First Report - Bridging the Gaps

Hi, Jenn Milyko reporting in from Routes & Mapping. I'll be your source here for reports and pointers regarding our routes (especially the maps!) and other tidbits relevant to our over 38,000-mile cycling network. I also hope to unearth interesting people and places found along the way and solicit your participation from time to time.

Let's kick things off with a few tips on planning a trip where you need additional routing outside of, or to connect to, our network.

To start your research, be sure to check the latest and greatest version of the Adventure Cycling Route Network overview map, available as a pdf download. Once you get to our Route Network page, click on MAP OF ALL ACA ROUTES (located in the navigation bar on the right) to download the map. This handy reference map shows where all 24 of our routes are located and how they intersect. It even includes the preliminary path of the not yet released Sierra Cascades Bicycle Route.

Once you've determined where you may want to veer off our network and onto a route of your own choosing, you have a few options to pursue:

- The Cyclists' Yellow Pages has thousands of listings for maps, books, government agencies, and cycling organizations.

- Every state has a Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator who is part of their Department of Transportation. These coordinators know the lay of the land in their state better than anyone else. We often go to them when looking at making a route change and highly recommend them. Some states even have a great library of mapped routes. Get links to each state from the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center.

- For firsthand, from the road knowledge, make an inquiry on our Forums. With over 3,700 forum members, this is a treasure trove of advice. A quick search may yield the answer to your question or you may want to pose your question to this audience of bicycle travel pros.

With these three tools, you're likely to find the piece of information you are lacking to fill in that blank spot on the map.

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GeoPoints Bulletin is written by Jennifer 'Jenn' Milyko, an Adventure Cycling cartographer, and appears weekly, highlighting curious facts, figures and persons from Adventure Cycling's route network with tips and hints for personal route creation thrown in for good measure.