Dear Members,

Adventure Cycling has been through a lot in the past few years. You’ve probably felt some of it — in the conversations, the votes, the leadership changes. Despite the challenges, ACA had a good year in 2025 (results are yet to be audited). We want to tell you how it happened, as well as our forecast and workplan for 2026, so you understand where your association stands.

How we got here

Adventure Cycling’s financial challenges didn’t appear overnight, but they were harder to see clearly than they should have been. Over the past several years, a series of one-time financial windfalls masked the underlying trend: a PPP loan forgiveness of over $1 million, $595 thousand in Employee Retention Tax Credits, and two large estate gifts totaling $352 thousand in 2023. These were genuinely helpful in the moment, but they made it difficult to see the real picture.

When you adjust for those anomalies, the picture in 2024 was sobering: net cash from operations was negative $1.5 million, compared to positive $888 thousand the year before. Membership had been declining for years. Expenses were outpacing revenue. We had real work to do.

How we succeeded in 2025

Although last year’s financials have not yet been audited, our initial findings show the hard work of the last year really paid off.

In 2025, Adventure Cycling returned to a positive operating income, or close to break even if you exclude a one-time estate gift.

Here’s how we got there.

Revenue increased by $344 thousand on a cash basis, driven largely by membership — up from $653 thousand in 2024 to $903 thousand in 2025, even as the total number of members declined. Our new membership model, which introduced price increases and higher-tier options, resonated with members who saw the value and renewed at higher levels. Thank you for that!

Fundraising increased by $217 thousand beyond what we’d raised the year before, not counting a $252 thousand estate gift from a generous long-time supporter. When we were transparent about our financial difficulties, donors stepped in. That response means a great deal to us.

We also significantly reduced expenses by $1.175 million through difficult but necessary decisions: a 30% reduction in staff, reduced contractor and professional fees, fewer magazine issues and pages, and cuts across technology, travel, and operations. These weren’t easy choices. It meant fewer staff took on more work with less resources. And it meant members had less direct connection to staff and fewer stories in their mailbox. We’re grateful for the staff who navigated the year with grace, and for the members who stayed with us.

We did have to significantly reduce our tour offerings in 2025, canceling nine tours early in the year. A targeted discount strategy saved several others and allowed them to run at a positive gross profit. We also stopped selling merchandise in Cyclosource, except for paper and digital maps as well as some branded items.

The bottom line: we ended 2025 in the black. That’s real progress, and we don’t take it for granted.

What your support made possible in 2025

Behind the numbers is a year of genuine mission work.

Routes & Mapping

We developed three new routes with five field researchers:

• Vancouver Crossing Loop (314 miles — our first route entirely within Canada)
• Klamath Mountains Loop (329 miles, launched December 2025)
• Golden Gravel Trail (3,804 miles, launched March 10, 2026)

We added 4,447 miles to our route network, now totaling 57,298 miles. Every mile is now available on Ride with GPS.

We expanded the U.S. Bicycle Route System by nearly 950 miles, bringing the nationwide total to 24,144 miles.

More than 5,000 riders used Adventure Cycling maps to plan trips, and over 12,000 maps and digital routes were sold.

Community & Experiences

Over 1,000 new members joined Adventure Cycling. More than 500 riders joined us on guided tours. We welcomed 350 participants to Jubilee in the Desert, our 50th anniversary kickoff event.

We launched ambassador partnerships with Lael Wilcox, Ryan Van Duzer, and Sarah Swallow. We re-energized advocacy partnerships with the League of American Bicyclists, East Coast Greenway Alliance, and Bikepacking Roots. And we began digitizing 40 years of photographs from the National Bicycle Touring Portrait Collection, with 114 volunteers expressing interest in supporting the effort.

We planned new 50th Anniversary programs and facilitated member webinars and meetings, as well as a member vote. We welcomed nearly 300 visiting cyclists in Missoula and attended four industry events. We published four issues of Adventure Cyclist magazine, shifting more of our stories to focus on attainable US-based trips, and wrote at least 48 blog posts to help cyclists travel more and better by bike.

This is what Adventure Cycling does. This is what your membership makes real.

What 2026 looks like

We’re not out of the woods yet. We’re forecasting a significant operating loss in 2026, driven largely by continued membership attrition and running fewer guided tours as we pilot a new partnership-based model to improve operations — a deliberate, strategic shift, but one that comes with real short-term revenue reduction. Luckily, sign-ups for 2026 tours are going well, and the program is an asset this year rather than a liability.

We’re also investing in long-overdue website work, that will make it easier for members and riders to find, access, and use everything Adventure Cycling offers.

To keep the deficit as low as possible, we’re projecting a need to increase fundraising, improve member retention, and continue to reduce expenses meaningfully. Our 2026 program priorities are focused exactly where they should be: rebuilding the value of membership, expanding routes and advocacy, improving our website, and creating more ways for members to engage.

Here’s what that means for 2026:

• Launching the Golden Gravel Trail and building a tour on it
• Building the U.S. Bicycle Route System past 25,000 miles
• Delivering 2,000 new and updated route miles
• Hosting 8-10 member online campfire chats, 4+ member events across the country, and giving members a voice in shaping 2027 guided tours
• Building a new advocacy hub, attending the National Bike Summit, and deepening partnerships with organizations across the cycling world
• Increasing the value of membership with stronger benefits, special gifts at higher levels, and more ways to connect online and in person

In short, we’re working hard on investments that will make Adventure Cycling more relevant, more valuable, and more sustainable.

The reality of making this work happen …

As many of you know, members voted last year not to sell our headquarters. The board respects that decision, and the building is off the market. But it means the financial runway we’d planned to fund our path to sustainability no longer exists.

In its place, we need to raise an additional $750 thousand annually for the next three years — bringing our total 2026 fundraising goal to $2.1 million.

That’s significant. But we believe in this community.

If every member gave $50 above their what they donated last year, or for the first time in 2026, we would complete year one of this additional fundraising. All of it. That’s the math, and it has a real impact.

If you’re moved to support this work, a gift at any level goes directly toward the routes, advocacy, and community programs that make Adventure Cycling what it is.

If you have questions about any of this — the finances, the priorities, the decisions we’ve made — we’ll be posting this email on Member News on our website and publishing a fundraising landing page with information on our finances, priorities, and more. You’re also welcome to reply to this email at any time.

Thank you for being a member. The road ahead is worth it.

Maxton Caplanides
VP of Engagement
Adventure Cycling Association