Photo Credit: Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau

Since 2018, PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings program has identified, analyzed, and compared the best cities and towns for bicycling in the U.S. and abroad. For 2024, we scored 2,300 cities across the U.S. and nearly 200 cities throughout the U.K, Australia, and Europe.

This year’s City Ratings feature 816 new U.S. cities, including a brand new #1 city for bicycling — Mackinac Island, Michigan.


A small historic island located in Lake Huron off the coast of northern Michigan, Mackinac Island is perhaps best known for one of the main reasons it scored so well in our City Ratings — no motorized vehicles are allowed. The ban was originally enacted in 1898 after residents complained that the arrival of the new “horseless carriages” were dangerous and scared their horses. Today, the ban is still in place, and residents and visitors of the island travel by foot, bike, or horse-drawn carriage.


“The no vehicle aspect is really nice. You don’t have to worry about traffic,” jokes Steph Castelein, who works as the content manager for the island’s tourism bureau. “A lot of people don’t leave the downtown area, but there’s so much to explore. People have been coming back for years and are always finding something new.”


While the island itself is only 3.8 square miles in size, 80% of Mackinac is a state park and is home to more than 70 miles of trails to explore, including an 8.2-mile coastal trail that circumnavigates the perimeter of the island.

Mackinac Island’s lack of vehicular traffic and 19th-century charm have made the small Michigan town a major national tourism destination, with the year-round population of around 600 welcoming nearly 1 million visitors each year. Earlier this year, Mackinac took home the #1 spot on USA Today’s list of the best summer travel destinations in the U.S. for the second year in a row.


While not every city may be fortunate enough to have more than 125 years of car-free streets to its name, there are still valuable lessons to be learned from the small island off the tip of Michigan’s mitten.


“It’s interesting, for those that live here full-time, it’s just the way it is. We don’t have to think about it,” says Castelein. “We ride our bikes to get our groceries home, our kids get to school on bikes — it’s become so normal to use bikes for transportation.”

Creating a culture of biking doesn’t happen overnight, but with the proper dedicated efforts investing in infrastructure and enacting policies that make choosing to go by bike an easy, safe, and accessible option, you’d be surprised how quickly people will leave the car at home and opt for the joys and conveniences of riding a bike. 


Want to support bike infrastructure and policies that can help transform your community into a great place to ride a bike? See how your city scored in this year’s City Ratings and explore our Great Bike Infrastructure Project to find a project that needs help in your backyard.

This Michigan Tourist Destination is the Best Place to Bike in the U.S.

Even at a bike organization, not everyone bikes all the time, especially in the winter. When I started as PeopleForBikes’ director of enterprise partnerships in 2021, I knew part of my role would be helping companies across the country find ways to engage and support more employees in bicycling. Thankfully, PeopleForBikes’ own staff felt like the perfect testing ground for this work. 

In December of 2021, we circulated a survey to better understand existing bike riding habits. Based on those survey results, a new employee benefit was developed, focused on encouraging more time spent on the bicycle. Dubbed “Bike Perks,” the ride encouragement program launched in January 2022.

The idea behind Bike Perks isn’t a new concept. Organizations have incentivized bike riding habits for decades. Historically, these programs focused on reducing car-based commutes for businesses with limited parking capacity. With some of PeopleForBikes staff working in different states, however, parking wasn’t a motivator and we developed our program with new goals in mind. 

Goal 1: Live out our mission to get more people biking more often. 

Goal 2: Encourage investment in the industry we serve.

Using the PeopleForBikes ride-recording and sharing platform, Ride Spot, internal ride challenges were created each month encouraging staff to bike 25 times. Those rides could be of any variety (i.e., exercise, transportation, leisure) and of any distance. Reducing the parameters on what type of rides count toward the monthly challenges not only made the program more inclusive but it also helped increase participation. For those unable to bike, for whatever reason, we offered alternative participation activities like yoga, physical therapy, or walking.

As an additional incentive, PeopleForBikes staff earned $4 for every ride logged using Ride Spot (up to $100/month). Staff could also double that incentive by submitting bike industry purchase receipts up to the amount they earned from riding — meaning an employee taking full advantage of the program could earn $2,400/year. Soon, staff were reaching for their bikes first when going to work out or running to the grocery store.

