Annual Report

Dear Adventure Cycling members,

Do you realize all that you made possible in 2016?

Thanks to your support, Adventure Cycling accomplished more for bicycle travel than ever before – and that’s saying a lot, given that we were celebrating our 40th birthday!

I have to confess that we were somewhat nervous as we started 2016, with ambitious plans for new events, maps, books, and advocacy. But because of your support, our talented staff, and hundreds of volunteers, we accomplished everything – and actually exceeded many of our goals!

Here are some highlights:

A huge expansion of carry-on and train-side checked service for getting your bike on to Amtrak – on all 15 long-distance routes and some key medium- and short-haul routes, like the Capitol Limited (Chicago to DC) and the Vermonter
Three massive bike events, including the Montana Bicycle Celebration (honoring our founding event, Bikecentennial) and the first-ever National Bike Travel Weekend and Bike Your Park Day, which drew more than 23,000 participants (and will be repeated in 2017)
A brand new mapped route, the Texas Hill Country Loop, and completion of research on our next long-distance route, from Chicago to New York City
Release of many more digital versions of our popular maps, with the remainder to be completed by May 2017
A new high for membership (51,200), keeping us the largest cycling membership non-profit in North America
Nine more awesome issues of Adventure Cyclist magazine, plus a new free e-digest of the magazine that you can get on your digital devices
Publication (and already a second printing) of the beautiful large-format book on the birth of America’s Bicycle Route: The Story of the TransAmerica Trail
Growth in our advocacy and outreach work, expanding the U.S. Bicycle Route System, fighting misguided rumble strips, improving bike travel conditions in our state and national parks, and spreading the gospel about bike travel at major conferences from Taiwan to Alaska to Washington, DC
More tour participants than ever, with new tours throughout North America, including Hawaii and Puerto Rico
More engagement with younger demographics, with our Young Adult Bike Travel Scholarship program, a special Under-30 TransAm tour, and work with college outdoors programs across America
Record levels of participation in our electronic media, with more subscribers than ever to Bike Bits (our e-newsletter, now in a new format), Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media channels – plus lots of new content on our websites, including bikeovernights.org.

That’s just the short list, but all in all, it felt good to be 40! Whether you supported Adventure Cycling as a member, donor, tour participant, map buyer, event participant, volunteer, or all of the above, please realize that you played an essential part in making these good things happen for cycling and bicycle travel.

Best of all, 2016’s success has laid the groundwork for amazing progress in the coming year. Thank you for your critical support and I hope you enjoy a wonderful year of adventure cycling.

With gratitude,