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CREATING A U.S. BICYCLE ROUTE SYSTEM Work in Progress
At Adventure Cycling, we've always thought big…creating bike routes that traverse North America using roads and trails. For the past thirty years, we've helped tens of thousands of people from across the world make their dreams of epic bike adventures come true. Now, we and several other organizations have teamed up with AASHTO (American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials) to craft a national interstate route system – for bikes!
This is a project that has lain dormant since the early 1980s, but in 2004, AASHTO set up a special task force with staff support from Adventure Cycling Association to develop a bike route system, similar to those that are being developed in many European countries and Canada. In 2005, the task force completed its first phase of work – an inventory of state and national bike routes and trails across the U.S. The second phase of the project, a draft corridor plan, has been drafted and is being reviewed by AASHTO sub committees over the summer and fall of 2008.
This corridor plan will help link existing and proposed state bicycle routes across state borders with possible extensions into Canada and Mexico. Once the corridor plan gains support from AASHTO, Adventure Cycling and the Task Force will begin implementing the approved plan by working with states to choose and designate routes that will make up the U.S. Bicycle Route System. We envision the network will be supported and maintained through various agencies and groups at the state and local level. Best of all, this interstate route system will not only provide public access to bike routes, it will help create national political awareness and build allies across diverse interests.
Learn more about the USBRS, download an AASHTO U.S. Bicycle Routes Fact Sheet, or check out the Adventure Cycling Route Network.
PEDAL PIONEERS: A GUIDE TO BICYCLE TRAVEL WITH KIDS Completed
Pedal Pioneers is a comprehensive tool for educators and youth leaders to organize their own youth bicycle adventures. Kids these days are less active than they were thirty years ago. As a result, youth obesity rates are at an all-time high and many lifestyle-related illnesses such as childhood diabetes are on the rise. Youth cycling tours are an excellent opportunity to introduce kids to the joy and beauty of getting active. Bicycle tours provide outstanding opportunities for youth to combine physical and mental challenges, hone social skills, learn about different regions of the world, and gain confidence and a sense of self-sufficiency through experiential learning. The Guide covers many of the details that leaders need to know when considering or planning a bike tour with youth, including equipment, how to pack, route planning, food, and camping/lodging options. There are no bounds – beyond time and energy – to what type of life-changing experience you can create. Read more about Pedal Pioneers here.
UNDERGROUND RAILROAD BICYCLE ROUTE Completed
This unique bicycle route, completed in 2007, honors the bravery of freedom seekers and those that provided shelter, by following the most storied trek to freedom in American history. The UGRR, with its poignant stories and vibrant historical sites, adds new depth to the experience of traveling by bike.
Starting in Mobile, Alabama, the route winds north through river valleys and wildlife refuges to Kentucky and Ohio, before reaching Lake Erie, Niagara Falls, and its end-point in Owen Sound, Ontario on Lake Huron's Georgian Bay, the final destination for many freedom seekers. Besides the lush green scenery and the many small towns the route passes through, a host of museums, historic parks, and visitor centers bring the history of this remarkable period alive. Learn more about the Underground Railroad maps, or download our informational brochure. Check out the projects we have planned for this route, including our partnership with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Minority
Health and Day Trip Maps.
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