Have you got a bucket list of bike adventures? Simon Vincett compiled this haphazard collection of rides that have wheedled their way into his daydreams.
Like the best daydreams, these ride suggestions are not constrained by issues of access, logistics. 
Instead they are put forward for their promise of grand scenery, high adventure and fascinating encounters.
It’s a mixed bag of more than 50 relatively short and epic distances, in developed-world and remote locations, on events, tours and self-guided affairs, and in no particular order. They are split into regions and levels of fun, challenge and epic.
I haven’t done most of these – though I’m sure they’d be great adventures. What are your suggestions?
Africa
Fun
Cape Argus Cycle Tour
, South Africa
109km one-day road cycling event
Challenge
Seaside, desert and mountains to explore in this land of mystery, history and culture
Epic
Tour D’Afrique
, Cairo to Cape Town
Supported, four-month, 11,500km tour from top to bottom. The epic of all epics?
Americas
Fun
Going to the Sun Road, Montana, USA
Approximately 80km across Glacier National Park
Confederation Trail
, PEI Canada
A 435km rail trail from tip to tip of picturesque Prince Edward Island
Icefields Parkway, Canada
A 232km sealed highway from Banff to Jasper through the heart of the Canadian Rockies
Havana to Vinhales, Cuba
Eight days off the beaten track in the real Cuba
Challenge
Ottawa to Cape Breton Island, Canada
2,000km through the best eastern Canada
La Route Vert, Canada
5,300km of mapped cycle touring routes throughout Quebec
Epic
Iditarod, Alaska
1,600km self-supported fat bike (or dog-sled) race across the Alaskan snowplain
Patagonia, Chile and Argentina
Three months along South America’s southern Andean spine
Asia
Fun
Shimanami Kaido, Japan
Island hopping on the bridges across the Seto Inland Sea (add the O-Shikoku for a longer trip)
Challenge
Taroko Gorge, Taiwan
Spectacular scenery and smooth roads – ride it as the King of the Mountain ride during the Taiwan Cycling Festival.
Tour De Timor, Timor L’Este
A gruelling mountain-bike stage race through spectacular scenery with an incredible cultural experience
National Highway 1, Vietnam
15 days guided the length of Vietnam from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City
11 days of guided touring from Phnom Penh to Agnkor Wat
Rajastan, New Dehli and Agra, India
Trade camels for bikes to explore fairytale corner of India
Ride among elephants in a tropical paradise
Tehran to Shiraz, Iran
913km across ancient lands on a 15-day supported tour
Epic
Pamir Highway, Tajikistan
Is this the world’s most spectacular mountain highway?
Anatolia, Turkey
A timeless landscape of rich diversity
Across Mongolia
Vast plains and scant traffic make a dream cycle touring landscape
Friendship Highway, Tibet to Nepal
830km across the roof of the world
Australia and New Zealand
Fun
Great Ocean Road, Victoria
Australia’s most famously scenic road (Do it in 2016 on the Great Vic)
Tour de SA Vineyards, South Australia
Six days largely on rail trails through the Barossa, Clare Valley & McLaren Vale wine regions
Around the Bay, Victoria
Nine different challenge distances beside Port Phillip Bay
Otago Central Rail trail, New Zealand
The longest rail trail in New Zealand at 150km
Rotorua, New Zealand
Mountain biking paradise
Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, New Zealand
NZ’s favourite challenge ride in an adventure sport hotspot
Challenge
Tasman Great Taste Trail, New Zealand
The newest long-distance trail in NZ, with a gourmet focus
Mt Buller EPIC trail, Victoria
The southern hemisphere’s only EPIC mountain bike trail
Across the Nullabor Plain, South Australia, Western Australia
1,200km arid kilometres skirting the great Australian Bight
Cairns to Cape York, Queensland
The journey to the northern tip of Australia
Outback Odyssey, South Australia
A 16-day supported ride into the heart of the South Australian outback
Munda Biddi Trail, Western Australia
At 1,000km, this is the longest unified mountain bike trail in the world
A wild 480km traverse of Australia’s southern state
Launceston to Hobart including the Bay of Fires, Tasmania
Taking in all of the renowned east-coast scenery and more
Peaks Challenge Series, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland
Australia’s ultimate road cycling series
Arguably the finest bike touring in Australasia
Epic
Simpson Desert Challenge, South Australia
Fat bikes versus sand dunes in a central Australian race
Gibb River Road, Western Australia
Probably the most remote cycle tour possible in Australia
Europe
Fun
Loire Valley, France
Signposted cycle sightseeing in glorious rural France
Danube Trail, Germany, Austria, Hungary
The epitome of European riverside cycle touring
L’Eroica, Italy
An amateur race in vintage costume on Tuscany’s strade bianche
Challenge
Route 1, Iceland
The 1,300km ring road around this amazingly varied country
Camino de Santiago, Spain
Cycling the famous pilgrimage route
Land’s End to John O’Groats, UK
From tip to tip of the British mainland
Ring of Kerry, Rep of Ireland
A 169km loop through rugged coastal scenery and historic towns
Hebridean Way, Scotland UK
Traversing 10 Hebridean islands of western Scotland over 297km
Lofoten Islands, Norway
An arctic cycling idyll strictly for summer
Route des Grandes Alps, France
Over the great passes of the French Alps from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean
Epic
North Sea Cycle Route, UK, Belgium, Nederlands, Germany Denmark, Sweden, Norway
A 6,200km sign-posted route skirting the North Sea from the Shetland Islands to Bergen
The Road of Bones, Russia
Further east than Siberia, where the wilderness still prevails
More
Search for local rides by area with Bicycle Network’s Finda.
Browse 200 suggested rides in Lonely Planet’s Epic bike rides of the world.
Be inspired by this great collection of epic rides in Australia.
Want more epic international rides and a community of epic riders for inspiration? Check out the 7 Epics.
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