Most cycling challenges focus entirely on performance. They demand that you ride further, climb more, or hold a higher number on your power meter.
There are also other kind of challenge that have absolutely nothing to do with fitness. These challenges turn your everyday rides into a game of exploration and collecting. They work perfectly whether you are just starting out with road cycling or you have been racing for years.
Here are four unique challenge categories worth knowing about and some of the most popular tools.
Tile and Square Collecting
This is the biggest trend in exploratory cycling, and it usually goes by the name of tile hunting. A digital map splits the world into a grid of squares, and you collect a square by riding through any part of it.
Your only job is to fill in the grid. This simple goal naturally leads you down new directions and unfamiliar roads. Suddenly, that dead-end lane you always skip becomes a square worth chasing. A short detour feels like a massive victory.
This type of challenge rewards curiosity over speed. A slow ride down three roads you have never taken beats a fast lap of your usual loop. Most of these tools connect directly to Strava, so you just record your ride as normal and watch the tiles fill in on their own.
The Best Tile Hunting Tools
Squadrats: This platform is free and stands as the easiest place to start. It splits the world into squares roughly a mile across, plus tiny ones called squadratinhos for shorter rides. Currently, the app is incredibly popular among avid and pro cyclists.
VeloViewer: This platform is where the tile hunting movement originally began. It shows your explorer tiles alongside your max square, which is the largest solid block of connected squares you have filled. It is free to try, with a small annual fee for full access.
Wandrer: This tool offers a slightly different angle on exploration. Instead of abstract squares, it tracks the exact percentage of every road and path you have ridden in an area. You are chasing actual roads rather than grid cells.
Region and Area Collecting
Instead of abstract grid squares, this version has you collecting real places. Think postcodes, municipalities, and actual towns. It feels much more tangible than tiles because the targets have familiar names. You are not just filling a square, you are adding a place you can point to on a map.
Two platforms lead this category, and both are huge in the Netherlands and Belgium:
Wielervrienden: This free tool tracks every single municipality you have cycled through across the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. It links directly to your Strava account for seamless updates.
PostNL Postcode Challenge: This brilliant platform turns your local kilomteres into a massive game of territory. It challenges you to hunt down the white spots on your map and slowly turn the entire Benelux region PostNL orange.
The PostNL Postcode Challenge rewards a bit of clever planning. It takes the most ordinary corner of the country and turns it into a place you suddenly want to ride. The trick here is density. Cities pack many small postcodes into a few square kilometers, so a zig-zagging loop through Utrecht or Antwerp can tick off a dozen in under an hour. Ride the same distance through the Ardennes and you might only collect three.
The real sweet spot is a region that is both dense with postcodes and brilliant to ride. South Limburg is the obvious pick, with short steep climbs like the Cauberg packed close together. Over the border, the Ronde van Flanders region mixes tight postcodes with legendary cobbled roads.
This category is also an absolute gift for riders in flat regions. When there are no big climbs to chase, a map full of uncollected postcodes gives every single ride a clear purpose.
Climb and Summit Collecting
If going uphill is your idea of fun, this category is for you. In this case the things you collect are climbs, often called cols.
CyclingCols: This platform hosts a massive database of cols across Europe. It syncs with Strava to automatically tick off all cols you climbed.
MyCols: This app is a hub for tracking every hill and mountain you conquer. It syncs with Strava to automatically tick off your climbs, letting you unlock achievements and analyze your climbing history in detail.
Climbfinder: This site provides detailed profiles for tens of thousands of European climbs. You can automatically check off the ones you have done and build bucket lists for the ones you have not.
This is the category that pairs most naturally with a dedicated cycling trip. A week in the Dolomites or the Vosges can add a lot of climbs to your list. Every Ride Atlas guide names the standout climbs in each region, so you can plan a trip around the cols you still want to collect.
Monthly Challenges
This is the simplest way into the game, and it needs absolutely no new apps at all. Strava runs monthly challenges right inside their main platform.
You simply sign up to ride a set distance, climb a set amount, or keep a consistent streak going. You earn a digital badge for finishing. When organized by a major brand, you will often get a discount coupon for your efforts too.
This option is less about pure exploration and more about a gentle nudge to go outside. When your motivation dips in a grey winter month, a half-finished badge is a surprisingly good reason to ride.
Pick One and Start
You do not need to use all of these tools. Trying to run every single challenge at once is the fastest way to enjoy none of them.
Pick the one that matches how you already like to ride. Curious wanderers will love tiles and roads, methodical riders will enjoy postcodes, and climbers should head straight for cols.
The real value shows up when you travel either locally or abroad. A new destination is a blank slate of uncollected tiles, postcodes, and climbs, which is reason enough to point your wheels somewhere unfamiliar.
Did we miss your favorite app or a completely different category of digital challenge? Drop us an email or send over an Instagram DM to let us know.