Sometimes going for a ride along off the beaten road leads to surprises whether it be beautiful scenery or pot holes as MotoFish discovered. This isn't a particularly beautiful or inspiring place that you'd want to ride, but what makes it a good photo is that it has lots of textures and details which make it interesting.

Here is another example of going off the beaten road from MotoFish, gravel roads surrounded by tall trees with a cyclist subtly riding in the distance. The colours accentuate the bitter cold and wet day. It's easy to be tempted to take photos of the cyclist's backside right in front of you, but we think it's much more interesting to find an alternative perspective.

Riding up hills and mountain passes maybe the arch nemesis of many cyclists but once you have reached the summit, the views can be quite spectacular. In this photograph from Bike Gallery, the rider is on a slight angle whilst the the view remains unobstructed. Again using the correct Instagram highlight filter helps bring out the details in the distant hill tops.

In this example from DeadKooks, the lower perspective in conjunction with the mist and the correct Instagram filter gives you the perception of how tough the ride would have been. Bad weather almost always makes a winning photo.

This photo from Kei Tsuji shows a good element of composition as the cyclist rolls down cobbled laneway leading your eye towards the town center. Finding a filter to bring out the blue sky complements the traditional Italian terracotta roof tiles.

Sometimes it is better to show the first half and leave rest to the imagination. There are a mixture of elements present that makes this simplistic photo look amazing; the cobbled path and the deteriorating wall makes an effective textured background to photograph a subject against. Again using the appropriate Instagram colour filter brings out the details of the wall with makes an appealing image.

We're often sent photos of bikes leaning up against a fence which unfortunately do not turn out very well. But in this photo Timothy Krieger makes a very good composition of his full bike in the foreground complementing it using the vanishing point to lead the eye towards the horizon with the changing tones of the early morning sun.

The benefit of being an early morning rider gives you the opportunity to witness spectacular sunrises as shown by Rymoody. The dead tree's silhouette which is slightly off-center with wide open plains as the sun is slowly rising makes this a great capture on a morning ride. It doesn't even need a bike in the photo to make me wish I was there.

One of the pleasures of photography is being in the right place at the right time. In this example by Chris Jenning's he is using the perspective of the road to lead the eye towards the tree where there is a flock of birds flying. You have to use this type of thing sparingly, but this shows a unique perspective from the drops.