Ali Makoutz won a Next Challenge Grant in 2022 to walk her kids to school, and then keep on going through the foothills of the Sierras. As a nurse and mother of four girls she doesn’t... Read more
Meandering down the banks of the Elbe on a sunny May morning, we were surrounded by cyclists of all tribes. Parents and children rode next to old men on novelty bikes. Lycra-clad women flew... Read more
A couple of weeks ago, I (Laura) gave a talk in Leeds as part of the Pedalling Ideas festival, an event which celebrated bike-based ideas. I was there to represent The Adventure Syndicate, a... Read more
At last year’s Cycle Touring Festival, we asked people: What is the best thing about cycle touring? Judging by the responses we received, as displayed in the image above, most c... Read more
At 9pm I sent Tim a text. Just leaving the office. No rack”. In less than twelve hours, I was supposed to be cycling to Amsterdam. I hadn’t planned a route and hadn’t packe... Read more
***UPDATE: You can now join our Strava group to log your miles here*** Have you resolved to get fit this year? Have you started January determined to lose weight, tone up and feel hea... Read more
The kid leaned over, gave me a hug and told me he liked me. ‘You should never leave’. Before you suspect a scandal at Next Challenge HQ, my new friend was ten. His ardour was no... Read more
Christmas is coming and it’s time to drain the bank account in pursuit of the annual present binge. If you have an adventurer type in your life, we have compiled a list of niche kit th... Read more
We both have a deep and abiding love of desert regions. There’s something about the harshness, the solitude, the quiet and the feeling of being in an endless, timeless land. They seem... Read more
We recently wrote about some things we’ve missed about home since we’ve been away. The first comment we received was from Dorothee Fleck, veteran long distance cyclist, who warne... Read more
We’ve now been away for well over a year. Life on the road is generally pretty sweet and we love the freedom from responsibility it affords. However, there are one or two things we... Read more
There are rocks in New Zealand which are just a few years old. By the time you read this, there might even be some which are just a few hours’ old, should one of the country’s ma... Read more
