Shorter days and colder temperatures are beginning to invade the Bitterroot valley. Here in Missoula, Montana, I left the house this morning on my ride to work and found a dusting of snow on the peaks over 5000 feet.

Welcome to the first of a four-part series of Interbike roundups. To kick this off, I'll be running down some of my favorite bikes that I spotted on the convention floor. These are all going to be new models for 2014.

Almost any day on a bike trip is a good day. But every once in a while, a perfect day comes along. I don't have an official checklist of what qualifies a day as being perfect. But there are those days when your heart sings, and you couldn't keep a smile off your face if you tried. They are the days that first pop into your mind when it's been too long since your last bicycle journey.

It's always great to get involved in your community and show some support for local nonprofits. Recently some Adventure Cycling staff showed their love for our favorite thrift shop, Secret Seconds, by sporting our favorite finds in a little photo-shoot.

Adventure Cycling Tours Specialist Darrah Rogers and her husband Chris are new to the Missoula area. As she settles into town and starts to build community, finding another cause and another ride are high on her to-do list.

In order to cut costs on a repaving job south of Florence, ODOT contractors placed a new layer of pavement just a foot or two over the fog line, leaving an abrupt edge within the center of the shoulder — right where cyclists ride. Luckily, ODOT was quick to remedy the problem. 

At Adventure Cycling Association the winds of change just came howlin’ through the Tours Department. Joining the group are new Tours Specialists, Lydia Hess and Darrah Rogers. As a two-part series, we’d like to give you a glimpse of what these two ladies are passionate about and what brings them to the Adventure Cycling team.

When it comes to the stuff I carry on my bike, no one would ever accuse me of being an ultralight bike traveler. When traveling solo, I've been known to pedal with a tent big enough for me and my bicycle. Before the digital camera revolution, a large portion of one of my panniers was devoted to 80 rolls of slide film. I regularly find room to pack a bottle (or two) of wine. How much is too much? 20 lbs? 40 lbs? 60 lbs of gear?

One of the great ironies at Adventure Cycling is that one of the most unpleasant sections of our legendary TransAmerica Trail is the 8-mile stretch between Lolo, Montana, and our home base in Missoula, Montana. We routinely get pleas from visiting cyclists: "Can you fix that #@*&%# part of the route?" Well as of last week, we can answer: "Yes, we have a fix!"

Two weeks ago, we asked our Instagram community, "Why do you travel by bicycle?" You showed us your answers by hashtagging your photos with #ACAtravelbybike. The response was amazing!

We are pleased to announce the winner of the 2014 Dream Tour Giveaway is Tom Carmine of Newport News, Virginia.

Finely scented inserts for your shoes. They smell good, keep your shoes dry after wet rides, and will be appreciated by all who come in close contact with your cycling shoes.

Adventure Cycling appreciates the support we receive from our members, and to show our appreciation, we offer some great benefits. In addition to our award winning Adventure Cyclist magazine, discount on our maps, and access to our guided tours, we also offer service and equipment affiliate benefits from other companies.

One of the biggest hurdles to great bike travel in the United States is the lack of consistent and affordable support for bicyclists on Amtrak, coach carriers, and airlines. Imagine if you could roll your bike safely onto a train or into a cargo bay on a motor coach anywhere in the U.S. — just think of the travel options this would open up for bike overnights, weeklong trips or cross-country trips.

Meet Steve All, a software consultant and OpenStreetMap contributor whom Adventure Cycling volunteer Kerry Irons has worked with for the past several months. Kerry saw the potential for using an open-source mapping project to communicate route information both during the implementation process and after routes are designated. Once Kerry and Steve connected, good things started happening.