Adventure Cycling Association has over 48,000 members worldwide.  Their Headquarters is located at 150 E. Pine St., in Missoula, Montana. Their office hours are Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain Time, and during the summer months, they open on select weekends.

Missoula is located at the northern end of the Bitterroot Valley, which offers lots of great bicycling opportunities, including a 50-mile bike path paralleling the Bitterroot Mountains.

Adventure Cycling Association is located in a character-filled, historic downtown area, surrounded by a variety of restaurants, seasonal markets, coffee shops, retail stores, and the University of Montana. The city also has an extensive parks, trails, and open space system.

Missoula is on a number of Adventure Cycling’s mapped routes and is visited by hundreds of bicycle travelers each year. Some are riding coast to coast across America, others are on shorter trips to destinations such as Glacier National Park or the mountains of British Columbia.

Still others are on camper-van family vacations or trekking to Missoula for work, and take the opportunity to visit the place many people consider the bicycle-travel mecca.

Visitors to Adventure Cycling receive a hearty welcome, a cold beverage, an ice cream treat, and a Polaroid photo taken of them that goes up on our seasonal wall of fame. They can also enjoy kicking back in their Cyclists’ Lounge, which is full of bicycle-related reading material, including information on local rides, and offers free internet access.

Occasionally, they share a barbecue with group rides, such as their own TransAm tour, and Push America, a group of college students who ride cross country each year to raise funds and awareness for people with disabilities.

The Adventure Cycling Association inspires and empowers people to travel by bicycle:

• Provide the premier tools and inspiration for people to travel by bicycle
• Expand and integrate bike-travel networks for North America
• Create the best possible conditions for bicycle travel
• Sustain and improve Adventure Cycling Association

The Adventure Cycling Association publications:

• Adventure Cyclist (the top United States bicycle magazine)
• Cyclosource (bicycle touring gear)
• Tours Book
• Bike Bits (free email newsletter with more than 50,000 subscribers)

The Adventure Cycling Association Tours:

• Self-contained
• Inn to inn
• Fully supported
• Van supported
• Educational bicycle tours
• As a nonprofit tour operator, all proceeds go back into program support

Current Projects of The Adventure Cycling Association:

• Map production of Bicycle Route 66
• Their next long-distance route
• Completing GIS conversion of their entire network
• Coordinating the emerging U.S. Bicycle Route System
• Advocating nationally for better bike-travel conditions

Adventure Cycling was founded as Bikecentennial, a 4,250-mile TransAmerican bicycle ride in the summer of 1976, with over 4,100 participants.

Their 40th anniversary will include The Montana Bicycle Celebration, July 15 – 17, 2016 in Missoula, Montana and will bring together bike travelers from all over the world.

On the same weekend, Tour of Montana will host professional bike races, an expo, and a Gran Fondo.

Adventure Cycling’s Bikecentennial Projects:

• Archival project with Story Corps to preserve the fulfilling and transformative memories of Bikecentennial cyclists and other bike adventurers
• Bikecentennial reunions and parties
• Book about TransAmerican Trail co-authored by Greg Siple (co-founder of Adventure Cycling) and Mac McCoy (longtime Adventure Cycling staff member)
• Commemorative beer
• Family-friendly events
• Online project that will recognize forty bicyclists who have made significant contributions to the bike travel community
• Organized bike rides to showcase Missoula’s trail system (including the completed fifty-mile Bitterroot Trail south of Missoula)
• Retro-themed jerseys and merchandise available in the Cyclosource store throughout 2016
• Special bike giveaways
• Special tours

Two new annual events, set to kick off in 2016, will inspire a bike travel movement throughout North America. National Bike Travel Weekend, June 3 – 5, 2016, will motivate bike travelers from all over North America to go on bike overnights through a festive online community.

Adventure Cycling will provide do-it-yourself resources and an interactive map that will connect bike travelers during what will be the most prolific weekend of bike travel in North America.

Bike to Your National Park Day on September 24, 2016 will celebrate the National Park Service’s centennial, National Public Lands Day and Adventure Cycling’s 40th anniversary by promoting bike travel to and within national parks, state parks, and other recreational areas.

In honor of the 40th anniversary, in 2016, Adventure Cycling will offer extra TransAmerica Trail tours and other special epic tours, including on Bicycle Route 66, the Underground Railroad and the Great Divide. Sign-ups will be available on the Adventure Cycling website in the summer of 2015.

For those who cannot attend Adventure Cycling’s events or tours and want to plan their own reunion or ride, Adventure Cycling will provide online tools and resources to help plan Do-It-Yourself Reunions and Celebrations throughout 2016.

Blue Mountain Bed and Breakfast welcomes cyclists.  The benefits of biking include better health (increased physical activity) as well as a better environment (no use of fuel).

Let hosts Brady and Elaine start each morning right with a delicious hearty breakfast.  Bicyclists can return each evening for a restful night’s sleep in one of our luxurious guest rooms.

Written by Kristi Dement of Bed and Breakfast Blogging