This is the 431st issue of Bike Bits, Adventure Cycling’s twice-monthly bicycle bulletin. Today’s Bike Bits comes to you a day early because of the 4th of July holiday. Bike Bits is delivered to you, and 67,841 other readers, because you’ve signed up for it at the Adventure Cycling Association website. We want to inspire you to dream and to live your own bicycle adventures.

“Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the green valleys of silliness.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein

No Spoilers!

One man rode from India to Russia — by way of Dubai and Iran — to see his hero, Lionel Messi, in the World Cup. Read more

Hunting Bothies

Bikepacking in the Scottish Highlands isn’t complete without river crossings, steeper-than-steep roads, and a sheep skull. Read more

The Unsung Hero of the Outdoors

It’s only when you can’t find one that you realize just how useful the picnic table is. Now with the PicNick app, you can find tables on your route and even mark ones so that others will find them. Read more

New Bike Service Offered at Richmond’s Main Street Station

What do Adventure Cycling’s Atlantic Coast Route, the Virginia Capital Trail, U.S. Bicycle Routes 1 and 176, the East Coast Greenway, and Amtrak’s Northeast Regional train have in common? Richmond, Virginia’s Main Street Station. Thanks to advocacy by the Amtrak Bike Task Force and the Virginia Bike Federation in particular, a new pilot project allows passengers to take bikes on and off the train in downtown Richmond, which will open up new options for bike travel and one-way day rides on the 52-mile Virginia Capital Trail. Read more 

The Best Bike Tour Begins at the End of Your Driveway

What more do you need than a bike, a solid route, and a good friend? Read more

Swipe East

Cycling around the world, with a little stop in Yosemite to get hitched. Read more

Loss and Redemption in Arizona

When a bike tour changes two lives forever. Read more

Never Too Old

What better way to celebrate retirement than riding up the East Coast? Read more

Bumpy Times in Death Valley 

Washboard roads, flat tires, and making coffee outside. Read more

Your New Tentmate Sleeps Standing Up, But at Least He’s Quiet

Do you get sad knowing that you’re warm and dry in your tent while your bike is getting soaked outside in the rain? Now your bike can stay in the tent with you! Read more

Until next time, click here for vicarious adventures in airing dirty laundry.

Adventure Cycling Association is North America’s premier nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring and empowering people to travel by bicycle. Membership is open to anyone and includes a one-year subscription to Adventure Cyclist magazine and discounted pricing on maps from our Adventure Cycling Route Network, which now includes 47,282.5 miles. To join, go here.

Illustrations by Greg Siple