Adventure Cycling turns 50 this year, and cyclists across the country are celebrating the way cyclists do: by getting on their bikes and going on an adventure.
Through our Drop-in Rides program, groups from across the country have signed up to ride three of America’s most epic routes: the TransAmerica Trail, the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, and the brand new Golden Gravel Trail. And a few of them are inviting you along for the ride — digitally at least.
Some riders — including our 50th Anniversary ambassadors and cycling legends Ryan Van Duzer and Meaghan Hackinen — have opted into Dot tracking, allowing you to follow their progress live on our site. You’ll see their position, overall distance, and the weather around them. A translucent dot means they’ve stopped for the night, for a snack, or for a thunderstorm under a gas station awning.
So, whether you’re gathering data for your own long-distance tour or just want to live vicariously through someone else’s saddlebag adventures, these are a few riders you can dot-watch this summer.
A Father-Daughter First on the Golden Gravel Trail
Most first-timers wouldn’t choose the 3,805-mile Golden Gravel Trail as their first bikepacking trip, but Violet did. She and her dad, Gregory, who is a seasoned bikepacker, are about to embark on a section of this remote gravel route headed east from Port Orford, Oregon. And they’ve set aside 60 days to complete as much as they can.
The Golden Gravel Trail is Adventure Cycling’s newest and longest off-road route, spanning eight states from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. It takes on the Rockies, the remote canyon country of the Colorado Plateau, and Oregon’s relentless coastal climbs. It’s not a route for the faint of heart, but Violet is excited to tackle it with her dad.
A Life Change Worth Celebrating by Bike
For this couple, riding the TransAmerica Trail is something of a homecoming. Hogan and Grace met in Portland, Oregon, in 2021 but only started dating after they both moved to the East Coast. But now that the couple has plans to move back West, it felt like the perfect time to tackle the trip Hogan had been thinking about since riding the Northern Tier with Bike and Build in 2019. For Grace, this is her first fully self-supported tour. “We were super excited to learn it is also Adventure Cycling’s 50th Anniversary,” Hogan writes, “and hope to see lots of other folks out there this summer!”
Going Back to Bikecentennial
The 1976 Bikecentennial inspired a generation of cyclists, including some of the Dragon Riders. Nearly 50 years later, Larry, Alan, Jeff, Kevin, and Steve are trading road touring for bikepacking. And because they’ve connected through Companions Wanted, they won’t actually meet in person until the trip begins. They describe themselves as experienced, motivated, and “probably under 70.” Heading westbound from Pueblo, Colorado, they’ll hit the high passes of the Rockies first then the canyon country around Moab. Their message to dot watchers: “Buckle up and enjoy the ride!”
Ten Friends, One Birthday, One Distillery
Not every great bike tour has to be a monthlong expedition. Sometimes the best ride is a day trip to a distillery with ten of your closest friends. And that’s exactly what Dannon and nine of his friends are doing: Riding the Union Pacific Rail Trail from Park City to the High West Distillery in Wanship, Utah, a section of the Golden Gravel Trail that makes for a perfect out-and-back day trip.
Dannon organized it to celebrate his birthday, then discovered it coincided with Adventure Cycling’s 50th Anniversary. Now they have two reasons to celebrate. “You don’t have to commit to a huge multi-day trip in order to enjoy touring,” the group noted.
16 Years and Still Going
These four friends have taken a bike trip together every year since 2010, when they rode coast to coast from Seattle to Gloucester, Massachusetts. Since then, they’ve also toured across Canada, France, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain. We’ll see how the GGT stacks up to those international locales as they ride a section of the Golden Gravel Trail to scout a longer ride planned for 2027.
Great Divide Veterans Take on the Golden Gravel Trail
For most cyclists, completing the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. For this group, it’s also what brought them together. Sarah, Annie, Jen, Cory, and Tim met on a 2023 Adventure Cycling guided tour of the Great Divide. Now they’re tackling the Golden Gravel Trail, eastbound, aiming for around 60 miles or 5,000 feet of climbing per day, whichever comes first. They expect to be out riding through mid-September.
The post Meet Some of the Cyclists Riding America’s Best Bike Routes This Summer appeared first on Adventure Cycling Association.
