Your September 2026 Member Newsletter
Hello,
Goodness, we are busy!
It’s the tail end of the riding season. Drop-in riders are finishing their routes. Only a handful of guided tour departures remain. Visits to headquarters are dwindling just as the forest understory begins to turn red and gold.
The change of season brings a change of focus, and we’ve got a lot in store for members in the coming months.
To start us off, 2027 guided tours open for registration September 23. We’ve brought back a few tours you haven’t seen in a couple of years. Keep an eye on your inbox for tours-specific emails chock full of information.
Cartographer Amy has her head and hands full of route minutiae as she works furiously toward launching the Eastern Canada Bicycle Route on October 7. (Your gift now helps her get it across the finish line.)
Later, the fourth weekend in October, our board will host a second, grand 50th party, this one in our home of Missoula, Montana. I’d love to meet you and thank you for being a member in person, so please sign up for the Golden October Celebration today. 🥳
Not long after sweeping up the remains of our raucous party, we launch a fully revamped routes section of our website. 🚴The routes and marketing teams have waded knee-deep into the quagmires of our user experience, and I’m so excited to show you what we’ve come up with. Finding the right route for you — whether a cross-country Adventure Cycling route, a USBR section in your state, or piecing together sections of all our route networks to get you from point A to point B — will be easier than ever.
Thrown in among all of these shenanigans are Campfire Chats. In September, join us for a discussion all about the USBRS, the nation’s growing network of officially designated interstate bike routes, revealing how new routes get developed and designated. In October, we tempt the foodfocused among us with Gas Station Gourmet: Stories and Strategies for Eating on Tour. And in November, we’ll wrap up the travel year with Tales from the Trails, inviting you to share your bike travel experiences. Don’t sleep on Campfire Chats, RSVP for one, or all three, of these sessions — for members only!
Our 2026 calendar is certainly full through the end of this year, as we aim all our pedal strokes toward creating a great member experience. You’re always welcome to let me know how we’re doing.
Just north of my home in Missoula is one of my favorite places in the world: the Swan Mountain Range and the Swan Valley. It also happens to be one of Great Divide riders’ favorite sections, and I understand why. The Swan Crest towers over this lush valley dotted with natural lakes. It’s a recreationist’s paradise and vital connective habitat for ecologically important species.
On August 20, the U.S. Forest Service published a Proposed Rule to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which currently protects 45 million acres of the last undeveloped backcountry landscapes in our national forests from resource extraction. These include landscapes in 38 states where we climb, hike, ski, paddle, and, of course, bike. Opening these areas to development has the potential to transform our outdoor experiences, wildlife corridors, and wild spaces. The Great Divide Route in the Swan Valley, as one small example, could see an increase in logging and/or mining traffic if the Roadless Rule were rescinded.
Luckily, if you’d like input on this decision, the USDA has a public comment period, ending September 20. We’ve partnered with Outdoor Alliance to provide you with additional information and an opportunity to easily comment. ✍️
One way to get your comment noticed and counted is to make it personal! Outdoor Alliance has prefilled the comment box with suggested text, but we encourage you to add your own voice, your personal connection to roadless areas, or specific details about where you live. Use Outdoor Alliance’s impacted areas map to find a place special to you, just like the Swan Valley is special to me, and let your voice be heard.
And after you’ve done that, 👀 check out our beautiful, new Advocacy webpage where we list all of our partners and current advocacy efforts.
And now for something completely different.
This summer our cyclist greeter, Milo, pointed out that the cloth backdrop for the National Bicycle Touring Portrait Collection is feeling its age. A little bedraggled, fraying, and sun-bleached. (I could have told him I’m feeling a little that way myself.)
Industrious Milo drew up a diagram of the backdrop, complete with seam widths. Now, I’m looking for an industrious member with sewing experience to make us a new one. 🧵🧵🧵
Would you like to volunteer your sewing skills for Adventure Cycling this winter?
We’ll select and ship you the fabric and thread, as well as the diagram of the current backdrop. You mail us the finished product by early March. It’s agreat winter project for the right person.
Drop-in Rider Julie Mock, who won one of our Drop-in prize packages, has been sending us regular updates of her Great Divide ride. I thought you’d like to hear from her, too.
“I am writing to thank you and the Adventure Cycling Association for the Drop-In Giveaway prizes. The Richie T-shirt is so comfortable and fits perfectly and I am taking the multitool on my GDMBR ride. I can’t believe that this one small tool fits all of the bolts on my Salsa Cutthroat and bike bags! The NoNormal Adventure Box is awesome. It’s a great addition to my camp kit. Now, I am really looking forward to my morning coffee!
“I ordered the City Rover Power 700 bike light and a water bottle with the $100 Portland Design Works gift card. The light is very powerful and I appreciate that it has a battery meter, so I can see how much charge I have left, and a very sturdy mounting bracket.
“…. I catch my flight to Calgary next week, on Tuesday, June 30. I hope to be on the trail by July 1! There are so many things that I am looking forward to with this upcoming bikepacking trip. Seeing new sites and, hopefully, meeting kindred spirits on the route. Moving my body on a daily basis and then taking care of it by tending to the basics of hydration, food, shelter, hygiene, and sleep. Being in nature, for sure. Feeling challenged by the enormity of it, and then taking it day by day, moment by moment.”
And most recently:
“Hello from Pie Town, New Mexico! Having a wonderful time and so grateful
to be celebrating your 50th Anniversary by traveling this iconic route by
bike!”
👏 Love to hear it, Julie! 👏
We’re also so grateful to have you on route, experiencing the world and our 50th Anniversary by bike.
We’re so grateful for all of you, and hope you’ll help us celebrate the last few months of our golden year by joining one of the many opportunities mentioned in this very long email.
Until October (spooky season!), happy tailwinds,
Jess