To celebrate the beauty and spirit of bicycle travel, Adventure Cycling Association invites you to submit your best bicycle-touring videos to the second annual Bicycle Travel Video Contest on Vimeo.

Please read the full submission guidelines and rules before submitting your videos!

Our volunteer judges, who are all avid cycle-tourists and/or videographers, look forward to your viewing your submissions.

Video submissions will be accepted in the following categories through June 30, 2014:

• Best Long Distance Tour Video: Submit your best narrative or experimental video about a long-distance bike tour (weeklong or longer). Submissions must not exceed 7 minutes in length.
• Best Short Tour Video: Submit your best narrative or experimental video about a bike tour of one to six nights in length. Submissions must capture the experience of a tour of this duration specifically, in other words, not one to six nights of a longer tour. Submissions must not exceed 3 minutes in length.
• Best Portrait of a Traveling Cyclist: Submit your best narrative or experimental video profile of a touring cyclist. Self-profiles are acceptable. Submissions must not exceed 5 minutes in length.

All videos, regardless of category, will be considered for the Bike Travel Spirit Award, awarded by the judges to the video that they feel best captures the spirit of bicycle travel and touring.

All videos will also be eligible for the People's Choice Award, awarded to the video garnering the most "likes" on Vimeo. To vote, create an account on Vimeo (it's free and quick) and then click on the "like" button.

Awards & Prizes

The judges will name one winner for each of the three submission categories (Best Long Distance Tour Video, Best Short Tour Video, and Best Portrait of a Traveling Cyclist). They will also choose the winner of the Bike Travel Spirit Award. The judges' decisions are final. The winning videos will be highlighted on Adventure Cycling's blog and social-media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. Winners will also be announced in Adventure Cyclist magazine. The winners in the three submission categories will receive a two-year membership with Adventure Cycling and a $500 gift certificate for the Cyclosource store. The winner of the Bike Travel Spirit Award will receive a $300 gift certificate for the Cyclosource store.

Rules

Only amateur videographers may participate; submissions from professionals — individuals who make their primary living from videography or filmmaking — will be disqualified. Participants can submit one video only to each of the three categories: Best Long Distance Tour Video, Best Short Tour Video, and Best Portrait of a Traveling Cyclist. See Official Rules.

How to Enter

• Upload your videos to your Vimeo account.
• Tag your video with the appropriate category tag:
  • Best Long Distance Tour Video submissions should be tagged with LongDistanceTourACA2014.
  • Best Short Tour Video submissions should be tagged with ShortTourACA2014.
  • Best Portrait of a Traveling Cyclist submissions should be tagged with TravelingCyclistACA2014.
• Join the Bicycle Travel Video Contest Group hosted by Adventure Cycling Association.
• Add your video to the contest group
• Send a private message to Adventure Cycling on Vimeo with the following information so we can be sure that we're able to reach you:
  • First and last name
  • Vimeo Name
  • Valid email address
  • Valid physical mailing address
  • The direct URL to your submissions on Vimeo indicating the category to which each was submitted

Important note on music and images used in your piece: The videographer must own the rights to all music and images used in their submission or they will be disqualified. Vimeo offers some music that can be licensed through Creative Commons or as royalty-free music for a small fee: vimeo.com/musicstore. There are many other sources of royalty-free music, such as Shockwave-Sound.com, soundcloud.com, and thesixtyone.com. Procuring the rights to use music and images is your responsibility.

How to upload your videos:

• Sign up for a free account on Vimeo
• Verify your account: Vimeo will send you an email (check your spam!)
• Click on "Upload" in the top menu
• Upload your video
• Add your title, a short description, and tag your video with the appropriate submission category tag (see above)

If you have problems uploading, check the Vimeo Help Center. For free Vimeo accounts, you can upload only 500MB per week. Is your video too big? Try using the free MPEG Streamclip to make it smaller and try using the right compression. Adventure Cycling cannot assist you with video compression issues.

How to add your video to the Bicycle Travel Video Contest Group:

• Join the Bicycle Travel Video Contest Group by pushing the "Join this Group" on the right of the group's homepage (you must be logged into Vimeo)
• Go to your video
• Go to the bottom of your video
• Choose "Add to"
• Select "Bicycle Travel Video Contest"
• Done! Now your video is pending; it will be added as soon as we approve it

For questions about Vimeo, please consult Vimeo's FAQ page first, then if you still need assistance, email us at videocontest@adventurecycling.org.

Be sure to read the full rules before submitting. Submissions will be accepted through June 30, 2014.

The Fine Print

The contest is open to all participants age 18 and older regardless of residence or citizenship, so long as the laws of their jurisdiction allow participation. Video submissions must be uploaded by 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time on June 30, 2014. You retain ownership and full rights to all videos submitted, but grant us the right to use your video in support of Adventure Cycling's mission. Remember, be sure to review the full rules before entering. Ride on!

Photo by Nick Jensen