Your April 2026 Member Newsletter
Hello,
Spring in Montana is a time for the senses. Suddenly, almost without warning, I awaken to hear chirp, gurgle, quack, and song. I smell the dirt thawing. Young green shoots reflect up to me the ineffable scent of new warmth soaking in. I had forgotten all this over the long winter.
Far more than the New Year, spring, for me, is the time for change. The time for resolutions. I will go outside. I will wallow in and use up the long bright days. I will picnic with my people. I will list all the routes to travel.
I will ride my bike.
What do you think? Are you with me?
Or, where you live, are you slinking back inside to the comfort of the AC, shutting your curtains to the blazing heat?
Also waking up recently were my parents’ reminiscences of their first bike trip as they read the most recent issue of Adventure Cyclist. For those of you who get a copy, you’ll see them portrayed in the feature “Cowboy Chrome.” My dad said the story brought him right back to the Katy Trail. And mom asked when the next trip was. In my usual self-promoting fashion, I hope you enjoy the tale.
Despite my desire to elope into nature and never return until October, there’s a lot of work in progress at Adventure Cycling that requires our support.
For one, we’re in the homestretch of a 10-month project to digitize 45 years of National Bicycle Touring Portrait Collection photos and stories. Almost 100 dedicated volunteers have already typed up the hand-written stories of over 5,000 bicycle tourists.
Now we need your help to proofread the stories.
Are you a volunteer with a personal computer and a passion for bikes who can help from your own home over the next two months? Please email Eva to get started: edunnfroebig@adventurecycling.org
(P.S. Eva’s on spring break this week but she’ll respond to your email next week!)
This unique and expansive collection has the power to inspire thousands of cyclists every year to try bicycle travel. Please help us finish this phase of digitization!
Have no idea what I mean when I say National Bicycle Touring Portrait Collection?
No worries. I have a prime example for you.
In 2015, a young man named Max purchased a TransAm map set and wrote a fortuitous post on ACA’s Companions Wanted. Little did he know that the long days riding with this newly-found companion would impact the trajectory of his life forever. As they passed through Missoula, they stopped and had their portrait taken by co-founder Greg Siple, and they were added to the National Bicycle Touring Portrait Collection.
The next year, Max would be working for Adventure Cycling, and sometime after that, he and his companion Julia would be married. A tale worthy of a place in bicycle travel history.
But the story isn’t over. The ACA board recently named Max Caplanides our new Interim Executive Director. We couldn’t be more pleased to have Max at the helm, whose dedication to our mission is reflected in his own lived experience and in the way he interacts with members and staff every day.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Max, you can at least start by reading his and the board’s most recent update.
A second area where we could use your help: donations.
It’s possible some of you have already seen this ask, so my apologies if you have, and thank you for donating! But to cover my bases, I want to be sure our members hear about our financial situation and how we’re working toward building an extended financial runway to strategically reassess our business model.
Not talking about it, not keeping you up to date on our needs and our progress, would be a disservice to our members and our mission. We rely on this community to give us direction, to be involved, to keep us going.
Donations and membership revenue have always been the financial foundation of this organization.
Our goal over the next three years is to raise an additional $750,000 per year on top of our normal fundraising targets, which is approximately the amount we’d have received from a building sale. That bring 2026’s goal to ~$2.1 Million. These donations will give us the time we need to modernize our business model to match today’s market. These types of changes do not happen quickly.
We’ve done a lot of work to reduce expenses, and in 2025, we managed to stay in the black for the first time in a few years. A lot of that was thanks to you. Every time you renew and donate, you give us that much more needed time.
If every member gave $50 for first time or on top of what they donated last year, we’d reach our goal this year without issue.
If you are asking what the heck I’m talking about, we made a lengthy landing page, including an FAQ. Please check it out. Please ask your questions. Please donate.
If you’ve already donated this year, thank you for your investment in our future.
Here’s a little something we made for you.
Last week, our Routes team hosted a record-setting webinar. Over 1,300 people registered for “Behind the Golden Gravel Trail: How We Built a 3,804-Mile Gravel Route.” And 500 participants attended live, maxing out our Zoom account subscription.
Love to see that enthusiasm!
For those of us who didn’t get to attend live (including me), we recorded the session, and you can watch it on our YouTube channel.
The webinar celebrates the launch of the Golden Gravel Trail. You’ll hear directly from the team behind the route — including the cartographers and route researchers who brought it to life — as they share how the Golden Gravel Trail was developed, what riders can expect along the way, and how you can plan your own ride.
Lastly, here’s a little update from our recent Florida Key guided tours, led by our fearless Florida leaders Brielle Wacker, Tony Docal, and Todd Smith.
“While our first tour in Florida had weather that was a little erratic, we had an excellent layover day in Key Largo. The group had fun kayaking through the mangroves at John Pennekamp State Park. On our second tour, we celebrated leader Todd’s birthday in the Everglades, complete with live guitar music and singing! We also saw lots and lots of alligators during a 15-mile bike loop through Shark Valley. As always, sunset in Key Largo was a highlight.”
As always, I want to hear about your adventures! Just respond to this email and maybe you’ll make it into next month’s Member Newsletter.
Until next time, may the redolence of spring bring us to our senses and get us in the saddle.
Jess
