06/12/2025
The 2026 50th Anniversary Celebration of Bikecentennnial '76 and Adventure Cycling will be held in Tucson, AZ rather than in Missoula, MT.
If you are Adventure Cycling Association member, you have recently received the June Member Newsletter in your email. It was announced that rather than a large celebration event in Missoula, Montana in 2026, the organization, with the help of some incredible volunteers, is putting its efforts into planning and hosting an event in Tucson, AZ to kick off a year of festivities that will also include a new route release and group riding opportunities on its iconic routes.
As many people here may be disappointed that there will not be a multi-day event next year in Missoula, please understand that as a nationwide organization, Adventure Cycling is excited to branch out and explore a beautiful new area primed to facilitate all sorts of incredible riding with its world-class cycling infrastructure.
If you didn't catch the member newsletter, here is an excerpt:
"Tour leader and volunteer extraordinaire, Steve Powell, was recently in the Tucson area scouting for Jubilee in the Desert, our 50th Anniversary kickoff event in January. He met with Catalina State Park rangers and local members to discuss logistics, event day rides, the potential for a large group celebration party, and more.
Local volunteerism and collaboration are key to the success of this event, and Steve met with a few Tucson residents, including Kent Bauman who is head of the local cycling club, a Bikecentennial '76 rider, and a current Adventure Cycling member.
While I hoped that registration for the Jubilee would open mid-June, we need a little more time to finesse the details. I hope to launch registration and informative webpages in early July. Apologies for the delay.
Jubilee in the Desert will be our golden anniversary’s official in-place gathering, January 9-12, 2026. (I’m certainly stoked to swap January’s doldrums for some silly saguaros.) Adventure Cycling's Staff are not planning a gathering in Missoula like we did for the 40th anniversary, though we’re open to volunteers organizing regional events.
As a national organization, our goal is to encourage as many people as possible to celebrate the anniversary by riding bikes, whether at regional events or along our iconic routes. We have some fun announcements coming down the wire about routes and rides soon — stay tuned!"
I also met with Steve and Kent in Tucson to help organize this grand event, and we hope many of you can come and join the fun. I can certainly say the roads there are very nice for cycling, and even some gravel trails in the state park.
Again, as some may have hoped for a major event in Missoula, the decision to create regional events on a smaller scale was necessary, and staff and board are excited to see you there! Details will be here soon for the Jubilee event. Thank you for being an Adventure Cycling member and supporter!
Dreux DeMack
Adventure Cycling Volunteer
(Please note that this page is no longer my primary Bikecentennial and Adventure Cycling page. As many of you know, I created a new group as seen in the graphic below. I will also post the link to that page. If you are not a member of that group, please join today. I will still keep this page you are on up and LIVE, but it is no longer my primary page for new content.)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/974818537500393