With a full year of Bike Perks behind us, we’re happy to report how the program has fared thus far. PeopleForBikes’ 2022 Bike Perks by the numbers:


7 staff members completed 100% of the 2022 challenges (a minimum of 300 trips)

83% of EOY survey respondents said the program changed their bike riding habits

At a glance, it would be easy to say the cash benefit is what motivated staff to participate in the program, and for a lot of people, it definitely played a role. However, we found there were many low and no-cost measures that also contributed to the success of the Bike Perks program. Here are a few key takeaways: 

Senior leadership should show support, promote, and participate in the program. Devoting a Slack channel to sharing ride stories can also help engage employees. 

Having a dedicated point person to answer questions and/or offer low-cost prizes can help keep staff informed and involved. 

Keep the challenges fun and topical. It’s important to change challenge parameters to fit the season.

If a formal ride encouragement program is something that would benefit your organization, you’re in luck! PeopleForBikes is ready to provide the software and programming to launch Bike Perks at your organization at no charge. Schedule a demo today to see how the program can improve the bike culture within your team. 

How PeopleForBikes Encourages Staff to Ride More

PeopleForBikes, a national bicycling advocacy organization, and the U.S. bicycle industry’s trade association announced its latest round of community grants totaling $92,000. The 11 projects funded in 2022 will support bicycle infrastructure and advocacy projects across the U.S. 

PeopleForBikes’ Industry Community Grants Program is funded through the Employee Pro Purchase program, which collects donations from individuals who work in the bike industry and take advantage of pro-pricing discounts on new bikes and bicycling equipment. Cannondale and Trek currently participate. 

Since 1999, the PeopleForBikes Industry Community Grants Program has funded more than 400 projects in all 50 states totaling more than $3.6 million in direct funds. The total funding this year represents more than 1,000 individuals in the bike industry who gave back to grow bicycling through an employee pro purchase. 

“Seeing the industry come together to support community grants big and small continues to be incredibly inspiring,” said Jenn Dice, president and CEO of PeopleForBikes. “We thank the companies and thousands of employees that contribute to this important program. These projects will make a tangible difference in 11 communities while aiding our larger mission of getting more people on bikes more often and making biking better for everyone.” 

The Center of Southwest Culture
Albuquerque, NM 

This grant will support Story Riders, a program at The Center of Southwest Culture, Inc. that empowers Indigenous and Latino youth to reconnect with their natural and cultural heritage, all while providing practical training in bicycle safety, maintenance, and guided cycling experiences. Each student will take home the bike they work on and a new helmet. 

BikeHouston will use the funding to launch Gear Shifters, an advocacy training program for BikeHouston staff and volunteers. Gear Shifters will expand and enhance advocacy efforts by representing the needs of people who ride bikes at public meetings, as well as in conversations with elected officials, community groups, and developers.

Bike Works Seattle’s mission is to promote the bicycle as a vehicle for change and a tool for building resilient communities. This grant will be used for general operating support, more than 80% of which will go directly to youth, adult, community, and environmental cycling programs and services. 

Trails Utah will use this grant to launch a pilot project to modify existing trails with the specific goal of accommodating adaptive mountain bikers. Funds will be used to purchase equipment and signage, as well as pay for physical trail work by the Utah Conservation Corps.

Trailnet works to foster healthy, active, and vibrant communities where walking, bicycling, and the use of public transit is a way of life. Funding will help accelerate the installation of safer mobility networks in St. Louis by focusing on high-crash corridors, which are predominantly in Black and underserved communities. 

The Red Line Parkway Initiative empowers diverse communities to enjoy, develop, and enhance the Red Line Trail and Parkway, a 32-mile, multimodal rails-with-trails project. Grant funds will support a portion of 2023 engagement activities with an emphasis on social equity and physical and mental health. 

Girls in Gear teaches life skills through bike skills to help young female riders build confidence on and off their bikes. Funding will be used for coach training and support, as well as program supplies, to ensure every girl has the chance to safely and confidently bike through life.

