Adventure Cycling, if you didn't know already-- is the non-profit organization that established the route and maps that my friend and I followed this summer on our bike tour across the country. Click HERE to see a map of all the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) maps. The route we followed was the TransAmerica Trail, established in 1976, the bicentennial of the country.
Following Adventure Cycling maps easily eliminated half the logistics of planning our tour. That is, if you even able to CHOOSE which of the many routes to go on! For us, choosing the TransAm was easy. We knew that we wanted to cross the entire country and the TransAm is perhaps the most "classic" way to do so-- and, my riding partner's mom had done the route in 1976, the year the route was born. So for us, it was an easy choice.
Now that I have just started saving up for a second tour-- hmm.. I could do the Great Divide.. or the Sierra Cascades.. or maybe a loop in the SouthWest.. how do I choose?! I'll just have to do them all.
Anyhow-- back to Adventure Cycling. Making maps and establishing routes isn't the only wonderful they do. The ACA also advocates for cyclists in the political arena. They are currently working with the government to establish a U.S. Bicycle Route System. The ACA is also a rich resource of touring information-- in their archived magazine articles, cyclists' yellow pages and now-- their BLOG! Check it out!
