Kerry Irons

I'm a 30-year member of and volunteer for Adventure Cycling Association, a national non-profit bicycle travel organization, and they have asked me to help spread the word about their mission which is "To inspire people of all ages to travel by bicycle for fitness, fun, and self-discovery."

Adventure Cycling researches and creates cycling maps, has in-depth bicycle touring info on their website, publishes a bicycle travel magazine called Adventure Cyclist and the Cyclists' Yellow Pages, a trip planning guide, and runs organized tours. They also have been central in the development of the recently approved plans for a US Bicycle Route System. They have offered 100 free one year memberships for me to disperse to people who are not currently members. Membership is normally $40.

If you are interested in learning more about Adventure Cycling and their mission go to: www.adventurecycling.org

To take advantage of this offer you can sign-up at: https://www.adventurecycling.org/mem...o.cfm?r=Y6-F11

It's first come, first served, so don't be surprised if they're all gone pretty quickly! This is not SPAM! There are no strings attached!


Kerry Irons

The Impossipede

Kerry,

Nice to see you around these parts. Keep spreading the gospel!

Gus Riley

Darn, I'm a past member! But I forwarded it to a fellow tourer who has never been a member. Thanks

ocho

Heh, so the ACA has to give away memberships. I checked them out and found the organization wanting. They do use the whole bicycle lifestyle thing as much as they can though to sell their maps. And lots of people play right into it, which is fine if thats what you like. I personally don't even see the value in a free membership.

NoReg

I've come across some of the articles online and thought they were really good. I would sign up but I'm in Canada.

ScottNotBombs

Yes! Thank you! I'm planning on doing the Northern Tier this summer and any money that I can save is helpful.

Speedo

Good organization. I really like the magazine.

Speedo

BigBlueToe

I really like the ACA. I appreciate how they keep coming up with new routes that I'd like to ride. Of course they're not the only or the first to "invent" the routes, and there are loads of places that are tourworthy that aren't on their route list. Who cares? If you want to go somewhere else, go somewhere else. If you want to go on "their" routes and not use their maps, fine. But if you want to take a tour on a route where someone else has done the groundwork, very thoroughly; where they've located quieter, nicer roads so you don't have to spend too much time on a busy highway; where you have a good idea where all the services are, all the turns are, etc.; the ACA maps are a great investment.

I also like their magazine. I just wish it was longer. I usually finish it in about two sittings.

Their jerseys and shirts are pretty expensive though. I haven't bought one yet, even though I've ridden three of their routes.

Their commercial tours are pretty expensive, but so are all the commercial tours, right? So far I haven't taken one with them or anyone else. Maybe someday though. As I get older, the kids are out of the house, and things are paid off, I may be able to afford it. Who knows? I think I'd be as likely to take one of their tours as anyone else's.

Right on, ACA.

NeilGunton

I'm really glad Adventure Cycling is in the world. I personally don't really enjoy having to find out (usually by trial and error) which roads are good for doing a tour from A to B. I know it goes against the "adventure" part for some people, but for me, I really appreciate having a map (waterproof, no less) with a little line on it, which tells me where services and campgrounds are, and the route is likely to be pretty scenic and as traffic free as is reasonably possible. Touring is hard enough without ending up on freeways unexpectedly or taking a main road when there was a much better one just over the hill with no traffic, but I just didn't know about it. And you get to meet other touring cyclists too! The Adventure Cycling Association have put a LOT of work into their routes. One of my little dreams is to one day have the time to work my way through all of them - "collect the set" so to speak:

https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/index.cfm

I have to say I don't understand the hostility that some people here seem to harbor against this organization. They have helped support Crazyguyonabike since I first started the ads back in 2006 (they were one of the first organizations I approached, just seemed like such an obvious choice, and they were totally into it). They do fundraising, as any non-profit has to, but that doesn't mean they are just all about the money. This world runs on money, you can't just ignore it, and employees need to be paid. The rent doesn't happen on good wishes alone. Adventure Cycling does a lot more good in the world, advancing the idea of touring by bicycle, than most of the businesses that we all work for (or have worked for in the past - I was on Wall Street at one time, what a soul sucking experience that was). Appreciate them for being here, they are on our side.