Community Action Duluth’s BikePlus program provides those recently released from incarceration with a free bicycle, helmet, and bike lock. This grant will allow Community Action Duluth to continue its efforts and reach more people in need. 

This grant will fund bikepacking trips for those in Deaf community in the Mid-Atlantic region, offering environmental education, leadership training, and essential bicycle maintenance. Funds will also be used to provide a day trip for groups to a gravel or mountain biking trail, allowing for local community connections.

With this grant, Salem Bike Vision (SBV) will host three community rides in 2023, working to educate the public about what makes for effective bike infrastructure and helping identify areas where safety is lacking. The organization will also engage local decision-makers around opportunities to use the city’s recently passed bond for safe bike infrastructure.

Dunn Gardens will use funding to purchase and install two bike racks, which will allow for more car-free commuting and send a welcoming message to the many visitors in the neighborhood who rely on bicycles for transportation. 

PeopleForBikes Announces 2022 Industry Community Grant Recipients

Like many towns across the U.S., a change in the way we do business has led to a loss of jobs, local economies and even pride. Places that once relied on logging or mining are now left without industry and struggling to maintain once-thriving population centers, all while also coming to terms with the need for a more climate-resilient economy. The Lost Sierra region of Northern California — which includes communities in California’s Plumas, Sierra, Butte and Lassen Counties — is no different.

The Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship (SBTS), a nonprofit that builds and maintains multi-use trails in the region, wants to rethink how its towns do business. The organization developed a Trails Master Plan for Connected Communities, funded by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, which puts forth a vision for a recreation-focused lifestyle through community investment, shared stewardship, economic opportunity and new local jobs. 

The project includes building a new 600-plus-mile trail system, dubbed the “Lost Sierra Route,” which will ultimately connect 15 mountain towns that span from Truckee northward to Westwood, near where the Sierra Nevada end and the Cascade Range begins. The landscape is nothing short of spectacular and once completed, is sure to become a destination for outdoor adventurists near and far — and a home for all of the business they tend to bring.

Mountain bikers riding from the town of Quincy pose on Mt. Hough before descending into Taylorsville below for an overnight stay. (Photo credit: Patrick Cavender)

“We’re not trying to replace the logging or mining industry. We still need industry, but we feel like recreation can complement things,” said Greg Williams, executive director of the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship. “We create jobs, opportunities, apprenticeships and trainings — we’re trying to retain working families here and retain talent.”

With wildfires increasing every year, the project also seeks to strike a balance between fuel management, recreation, healthy watersheds and public education. Williams is Northern Sierra Miwok and telling the story of his Indigenous ancestors, as well as others like the Washoe and Maidu, is another important part of the equation, not only to honor the original stewards of the land but also to draw inspiration from the less-extractive ways they continue to interact with it. 

A longtime bicyclist and former shop owner, Williams founded SBTS in 2003 after a big winter left a lot of trees down and trails damaged. With the Forest Service losing a good deal of its funding, Williams and a group of volunteers took the initiative to take care of the trails. Since then, the organization’s employees and volunteers have built more than 120 miles of trail, maintained more than 1,479 miles and collectively contributed well over 100,000 hours of labor to the surrounding National Forest lands. There are currently 66 full-time and seasonal employees, 24 of which are high school students from throughout the region. 

Employees and volunteers have worked on everything from garden-variety singletrack to wilderness portions of the Pacific Crest Trail to ADA-compliant paths to multi-use flow trails. The Connected Communities Project, which is slated for a summer 2030 completion date, will include the creation and maintenance of multi-purpose trails that allow for all dirt trail travelers, including eMTB and traditional mountain bikes, hikers and trail runners, equestrians, hunters, fishermen and, of course, wildlife. When possible, the trails will be ADA accessible.

“We're not saying no to any trail user that can fit on a trail,” said Williams. “It’s about inclusion, equity, diversity and access — not just in people but how they recreate.”

The trail will include mainstreet connections in the 15 mountain communities it serves, as well as traverse the headwaters of the Yuba and Feather Rivers, critical watersheds that supply more than 65% of California’s drinking water. The master plan also includes designated recreation zones, or areas that are on Forest Service land close to commercial centers. These areas will provide close access to trails for locals, helping them avoid having to drive to trailheads, as well as convenient downtown parking for visitors, which will help generate business.

