I would love to travel by bicycle, if only...

Have you ever heard this statement from a friend or colleague?

"I would love to travel by bicycle, if only..."

"The kids were old enough to come along."

"I could take three months off to ride cross-country."

"I didn't have to cook and camp."

"I knew an easy route and accessible place to ride and camp."

"I had a map."

"I knew what kind of gear I'd need."

These expressions, which we have all heard from people we meet while on tour, from friends and family, and in passing conversations, tell us that a good segment of the population would choose to travel by bicycle, if they felt more comfortable with it. 

Adventure Cycling's goal is to put these concerns and doubts to rest by providing the tools and resources any person of any age or any lifestyle needs to travel by bicycle. 

"I would love to travel by bicycle if only my kids were old enough to come along." 

We are really striving to show people that bicycle touring is a family activity. To quote member Jerry Peterson of Florida, "Bicycle touring was a way for us to bring the whole family together." Jerry has used Adventure Cycling resources to plan family bicycle-touring vacations with three generations of his family.

If you know someone who wants to travel by bicycle with their family, point them toward our expert gear reviews on trailers and trail-a-bikes and our many examples of family-friendly bike overnights.

"I would love to travel by bicycle if only I could take three months off to ride cross-country." 

Me too! While I'm currently scheming to land myself a three-month vacation in which to enjoy some of Adventure Cycling's longer routes, I still can enjoy the magic of bicycle touring on shorter one- to two-week trips. We provide lots of resources for the vacation time-deprived bicycle tourist such as BikeOvernights.org, eight routes that are under 600-miles long including the Tidewater Potomac Heritage Route, the Florida Connector, and the Green Mountains Loop, and tours that allow you to sample different regions and routes over a week to two-week period.

Later in 2013, we will release a new loop route that will connect natural hot springs in Idaho. Don't forget to pack your bathing suit!

"I would love to travel by bicycle if I didn't have to cook or camp."

Amen to that! Well, I actually do like cooking and camping, but sometimes you just want to enjoy your ride and the siteseeing and not worry about setting up camp at the end of the day. We're growing our resources to help those "credit card tourists." Our Inn-to-Inn tours give you a warm bed, warm shower, and hot meal at the end of the day. If it's just the cooking that turns you off, our fully-supported tours let you camp and enjoy the outdoors with catered meals. If you're on your own, our maps will tell you the lay of the land so you know where you can grab a bite to eat and get a room for the night.

"I would love to travel by bicycle if I knew an easy route and accessible place to ride and camp." 

"I would love to travel by bicycle if I had a map."

Both of these concerns can be assuaged by checking out the Adventure Cycling Route Network, which encompasses over 41,000 miles across North America.

"I would love to travel by bicycle if I knew what kind of gear I'd need."

Well, they don't call us the bicycle-travel experts for nothing! People interested in learning about gear can read our expert gear reviews on our blog column "Touring Gear and Tips," which runs intermittently on Friday afternoons. They can also check out our How-To Department to learn everything from how to read our maps to what to take on tour, and from how to pack your panniers to how to pack and ship your bicycle to your tour destination. And don't forget about our online store, Cyclosource, where you can find all your touring-gear needs.

As you can see, you don't have to wait until the kids grow up or you've retired to experience the power of bicycle travel. And you don't have to "rough it" either. We offer loads of educational resources and tips for traveling with family, and ideas for a variety of experience levels and tastes in bicycle travel.

Our goal is to continue to grow these tools and resources both online and in Adventure Cyclist magazine, and to continue growing our outreach to bicycle-tour hungry populations. We can't do it without your support. Please donate to the 2012 Holiday Campaign today.

Illustration by Luke McDonnell

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SUPPORT ADVENTURE CYCLING is written by Amanda Lipsey, development director for Adventure Cycling Association.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/11/i-would-love-to-travel-by-bicycle-if.html

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