Bike Overnights
Because adventures are everywhere for everybody.
Bike Overnights encourages and supports anyone who wants to experience the joy of bicycle travel, especially BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and transgender, women, intersex and gender nonconforming cyclists.
We organize community events, empower BIPOC and LGBTQ+ cyclists in their bicycle travels, and share resources, routes, and stories. If you're looking to learn about adventure cycling, be an Ambassador for Adventure Cycling's mission, and build community while making bike travel inclusive and accessible for all, let's ride together.
Submit your community event!
Ready to lead a Bike Overnight trip? Fill out the form below, and we'll share it with folks looking for a local adventure. Please put a specific address in as your start point or it will not appear on the map! You can explain the location or where you'll have a pre-ride meeting in your ride description. If your ride centers BIPOC, LGBTQ+, or transgender, gender nonconforming, and women cyclists, share it — and reach out to us if you're interested in a ride support stipend!
Remember: A Bike Overnight is no more than 3 nights, with less than 60 miles of riding a day. Keep it accessible and inclusive.
Questions? Email bike-overnights@adventurecycling.org
Check out current event listings and join in.
Find a local Bike Overnight event in your area. If you're looking for community and wanting to share the joy of bike travel, why not plan one and share it?
National Events
Be one of the thousands of people throughout the world to go on a short bike adventure of local exploration.
Resources
Check out our guide on Planning and Leading a Bike Overnight for tips on gear and other resources for your trip.
What IS a Bike Overnight ride?
Bike Overnights are beginner-friendly, accessible, and inclusive bike adventures that anyone can do from their backyard. Specifically, we're asking that community rides we share take place over no more than 3 nights and that each day include less than 60 miles of riding. A lot of people do versions of this on our annual Bike Travel Weekend!
A Bike Overnight should be enjoyable for anyone, and we encourage you to plan a ride intentionally, thinking particularly about inclusion and access. We all start our journey to bike travel somewhere! An overnight or weekend trip is a great way to get started or keep enjoying adventure in your community.
Are rides open to anyone?
Bike Overnights are meant for the general public! We also understand the need for safe spaces, especially in historically inaccessible and inequitable places like the outdoor recreation or cycling industries. We're happy to share rides that center and are only open to BIPOC, transgender, women, intersexed, gender nonconforming, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, asexual cyclists. If you post a ride, please make sure interested participants can reach you! It's always good to have a meeting, call, or Zoom before your ride to check in with everyone. You can learn more about great planning practices by reading our Planning and Leading a Bike Overnight guide (link above!).
What do you mean by beginner-friendly?
Is there a lot of elevation? Do you have to ride fifty miles on a road with 45 MPH traffic and no shoulder? Are there places you can safely stop to drink water or have a snack? Would you feel comfortable bringing a group of four or five people you didn't know very well? Could you go on the trip with a minimal amount of gear? Are there places someone could take a bus or train back to the origin point?
There are a lot of questions you can ask yourself but maybe start with: would you take a friend who's never gone on a bike trip before? We want people to enjoy their bike trips! If you think your Bike Overnight is going to be Type 2 fun, it's probably not going to be fun for beginners.
Do we have to camp?
No, not at all! If you have a great ride to cabins or a cool Airbnb with a hot tub, or know of other options, definitely do that! Not everyone is a fan of sleeping outside and that's okay. Bike travel comes in all shapes and sizes!
Can children go on a Bike Overnight?
Sure! We've had some great Bike Travel Weekend rides involving families and have resources for you to learn more about that. We'd love to hear more about your experiences engaging in bike travel as a family as well and share lessons you've learned with other parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and people who love bikes and want to share that with kiddos!
If I'm the leader, do I have to pay for everything?
That would be very kind of you but no! (Can we come on your trip?) First, think ahead about how much your trip might cost each participant, and second, please be very clear about costs you're asking participants to contribute to in your event description. It's ideal to make a cost-breakdown of the trip: trail pass, park fee, hotel costs, snacks, food or meals on the road, chipping in for gas, whatever.
How much does it cost to share my ride?
Nothing, it's free!
I submitted an event I want to lead but it seems to have disappeared from the map. What gives?
If your Bike Overnight didn't meet the criteria of being shorter than 3 nights and under 60 miles a day, we probably deleted it. Please feel free to submit a ride that meets the guidelines of a Bike Overnight.