The recreation zones were the result of community feedback from some 16 town hall meetings, 100 virtual meetings and in-person park sessions, complete with big dry-erase boards and maps where residents could draw in their dream plans. SBTS also opened up an online public survey and solicited takers using kiosks and booklets strategically placed at gas stations and businesses. All in all, the nonprofit got almost 1,200 people throughout the region to take the survey and some 800 took the time to draw on the maps to showcase their vision. 

It was through that public process that SBTS was able to gain support from other organizations, including the Forest Service, individual cities, counties and members of Congress. A strong partnership with the Forest Service is particularly important, as all of the proposed trails are susceptible to an environmental review. Importantly, SBTS is sure to always contract with local folks — whether that be biologists, hydrologists, archeologists or trail builders — in order to support the local economy and help build investment in the network.

Kelly Tan of Taylorsville provides input to members of the Sierra Buttes Trails Stewardship on the Lost Sierra Route. 

“We want this project to be like a recipe book — a national model for how communities can engage with land managers,” said Williams. “At every step of the way, we're documenting the pitfalls we’ve experienced and some of the really great things we did, and we'll be sharing throughout the nation how we did it. Hopefully, we can save people some grief and also inspire them to take it to another level.”

As part of that commitment to being open and transparent about the project, Williams is scheduled to speak at PeopleForBikes’ Electric Mountain Bike Summit on September 15, 2022, in Olympic Valley, California. For Williams and SBTS, allowing eMTBs on the trail system is an important part of keeping it inclusive and accessible to everyone. Like many things pertaining to good trail use, education is key and that’s why good signage, maps and informational kiosks are a key component of the Connected Communities master plan. Industry partners, shop owners and land managers all also have a role to play in making sure e-bikes are used responsibly.

“We want people to be able to ride e-bikes up here and we’ve been working with the National Forest and our industry partners to get bikes up here and take land managers out,” said Williams. “We want to give them an experience riding so as they’re making decisions, they have a good understanding of what an e-bike is.”

The Connected Communities project has a long list of industry partners, including Shimano, Santa Cruz Bicycles and Fox, but SBTS always welcomes more support. While the project has received the green light and secured some $2.6 million in grant funding to date, it will require an estimated $40 million total over the next eight years. For a team that’s committed to building trails — and doing so in a way that’s low-maintenance and won’t require a lot of additional money down the road — fundraising, while necessary, can be exhausting. For a volunteer-driven nonprofit, that time is better spent on outreach, education and trail building.

“To bring an economy to towns that desperately need it, $40 million isn’t that much,” said Williams. “Especially when you consider all of our programs, how many people we reach and the jobs and opportunities we create.”

It’s that impact that’s gotten most folks in the region on board. Pushback, in general, has been minimal and tends to dissipate once people realize the ways a recreation-based economy can help keep grocery stores and restaurants open, as well as motivate future generations to stay in place. After all, hikers and bikers aren’t the worst sorts of visitors, having an innate desire to protect the places where they play. Although there are sure to be some pressure points, the ultimate goal is a region with diversified recreation opportunities that connect communities and provide economic stability. A place where all people, especially youth, can learn about the environment and where climate resiliency is top of mind. 

“What we’re trying to create is multigenerational pride and a workplace for people to be able to come back to and raise their kids, and this is our chance, through recreation,” said Williams. “I’m confident that Connected Communities will be built in such a way that it’s going to change people’s lives — this will last, generation after generation.”

AUSTIN, TEXAS (March 3, 2021) — On July 14, 2020, Talib Abdullahi set out to educate a few friends about Black history in Austin with a bike ride around the city. When he first shared his idea for the ride among a few friends on Instagram, Abdullahi never imagined that eventually more than 400 riders would show up for the first ever Black History Bike Ride (BHBR). 

That was the first and only in-person BHBR due to COVID-19, but the buzz around the ride left people throughout Austin hungry for more ways to connect with important events and lessons from the past through biking. In response, Abdullahi and Black History Bike Ride created a website and a self-guided version of the bike tour. The OG Route is clearly mapped with tidbits of information at every stop, including links to dive deeper into the city’s Black history. With the self-guided ride, people visiting or living in Austin can now bike the route on their own time and in a COVID-safe way.