Neil

PedaltheGlobe

Could you elaborate? It seems only fair if you are going to bash them to at least give an explanation.

If it weren't for the ACA I wouldn't have took my first tour across the USA. They gave me a lot more confidence to tour knowing that other people had done the same thing along the designated roads and also knowing exactly what services were ahead. Now that I have built my touring confidence I feel I could make it without their maps wherever I choose to go, but I definitely have them to thank for helping me build that confidence in the first place.

The Impossipede

Why invite a troll to troll? ACA has been so helpful to so many cyclists that regardless of one's personal opinion of them, it's simply irrational to say that even a free membership is without value. Any elaboration is going to be, at best, the revelation of a personal axe to grind. Then a bunch of people are going to feel the need to jump to the ACA's defense, and the whole thread will be filled with meaningless clutter. Just let it slide, man. Ocho hates the ACA, and that's fine for him.

But anyone else who is even remotely curious about them or their tours should take Kerry up on his offer and decide for themselves.

ocho

This has been gone over before, try searching the forum. Basically in a nutshell I went for their package they offer - a magazine, access to maps and all that. I found the material very dated and pretty much worthless. When I asked why they got huffy and said they don't send out the good stuff for "trials" and I questioned why offer it then if you can't put your best foot forward. We never got anywhere until I was told that the ACA probably wasn't for me or something to that effect. I figured out that all they want to do is sell maps - and these are the same ones I already have or can get through other organizations I do support. So in my opinion they simply seem to take routes and road info from these other more grass roots local organizations and roll it up billing it as theirs. Thats fine and if you want a map clearing house the ACA is your place to go. A good friend is a board member and he has his opinion like I have mine, so I'm not bashing it but just commenting about how its interesting they have to give away memberships. I'm all over donating to bicycling causes and doing what I can to further riding on or off road but I do look at the organization before sending them money.

ocho

My turn to ask. Can you show me or point me to examples of how the ACA has been so helpful to so many cyclists? I'm just curious. This is not something anyone there could tell me when asked. Since you have this info, please share it.

SBRDude

You don't think the maps are helpful?

I would also think that ACA would be very helpful to anyone interested in touring but not sure where to start.

Also, just the mere fact that they continue to put on tours all over the country with good responses indicates that many people are happy with their services.

Organizations like ACA certainly aren't necessary and like all other similar organizations, a savvy person might not see the need, although many savvy people still enjoy the convenience. The same thing could be said about REI - why bother when you can get the same stuff elsewhere and often cheaper. Some people find a value added experience by being able to shop in one place, get help from the staff, etc., and some see that as useless. That's why we have choices in America.

staehpj1

Great organization! I like the magazine and their maps and enjoy both more than enough to make the membership fee worthwhile. I also have found that their staff is very helpful at answering questions. The supported tours aren't my cup of tea and I am not too inclined to buy stuff from their store, but I am sure that some folks like those features too.

I have toured with and without their maps and both ways are fun, but if I am going somewhere that their maps cover I find them well worth the price and am inclined to use them. Much of the value is in the additional information on the maps which includes locations and contact info for points of interest, libraries, post offices, police, fire, hospitals, stores, bike shops, campgrounds, free places to camp, hotels, B&B's, motels, hostels, and just about any service you might need. There is some general info about the area that usually makes for interesting reading also they suggest usually some side trips. They also include zip codes which makes it easier to arrange mail drops. The maps are typically fairly up to date, but it is a good idea to check the addenda and print it out before the trip to be sure of having the latest info.

