belgium.
This was no standard location for Genon, it was deep with meaning – the coal mine is where his great-grandfather once worked. Mine Line continues his ancestor's story, with Genon digging, carving and shaping epic lines across a vast site to create a riding video that's full of heritage and meaning for himself and his family.
06
Courage Adams – Johannesburg, South Africa
5 min
Courage Adams in Soweto
BMX street rider Courage Adams creates an electrifying inner-city line through the eclectic streets of Soweto.
BMX athlete Courage Adams may be Spanish by nationality but he was born in Benin City, Nigeria. Africa is a place that remains close to his heart and Adams went back there in 2019 to reconnect with the country of his birth in the bike film Encouraged, where he took a look at the burgeoning BMX scene in and around the capital city of Lagos.
On a similar thread, Adams made another visit to the African continent in a bid to inspire. This time South Africa and the city of Johannesburg was his destination as he connected with grassroots riders there while also creating an electrifying inner-city line through the eclectic streets of the Soweto township.
07
Remy Morton – Gold Coast, Australia
17 min
Remy Morton: Seven Days and $7K
Can Australian MTB freerider Remy Morton build his ultimate line in seven days and with a AUD$7,000 budget?
Australian mountain bike freerider and former downhill pro Remy Morton is an all-around good egg that combines his riding career with a course-building business Flux Trail. As mentioned he was a designer and course builder of Brook Macdonald's Dream Track build in New Zealand shown above.
Back in 2021, Morton was given a challenge to build a trail back in Australia at the Boomerang Bike Park on the Gold Coast. Once completed the track would be given back to the biking community as a permanent trail at the bike park. All sounds good, except he only had a budget of AUD$7,000 budget to build this ultimate run and just seven days to complete the build.
08
Rebecca Rusch – Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
7 min
The power of bikes
Endurance athlete Rebecca Rusch and adventurer Patrick Sweeney cycled up and down Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
American ultra-endurance athlete, author and part-time firefighter Rebecca Rusch has built a reputation as being one of the toughest female bike riders out there. Her nickname of the 'Queen of Pain' is certainly well earned as this lady has competed in some of the hardest races in the world like the 350-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational, as well as embarking on numerous endurance adventures in places across the world.
One such adventure was a trip to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to ascend Africa's highest peak by bike alongside adventurer Patrick Sweeney. Though a personal journey, Rusch would be raising funds and awareness for the nonprofit organisation, World Bicycle Relief. There were a lot of unknowns on this adventure, the nature of the trail, the elevation and how she would cope, but they did ultimately reach the summit at 19,341 feet and rode back down again.
09
Tom Oehler – Dolomites, Italy
9 min
Taking on the Dolomites
Legendary trials rider Tom Oehler heads deep into the Italian Dolomites for a hair-raising ride.
Tom Oehler is a former trials competition rider of much acclaim. The Austrian is known for his inspiring performances including holding the bike high jump record of 3m from a standing start. In Taking on the Dolomites, Oehler takes trials riding to the high mountains of the Italian mountain range, navigating some very challenging, narrow and vertigo-inducing ridgeline trails on the way. Some situations call for caution and this is where two decades of trials riding skills come into play as he shifts his bike to get around some tricky spots.
10
Rim Nakamura – Nikko, Japan
12 min
BMX paradise at an abandoned village in Japan
BMX rider Rim Nakarama shows off his out-of-competition tricks at an abandoned village in Nikko, Japan.
Abandoned locations are the perfect place for bike athletes to perform as they are virtually a blank canvas in terms of what can be done on the terrain or the buildings/obstacles/street furniture available. In central Japan there is a famous theme park called Western Village in the city of Nikko that has long since been abandoned. However, it still retains most of its themed buildings, amusements and other theme park paraphernalia. It is in this setting that Japanese BMX star Rim Nakamura shows off his BMX freestyle skills performing a host of tricks and stunts in the park.
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