“Local history isn’t really discussed in elementary or middle schools. I created the ride to give people the tools to learn the history themselves and to understand their own city a little better,” said Abdullahi. “My hope is to inspire more people to get out in their own communities and learn about the Black, Latino and Indigenous stories that exist all around them.”

This March, Ride Spot teamed up with Black History Bike Ride to keep the movement in motion with a challenge — if 500 riders complete the route through the Ride Spot app by March 31, BHBR will receive a generous donation from SRAM, a company passionate about improving and expanding the potential of bicycling. SRAM’s donation will be used to improve the route in Austin, as well as help with the expansion and creation of more routes like this in other cities.

“We’re so excited to partner with Talib and the Black History Bike Ride. Not only will the ride help Austinites learn about Black history in their city, it will help support the creation of more historical and educational rides in other cities across the U.S.,” said Ride Spot’s Tobie DePauw. “Rides like this are what Ride Spot is all about.” 

Black History Bike Ride and Ride Spot encourage Austin bicyclists to ride the route by the end of March in order to complete the challenge. It is free to participate, and every completed ride helps get BHBR closer to its 500-rider goal. To participate, download the Ride Spot app, tap “Join” on the Black History Bike Ride Challenge and don’t forget to share the ride with friends and family!

For more details or find additional route information, check out BlackHistoryBikeRide.com.

Join the Challenge to Raise Money for Black History Bike Ride

Valentine’s Day isn’t everyone’s favorite. If you don’t have that special someone, you spend the whole day bombarded with lovey dovey imagery wherever you look. And if you’re lucky enough to be in a relationship, you’re under pressure to get the right gift or plan the perfect day. Our suggestion? Skip the flowers and chocolates and all the commercialization of a holiday invented by a greeting card company. Instead of spending money on a fancy dinner, spend your time and energy giving back to your bike. Here are five ways to spoil your bike (and yourself) this Valentine’s Day.

If you’re headed out on a big date, you’re probably going to take a shower, brush your hair and put on some nice duds. Don’t overlook the fact that your bike wants to look sharp too. Clear some cobwebs, shine the frame and clean and lube your chain. After all, a clean bike is a happy bike.

You (hopefully) get a check-up once a year and get your teeth cleaned every six months. Maintaining your bike’s health is important too. Bike shops often have special deals during their slower winter months, so why not get a professional mechanic to give your ride a once over. Small things like getting a new chain or getting your brakes adjusted can make a big difference. Even if you’re waiting for warmer weather to get back to regular riding, a February tune up means you’ll be ready as soon as spring comes around.

If you’d buy your lady a necklace, or purchase some cufflinks for your beau, why should your bike be left out? Consider some new bar tape or grips, some shiny pedals or even a nice comfortable saddle. A few new add-ons can make an old bike like new, and can make your ride smoother and more comfortable.

While your significant other might demand dinner and a movie, your bike is more of the adventurous type. It doesn’t need filet mignon or chocolate cake: it just wants a handful of miles on the road or trail. Maybe take it someplace it’s never been, or on a favorite ride that’s become your special spot.

If you really want to go all out this Valentine’s Day, you could give your bike the ultimate gift: some company. If you get to experience the joy of companionship, why shouldn’t your bike? Think of all those cold lonely nights in the hallway or garage, and how much happier your bike would be with another by its side.

Could a bunch of the country’s best cities for biking be towns that most Americans have never heard of?

That’s one unexpected implication of the PlacesForBikes City Ratings, which balances complex data from six sources to compare cities to one another based not on reputation but on factors like low-stress network connectivity, safety and documented public investment.

It definitely surprised us here at PeopleForBikes that Wausau, Wisc., came out as a better place to bike than Minneapolis, Portland, Ore., or Davis, Calif. But the whole point of a data-driven system is to discover things you didn’t expect.

And the fact is that smaller cities and towns have massive potential for biking. The main problem is actually that a lot of people haven’t realized it yet.

