This article first appeared in the May 2022 issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine.
For more information and to submit to next year’s photo contest, click here.
As if anyone who reads Adventure Cyclist needs inspiration, myself included, the annual Photo Contest issue each May strikes in me an almost uncontrollable, wild fervor to get outside as quickly as possible and turn my legs in rhythmic circles up whatever path will have me. Between the longer days, warmer temperatures, and these images, it’s good inspiration to finish my work and get out of the office. This year’s collection certainly keeps that spirit alive. From cloud forests to bucket showers to road snacks, I crave it all. As restrictions begin to loosen on travel bans this summer, I hope these images also strike some wild spark in you as well, whether that fire burns close to home or in the wildest, most remote stretches of our beautiful earth. –Carolyne Whelan
Adventure Cycling Route Network
Winner: Early Start to Push through the Great Basin
We decided to try to avoid the main heat of the day through the Great Basin with mixed success.
Asa Rogers
Honorable Mention: Lunch in the Middle of Kansas!
Our group of five women stopped for a snack on a quiet road in eastern Kansas on part of the TransAmerica route.
Grace Turner
Epic
Winner: Descending on the Strada dell’Assietta
A truly spectacular section of the Torino-Nice Rally, and one of the most beautiful roads I’ve ever cycled.
Jonathan Kambskard-Bennett
Honorable Mention: Early Morning Light in Molesworth Station, Central South Island, New Zealand
The Molesworth Road is a gravel route in South Island, New Zealand, following the path of the main electricity line down through the central high country of the island. The early morning light provides an interesting juxtaposition of the shining pylons with the browns of the tussock grass.
John O’Malley
People/Portraits
Winner: La Ruta Loca — Vines, Mud, Mist, and a Puma
High up in Costa Rica’s Cordillera de Talamanca mountain range, my cousin Ronald and I dragged our loaded bikes through dense tropical cloud forest. Route planning had not prepared us for such an overgrown path.
Paulo LaBerge
Honorable Mention: Strangers Who Became Friends
Group photo near the end of our journey together.
Neal Farrar
Around Camp
Winner: Bucket Shower in Uganda
Getting rid of the daily dust with a traditional bucket shower. Or, how to learn to live with what life brings.
Clotaire Mandel
Honorable Mention: The Hideout
Cycling in Slovenia was quite a wet experience for us. Day in, day out, we’d wake up to a wet tent or unable to dry our clothes! One lucky afternoon, as we were cycling up a pass on a quiet gravel road, we came across this little refuge. The door was locked, but the little canopy sheltered us for 24 hours as we waited for the rain to go by. Our home-for-a-day allowed us to dry our gear, cook some lovely meals, and shelter us as we ran through a marathon of movies.
Belén Castelló
Mobile
Winner: A Monumental Marker
A monumental marker on my journey from DC to Portland this summer, passing through the “Gateway to the West.” After spending all day riding headwinds through Illinois, I passed into Missouri and grabbed this photo at 1:00 in the morning under the arch.
Jess Hinkle
Honorable Mention: A Clip of a Wonderful Trip
First trip after the pandemic, cycling through Costa Rica, November 2021.
