Young Adult Bike Travel Scholarship Applications in the Numbers

January 17, 2017

Adventure Cycling received over 150 applications for the Young Adult Bike Travel Scholarship before the clock struck midnight on December 31, 2016. Now it’s time to pore over the submissions and pick the best applicants for each track: Intro to Road Touring and Outdoor Leadership. In the meantime, check out some fun facts about the Young Adult Bike Travel Scholarship applications that we received.

• 46% of the candidates submitted applications for the Intro to Bike Travel track. The Intro to Bike Travel award is for those who dream of going on a self-supported bicycle tour, but aren't quite ready to hit the road. Once outfitted with a new touring bicycle, thanks to Advocate Cycles, and equipped with panniers and other touring gear, courtesy of Big Agnes, Arkel, Portland Design Works, and HubBub Online and The Outspoken Cyclist, the winner will attend an Adventure Cycling Intro to Road Touring course — with their bike shipment covered by Bike Flights.
• 54% of the contenders applied for the Outdoor Leadership track. The Outdoor Leadership award is for those who have bike travel experience and want to get more involved in outdoor leadership. This award is for cyclists interested in developing their tour planning and leadership skills by attending Adventure Cycling’s Leadership Training Course. In addition to the course, the recipient will have the opportunity to take an additional Adventure Cycling self-contained tour of their choice and will receive a $100 Cyclosource gift certificate to refresh their gear.

• Over half of the applications came from young adults aged 26–30. Adventure Cycling increased the award’s qualifying age to up to 30 years old this year (from 18–25 in previous years) after hearing that it’s taking some young adults a little longer to finish college or advance degrees and start their careers.
• Applications came from 37 states and Washington D.C., with more than 63% of the applicants residing in 13 states: California, Colorado, Florida, New York, Washington, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia, and Vermont.

The Young Adult Bike Travel Scholarship was developed in response to our members’ overwhelming enthusiasm and commitment to Adventure Cycling’s mission to inspire and empower people of all ages to travel by bicycle. Upon completion, scholarship recipients will take what they’ve learned and apply it to an outreach activity to promote bicycle travel in their communities. Please consider contributing to the fund to get more people of all ages on the road to bike travel.

• John Nguyen inspired young people in his hometown of Houston to ride their bikes.
• Jocelyn Munoz taught a workshop on bike touring and led trips through her university outdoor program.
• Cara Thompson led a “Story-Bike” or bike tour with a diverse group of writers, artists and creative people.

Tomorrow Adventure Cycling will announce an exciting change to the Young Adult Bike Travel Scholarship. Hint: The award will honor someone who has been an advocate for bike travel for over 40 years.

Thank you to the generous sponsors for supporting the Young Adults Bike Travel Scholarship: Advocate Cycles, Big Agnes, Arkel, Portland Design Works, Bike Flights, and HubBub Online and The Outspoken Cyclist. Keep sharing photos of your adventures with #jumpstartbiketravel.

Photo 1 courtesy of Cara Thompson | Photo 2 Whitney Ford-Terry | Photo 3 Saara Snow | Photo 4 courtesy of Jocelyn Munoz | Photo 5 courtesy of John Nguyen

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