Forums for Planning Your Bike Tour...and a Lot More

Way back in April 2009 when I wrote my first GeoPoints Bulletin blog post, I mentioned our Forums as a good resource for route planning. At that time, the number of registered users was in the neighborhood of 3,700. Today that number is over 21,000 -- talk about explosive growth!

Now I don't want to say my mention is what spurred that burst in numbers. I think there have probably been a number of factors at play -- not the least of which was the upgrade to a new software implemented by our IT guru, John, making interacting an easier process -- but it didn't hurt.

Discussions range all aspects of bicycle travel from routes, gear and swapping out equipment through classified ads to reminiscing about Bikecentennial, and exchanging ideas of how to get youth involved with bicycling. A couple of hot topics the last time I checked were DIY Tips for touring and the availability of propane on the TransAmerica Trail.

There is a section devoted to the USBRS and a regional discussion area, both designed to share information specific to a locale. We recently added a new discussion area for our latest set of maps in development, Bicycle Route 66.

Anyone can read and search the discussions. Participation is absolutely free, all that is required is an email address and username created through a simple registration process.

The next time you have a question about the route you are planning or you want to upgrade some piece of your equipment, I recommend you head over to the Adventure Cycling Forums and see what other bicycle travelers have to say on the subject. The breadth of knowledge and opinions available here is deep and ever evolving.

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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. She also wants to remind you that map corrections and comments are always welcome via the online Map Correction Form.