VT_Speed_TR

I think of the ACA as an advocacy organization for bicycling. I like to know that there is someone on a national level that becomes involved in voicing the desire of the bicycling segment of the population. Without some national voice and membership to back them up, the idea of spending money on anything other then cars/roads would not even be considered. The magazine and maps are there to support members, but if all you are looking for is getting that in exchange for your membership dollars, then you are too shallow and no advocacy group will statisfy you. Its about the mission, not the hardgoods, sorry if you don't see that

NeilGunton

So let me see if I have this straight: You were interested in Adventure Cycling, and asked for one of their trial packages, but were annoyed when you found the samples they sent you were not the newest and most up-to-date. You do realize that the trial package you received was just to get a sense of the maps, and the full versions cost money... right? is this really such a surprise? Do you also get mad at supermarkets when they give out free samples of detergent or food, but want money for the full size versions? Those maps were tasters, they were supposed to give you a sense of the format, information etc, not give you everything for free.

No, the Adventure Cycling map routes were developed by them, not other organizations. As far as I know, these maps are proprietary and are only available from Adventure Cycling. They have people specifically employed to map out routes from scratch, and they have GIS specialists on staff who make the maps. This is not copied from anybody. Some of the routes may overlap or coincide with portions of other routes, but it's kind of inevitable since roads are fixed and sometimes there is simply a "best" way for a touring cyclist to get through a given region. As far as I know, Adventure Cycling mapped out the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route themselves, from scratch. Ditto the TransAmerica Trail (their original route), and many others.

Sometimes they will take a pre-existing route and formalise it and make it better and more accessible for cyclists - e.g. the Sierra Cascades route existed in concept before (there was a book, I believe, which is now very out of date), but they went over it in detail, using the same guy who wrote the original book, and made it into a real mapped route that is much more accessible now to many cyclists. And they are currently doing the same for Route 66 - it's a pre-existing route, in theory, but many portions have been lost or overlayed by freeways, so I'm sure they will come up with reasonable detours and ways around the obstacles.

This is part of the service they provide - the devil is in the details, just because they might base their routes on some pre-existing concept doesn't mean they don't put a LOT of work into getting the details right - ending up with that little black line which you can follow with some confidence that you are going to be on a good road most of the time.

But in any case, there is more to the Adventure Cycling maps than just the route itself - there's all the additional info regarding services, camping, shops, etc. And you can get errata which have updates on the latest closures, detours etc. This is a real service, and it's very useful - I've used it myself.

Membership also includes a subscription to their magazine, Adventure Cyclist, which is very interesting in itself and (in my opinion) worth the subscription fee even if you never buy anything else from them. And this is quite apart from the other services they provide, such as forums and advocacy, lobbying the government on behalf of cyclists everywhere on issues that matter to us.

That's just plain flat out wrong. You are trying to portray them as leeches and parasites, whereas in fact they are creators and producers of reams of original content, which takes a great deal of work to create and keep up to date.

Really? Saying that an organization is useless and has to give away free memberships because nobody would buy them seems an awful lot like bashing to me.

They don't have to give away memberships, it's a common practice in just about every industry on the planet to have promotions and freebies occasionally. You're implying that they have to give away free memberships, otherwise nobody would buy them. This is clearly not true, Adventure Cycling has a very active and enthusiastic membership (tens of thousands of members) who appreciate what they do, and are willing to pay money for it.

That's great - but it's not cool to spread lies just because you got offended by not being given full access to all their maps for free based on some trial offer. I don't know what this "trial" was exactly, but reading between the lines it sounds like they sent you older versions of the maps so you could see what the format and style was like. Based on this you were not supposed to be getting free maps, but rather a sense of what the ones they sell would be like. It makes sense for them to use old, outdated versions of the maps for this purpose - otherwise they would just be thrown out. I think it's a great idea, in fact, and I can imagine the meeting where someone asked "Hey what to do with all this excess inventory of out-of-date maps", and some bright spark chirps "Well, people are always asking for samples, why not use them for trials, so people can see what they're like, but they're not the full version so they still have to buy that?". I'm just postulating here, I have no idea if this is the case, but it makes perfect sense. If I had never seen the maps before then I would certainly find it useful to be able to handle a map and see the style, color, and type of information that it offers. But that's what it is - a sample. Of course you buy the "real" up-to-date maps.

