Cycling documentaries and adventure movies not to be missed

Cycling documentaries and adventure films

In the last few years, the web has been filled with videos, short documentaries and DIY films on long bike trips or adventures to the end of the world. It is now easy to film daily experiences, the wonderful places discovered on the way, the meetings with the local population and the unexpected events that make a trip even more unforgettable: just have a good action camera, a mirrorless or, simply, a good mobile phone, some knowledge in video editing, a little creativity and the game is done. Of course, not all doughnuts come with a perfect hole... if certain cycling documentaries tickle the desire to leave immediately, others are heavier and boring, but in the end, it is all subjective. In this article, I want to offer you a list of cycling documentaries or films about the bicycle and the adventure to be seen comfortably at home before leaving for new magnificent horizons.

From Alaska to Panama by BikeHikeSafari

Short but intense. This documentary by the American Brad 'Shepherd' McCartney tells the adventures lived during his 30,000 km journey, in several years of travel, between Alaska and Panama by bike, but not only. Brad, who left his police job in 2014 to pursue a dream, leads us to discover the most enchanted places encountered on his long journey: from the great American peaks to the Mexican desert to the volcanoes of Central America in a succession of images that entice to departure. Short: a 15 minutes documentary.

Vidaje - Tras la mirada del nómada by Albert Sans

Born in 1977. Spanish. Albert Sans el vidajero, cycle traveller since 2011, in his fascinating documentary, tells 6 years of travelling on two wheels across the world. Freedom, the power of Nature, the beauty of peoples, but also poverty, alcoholism and the social problems that cloud every place on Earth, Albert tells his own experience and feelings by accompanying the narration with evocative videos and poetic images. A Spanish-language documentary 1 hour 15 minutes long, to dream of the next departures.

The Passage by Day's Edge Productions

Not a video or film about bicycle touring, but a splendid documentary about a great canoe adventure through the passage. It was in 1974 when the director's father and his uncle Andy began their adventurous canoe trip along the coast of the Pacific Ocean: they paddled for hundreds of miles on homemade wooden canoes to reach Alaska territories from Washington state through the Inside Passage. They will resume the adventure never ended 43 years later... Documentary in English about 25 minutes long, dedicated to an incredible journey into the beautiful Nature.

Africa by kayak - 2000 km around the southern tip of Africa by Beau Miles

It was the year 2007 when Beau Miles and the New Zealander Jared Sharples decided to leave on their kayak for a great trip along the coast of southern Africa. The two travellers left Mozambique, but halfway through the trip, after almost 3 months, the New Zealander was forced to end his journey. Beau continued on his own for another 6 weeks completing the feat. This 47minutes film is about an unforgettable kayak trip. Extreme adventure along the coasts of the African continent.

Janapar - Love on a bike by Tom Allen

Janapar: Love on a bike is the documentary film made by Tom Allen, an English cycle traveller who at 23 years old left with two friends to travel the world by bike. After several countries explored, infinite vicissitudes and unforeseen events, a meeting has changed the fate of the great journey forever ... Film on a great two-wheeled adventure (still going on in some way!) In free viewing in this lockdown period from Tom Allen's website tomsbiketrip.com. 1 hour and 10 minutes. 

The frozen road by Ben Page

An incredible 15-months bicycle trip, an adventure that ends with the proposed documentary, in the Canadian Arctic. Prohibitive temperatures, restless wind, wild nature, a loaded bicycle and a young Englishman: these are the protagonists of the extraordinary adventure in the cold north of Canada where Ben ended his crossing of the Americas by bicycle. Exceptional shots, excellent editing, a small documentary to be seen in one breath to dream of the wild beauty of Nature. 24 minutes of cycling documentary. Must see to dream of extreme travel to equally wonderfully extreme places!