Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, such as air or coil-sprung shocks used as suspension, larger and wider wheels and tires, stronger frame materials, and mechanically or hydraulically actuated disc brakes. Mountain biking can generally be broken down into distinct categories: cross country, trail, all mountain, enduro, downhill and freeride.
Adventure Cycling Association is a nonprofit member organization focused on travel by bicycle. Headquartered in Missoula, Montana, Adventure Cycling develops cycling routes, publishes maps, provides guided trips, and advocates for better and safer cycling in the U.S. The organization grew from a mass cross-country bicycle ride in 1976 to celebrate the U.S. Bicentennial. Adventure Cycling also publishes a magazine, Adventure Cyclist.
Nicholas Mark Sanders is a British bicyclist, motorcyclist and author noted for his long-distance riding and has ridden around the world seven times.
Bikecentennial '76 was an event consisting of a series of bicycle tours on the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail across the United States in the summer of 1976 in commemoration of the bicentennial of America's Declaration of Independence. The route crossed ten states, 22 national forests, two national parks, and 112 counties between Astoria, Oregon, and Yorktown, Virginia, a distance of about 4,250 miles (6,840 km). The route was chosen to take cyclists through small towns on mostly rural, low-traffic roads.
Rapha Performance Roadwear is a cycling lifestyle brand focused on road bicycle racing and mountain biking clothing and accessories. Rapha has its headquarters in London and a United States office in Bentonville, Arkansas.
The fastest known time (FKT) for circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle is awarded for completing a continuous journey around the globe by bicycle and other means, consisting of a minimum 29,000 km in total distance cycled.
The Tour Divide is an annual mountain biking ride traversing the length of the Rocky Mountains, from Canada to the Mexican border. Following the 2,745-mile (4,418 km) Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, it is an ultra-distance cycling ride that is an extreme test of endurance, self-reliance and mental toughness. The ride format is strictly self-supported, and it is not a stage race - the clock runs continuously from the start until riders cross the finish line, usually more than two weeks later.
A fatbike is an off-road bicycle built to accommodate oversized tyres, typically 3.8 in (97 mm) or larger and rims 2.16 in (55 mm) or wider, designed for low ground pressure to allow riding on soft, unstable terrain, such as snow, sand, bogs and mud. Fatbikes are built around frames with wide forks and stays to accommodate the space required to fit these wide rims and tires. The wide tires can be used with inflation pressures as low as 34 kPa; 0.34 bar (5 psi) to allow for a smooth ride over rough obstacles. A rating of 55–69 kPa; 0.55–0.69 bar (8–10 psi) is suitable for most riders. Fatbikes were developed for use in snow or sand, but are capable of traversing diverse terrain types including snow, sand, desert, bogs, mud, pavement, or traditional mountain biking trails.
Juliana Buhring is a British-German ultra-endurance cyclist and writer. In December 2012, she set the first Guinness World Record as the fastest woman to circumnavigate the globe by bike, riding over 29,000 kilometres (18,000 mi) in a total time of 152 days.
Bikepacking is how a bicycle is packed for bicycle touring. As with backpacking, lightweight packing is a popular topic within bicycle packing. Any kind of bicycle can be used for bikepacking, and specialized touring bicycles often have attachment points from the factory such as low riders and luggage carriers, but most types of bicycles can be equipped with a frame bag, saddle bag, top tube bag and handlebar bag.
The Transcontinental Race (TCR) is an annual, self-supported, ultra-distance cycling race across Europe. It is one of the world's toughest ultra-endurance races. The route and distance varies for each edition between about 3,200 and 4,200 km, with the winners generally taking 7 to 10 days. Interest in the race grew rapidly from 30 people starting the first edition of the race in 2013 to over 1,000 people applying for a place in the fourth edition in 2016, 350 of whom were successful; since then, these numbers have been reasonably stable.
Michael Richard Hall was a British cyclist and race organiser who specialised in self-supported ultra-distance cycling races. In 2012, he won the inaugural World Cycle Race. In 2013 and 2016, he won the Tour Divide ultra-endurance mountain bike race across the Rocky Mountains in Canada and the United States. In 2014, he won the inaugural Trans Am Bike Race, a road-based event from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast in the United States. From 2013, he was the principal organiser of the Transcontinental Race, an event similar to the TransAm Bicycle Race, but that traverses Europe. Michael Hall was also featured in the cycling film Inspired to Ride a film directed by Mike Dion.
The Trans Am Bike Race (TABR) is an annual, self-supported, ultra-distance cycling race across the United States. The route is about 4,200 miles (6,800 km) long and uses the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail that was developed by the Adventure Cycling Association for the Bikecentennial event in 1976. The route runs from the Pacific coast in Astoria, Oregon to the Atlantic coast in Yorktown, Virginia, passing through ten states. The inaugural race was in 2014, which 25 people completed, the fastest of whom took less than 18 days.
The definition of ultra-distance cycling is far more vague than in ultra running or in ultra-triathlon. Any bike race or ride longer than a century ride, which is 100 miles (160 km), is sometimes considered to be ultra-distance cycling. However, such events are relatively common, so using a longer distance to define the category is more useful, such as any race or ride that is longer than 200 kilometres (120 mi), 300 kilometres (190 mi) or even a double century, 200 miles (320 km).
Hemistour was a bicycle tour from Anchorage, Alaska, to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, completed in part by Dan and Lys Burden and in full by Greg and June Siple from 1972 to 1975. Twenty-nine other cyclists joined the Burdens and Siples for parts of the trip, which totaled 18,272 miles (29,405.9 km).
Rebecca Rusch is an American endurance professional athlete, seven-time World Champion, author, entrepreneur, Emmy Award winner, and motivational speaker. Rusch's career has spanned adventure sports including rock climbing, adventure racing, whitewater rafting, cross-country skiing and mountain biking.
Steffen Streich is a German ultra-endurance bicycle racer living in Greece, who won the 2015 "Trans Africa Bicycle Race".
Jenny Graham is a Scottish endurance cyclist. In 2018 she became the fastest woman to cycle around the world unsupported. This record was broken by Lael Wilcox in 2024.
Unbound Gravel, formerly known as the Dirty Kanza, is an event comprising gravel racing covering various distances held annually during the late spring on rural roads in the Flint Hills region of the Great Plains around Emporia, Kansas, United States. The race's organizers refer to the 200 miles (320 km) race as the "World's Premiere Gravel Grinder", and ranked as one of the top gravel bike races.
Gravel cycling, gravel biking or gravel grinding is a sport or a leisure activity, in which participants ride bicycles, mostly on gravel roads. Sometimes, specially designed gravel bikes are used; in other cases, any bicycle capable of covering the terrain can be used.