Neil

SBRDude

Excellent post and I'll just reply to the last. I recently did the trial membership thing and I didn't get any sample maps with the package. Not sure if that needed to be a special request or perhaps they stopped offering outdated freebies because some people were unhappy with the samples. Pure speculation. Anyway, I joined a couple months ago even though I don't have any plans for any of their routes in the near future. I want to do part of the Tour Divide, but that's a ways in the future. If I do it, the FIRST thing I will do is order the maps from ACA.

indyfabz

I would be happy to share:

Their Hurculean efforts to put together a national bike route network are helping cyclists.

I stayed in the cyclists only campsite on the west side of Togwotee Pass that they maintain in conjunction with the USFS. Wonderful place.

The leader of their '00 North Star tour invited me to dinner when I crossed paths with the group in Glacier N.P.

Their magazine has provided me with hours of pleasurable reading.

Their efforts to educate state DOTs on the dangers of poorly placed rumple strips have helped cyclists.

Their Northern Tier tour helped me gain touring and camping experience, which I had none of prior to embarking.

Off to renew my membership for another two years.

PomPilot

I took Kerry up on his offer last year (on another forum yet), and have enjoyed the year's worth of reading material. Also took one of Adventure Cycling's beginner tours. I renewed early, and am using their materials to help plan my vacation tour for this year. I have also recommended them to a new, local, outdoor shop in the hope that they will stock items suitable for touring cyclists, as well as backpackers and climbers.

xyzzy834

I used the ACA maps when I toured around Lake Erie. I found them to be of first class quality, both physically and content. I thought the route was well thought out and clearly chosen by a biker, probably even someone rather local to the area. The concise listing of campgrounds, food, libraries, and other attractions of particular interest to bikers was invaluable.

I've toured in places that aren't covered by ACA routes. I did a large amount of research about the route and points of interest to me and I got by just fine. I would have gladly paid the ACA for their maps of the routes if they existed. The ACA maps are much more compact and concise for the information I needed.

When I put a tour journal online, I asked the ACA for permission to use a couple of of their route synopsis thumbnails and it was granted promptly with enthusiasm. My personal experience with the ACA has been 100% positive.

Some of the discussion here reminds me of a useful, if apocryphal, story:

pdlamb

One more cyclist here who found their information helpful. Apart from the inspiration to do the trip, I found their maps well worth my money. One example: there was no mapped bicycle route across Virginia before Bikecentennial (now ACA). The state now publicizes the route pioneered and mapped by ACA.

Where to sleep (free, low-cost, or motels); where to eat; library locations, if you need free web; these aren't on anybody else's maps that I know of. Does Garmin tell you you can sleep in the fire department in Mineral? I don't think so! Can you find the city campground in Hot Sulphur Springs, or even know it's there to help plan your trip without the maps? I doubt it!

Not to mention eastern Kentucky. I'd rather not have to blaze my own bike route through those hills without the AC maps. Half the back roads didn't show up on the same GPS screen when zoomed out to show the next road.

ACA is a fine, upstanding organization.

tomg

I discovered myself in America with Bikecentennial!
I will do it again (xUSA) AdvCycling, 2011 pda
I am a Life member, $paid$
go ride!
tomg

k9 gromit

I got a free membership last year and will be renewing on my own dime this year. Their mag is good and leaves me wanting more each time I get one. Haven't ordered maps yet but prices look pretty competitive with what I have seen done in the motorcycling community. Had a brief email conversation recently with someone at their HQ who was smart and helpful.

Nay-sayers on a free membership? I have to laugh. Some folks could win the lottery and complain that their winnings were paid in 20's and 50"s rather than 100's.

Machka 

But isn't Adventure Cycling only a US based organisation. I've barely given it a passing glance because of that assumption.