Your August 2026 Member Newsletter
Hello,
How’s your summer shaping up?
I’m back in the office from two weeks on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, where I met so many members enjoying the trip of a lifetime.
I sipped beers with Bill, Darren, Chris, Jody, and others at the famed Llama Farm (actually, an alpaca ranch — and famed for good reason). I hiked my bike up and over Lava Mountain with David. I watched Ryan Van Duzer fly past my campsite heading downhill into Basin. I stayed with legendary Warmshowers host, John, in Butte. I ate dinner next to a creek with Rich and laughed until I cried to Peg and Alice’s stories from the road at The Redhawk Lodge in the Centennial Valley.
It was the community created along the route that made my trip special. The game of telephone we all played together, stopping just to discover the other’s story and what might be ahead: good places to camp, find water, eat something other than “flat food.” (Kudos to Peg for coming up with that term.)
It was hard riding, but an incredible trip. I’m already planning the next leg.
Fires across the West have riders on all sorts of routes bailing into Missoula and seeking help at ACA HQ. Most want to talk through rerouting options.
I helped three cyclists calling themselves the Golden Gravel Girls switch from the Golden Gravel Trail to the Great Divide when fires around Bend, OR, halted their progress. (Immense thanks to Melinda for giving them a ride to Ovando, MT!)
The fires have been so disruptive to bike travelers that we changed August’s Campfire Chat topic to discuss it. While tonight’s Campfire Chat is full, you can sign up for next month’s Chat now to make sure you don’t miss out:
Building the National Network: The U.S. Bicycle Route System and the Future of Bike Travel
Ellie Zachary & Jeffrey Mizell
September 16, 2026 | 5 p.m. Mountain Time
Many of you love our USBRS advocacy program. Now’s the chance to talk directly to the people who facilitate it in a small group session just for our members.
Well after fire season is over, Adventure Cycling and its board are hosting an autumn 50th Anniversary party — a Golden October Celebration, if you will. And we’d love to see you there, too!
This weekend of storytelling and community honors the past and looks at the opportunities in our future.
Friday – Sunday
October 23-25, 2026
Missoula, Montana
A few things you can expect:
- HQ building tours with founders
- Oral history project recording your ACA cycling stories
- Presentations on ACA history and current programs
- A meet-and-greet with the board of directors
- A celebration dinner and social hour
(If it were up to me, I’d probably have all the attendees playing ridiculous games and running around after scavenger hunts, so you’re lucky I’m not on the planning committee.)
Instead, here’s a photo from the aforementioned alpaca farm to brighten your week:
While the actual planning committee is fine-tuning the schedule of events, I encourage you to check out the event webpage and save your spot by registering sooner rather than later.
Great advocacy work continued in my absence from the office. The Amtrak Task Force, a committee we sit on that’s run by The League of American Bicyclists, released a new report that scores all Amtrak lines on how welcoming they are to people who bike. It’s the first-ever report of its kind.
Many of you know the joys and woes of traveling with bikes on Amtrak, and that not all lines offer the same bicycle access. This report, using the European Cyclists’ Federation’s “Cyclists Love Trains” framework, scores each line.
Notable takeaways from the report include:
- The Cascades (87) and Gold Runner (86) are the only two lines to earn an “Excellent” rating.
- Most lines are stuck in the middle: two-thirds of lines with bike service scored in the “Moderate” band, averaging just 52 out of 100.
- Seven Amtrak lines offer no bike service at all: Acela, Adirondack, Auto Train, Berkshire Flyer, Borealis, Heartland Flyer, and Mardi Gras.
- A reason for optimism: Amtrak’s new Airo trainsets double bike capacity on many routes.
The report is a great step in putting a metric to cycling access and opening a conversation about which lines have the most room to improve and how.
Read the full report and use the new interactive map tool to see how Amtrak lines and stations overlap with ACA, USBRS, East Coast Greenway, and Bikepacking Roots routes.
And the fun continues with two of my favorite things: new routes and new route merch.
Researchers just returned from scouting our newest route-in-progress, the Eastern Canada Bicycle Route, which links four great Canadian cities over about 890 miles of riding: Toronto > Ottawa > Montreal > Quebec City.
Route researchers Chad, Jen, and Dave rode the route and validated conditions, checking for safe passage, tracking down water sources and resupply points, and documenting everything so that the final route holds up to Adventure Cycling’s standards before it ever reaches a map.
🚴️ Jen, a Vermont-based journalist, says of section three of the route: “I love how my section links up North America’s two great French-speaking cities but dips through the historically British-loyalist Eastern Townships. People might not know how much researchers stand on the shoulders of riders who came before them; that’s especially true in Quebec.”
🚴 Chad rode from Toronto to review section one across Ontario and Quebec. His priorities: “Expect many POIs for poutine and ice cream.”
🚴️ Dave rode the P’tit Train du Nord trail through the Rivière du Nord valley on Section 3 and says it’s beautifully maintained. His trip report: “The trails in Canada unwind along a seemingly endless array of pristine lakes, streams, and rivers dotted with boat docks and charming cottages.”
Our cartographer, Amy, is deep into reviewing the research and making the route the best it can be for an autumn launch. If you’d like to ensure Amy and staff at Adventure Cycling can continue to provide these core nonprofit programs, please donate today. Just $18 helps us build one mile of new route!
As a teaser, please enjoy a few of these lovely photos from Jen, Chad, and Dave.
Just launched in our Shop are new designs for the Golden Gravel Trail and the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.
If you use Instagram, you may have noticed Tour Divide record holder Meaghan Hackinen sporting our first Golden Gravel Trail T-shirt.
And if Pacific Coast, Northern Tier, TransAm, or Southern Tier are more your pace, we’ve got you covered!
These are a few of the merch options. Find more in our Shop, and let me know if you have branded merch you’d like to see us carry!
Two notes before you go …
1️⃣ 2027 Guided Tours will open for registration on September 23.
So put a reminder in your calendar and check your email in September for returning favorites, planned epics, and maybe even a fun new surprise in our tours lineup.
2️⃣ The Accidental Bicycle Tourist is in the midst of publishing a series of podcasts all about the history of Adventure Cycling.
Our very own founders are featured in a two-part episode (find part one and part two on YouTube), while the original TransAm route researchers Linda and Jim Richardson are featured in another. Some fascinating history straight from the people who lived it.
Until next time, may we all channel the kindness of trail angels, like Jim and Kally, who fed me shrimp and fresh vegetables on a very hot day in Island Park, Idaho.
Yours,
Jess