Small cities and towns have huge potential for good biking

“It’s comfortable, it’s fun and it’s convenient,” said Brad Sippel, bicycle and pedestrian planner in Wausau, population 39,000. “It takes me 7 minutes to get to work by bike and it takes me 7 minutes to get to work by car.”

That’s the story in a lot of small cities, said Kyle Wagenschutz, director of local innovation at PeopleForBikes — whether or not they’ve installed protected bike lanes and other dedicated low-stress infrastructure.

“There’s generally not a lot of people driving at high speeds in their communities, so they generally have really good safety records,” he said. “Their street networks have the bones of essentially a really strong bicycle network because of the low volumes, low speeds, particularly if a big state highway doesn’t run right through the middle of town. If it runs outside or loops around the city, that creates a natural sort of environment for the bicycle to occur.”

Where most small cities stand out: Momentum, not yet ridership

People in smaller cities and towns have biked for transportation since biking began. (Just ask Toto.) But one unique thing about small towns is that there isn’t much biking to work — in part because so many residents commute long distances to jobs.

Unfortunately, biking to work is the kind of biking Americans measure best. That’s part of the reason almost no small cities in the PlacesForBikes rating system do well on our “ridership” metric.

Instead, most of the small towns that topped our list stood out for a different metric: acceleration.

That’s our measure of how much investment cities are making in improving biking: 80 percent of it comes from the scale and variety of infrastructure and encouragement reported by city officials in the 15-question PlacesForBikes City Snapshot, and 20 percent comes from local public opinions about bike investments gathered by the annual PlacesForBikes Community Survey.

“For the last few years and the next few years we’ve been putting in 15 miles of path,” said David Littlejohn, the alternative transportation coordinator in Carmel, Indiana, population 92,000. Carmel landed the nation’s No. 3 rating for small cities, largely on the strength of its rapid investment in a low-stress biking network.

Because the “acceleration” score tracks progress with percentage changes year on year, cities with smaller low-stress networks, bike sharing systems and public bike parking inventory will find it easier to be recognized for acceleration. The effect is that it’s hard for any city to rest on laurels — and also that any city can muscle its way up in the ratings by working hard.

In a global marketplace, good biking is a tool for economic growth

In many small cities, the case for accelerating bike improvements is similar: economics.

“Our city council’s been behind this from the start,” said Andrew Lynch, a transportation planner for the Wausau Metropolitan Planning Organization. “And why is that? They have to be. … Smaller cities need to do anything they can to be attractive for people to stay there and people to come there. And bicycling is one of those.”

Littlejohn, the Carmel alternative transportation coordinator, agreed.

“We see a lot of benefits in biking,” he said. “We see it as a tool for economic development, to attract employees to our businesses and our headquarterses here. We see it as an amenity to our residents so they can have a healthy way to get around.”

In a suburban area like Carmel’s, Littlejohn said, densities may be increasing but biking often remains more viable than mass transit. Bikes are well-suited to suburbs simply because they’re more similar in nature to cars.

Small cities and towns have huge challenges to overcome, of course. Small tax bases make change difficult. Biking can seem alien or unserious. And as with all cities, there’s the ever-present risk of thinking that the status quo is good enough.

“The last five years there’s been a lot of activity,” said Kyle Kozar, the bike coordinator in Santa Monica, which landed the No. 2 PlacesForBikes rating for small cities in 2018. “We still have a lot of work to do.”

America’s Five Best Small Cities for Biking

We hope you’re gearing up to take some great rides in 2021. From oceanside coastal rides in the Pacific Northwest to gravel epics in Colorado to country road cruises in New York, we’ve compiled a list of 12 can’t-miss rides from 2020. Our new Ride Spot app will get you to each and guide you to great cycling experiences.

While the state of Colorado already hosts dozens of time-tested on and off-road cycling races, the new kid on the block, SBT GRVL, has quickly made a name for itself coming off its 2019 inaugural race. With four different races spanning from 37 miles to 144 miles, SBT GRVL offers fantastic routes for gravel riders of all abilities to enjoy stunning views of the Park Range of the northern Rockies.

This 33-mile tour winding through the streets of Minneapolis highlights the city’s abundant public artwork. Starting at a doughnut shop and ending at a bar, this ride is not meant to be completed as quickly as possible, but rather one that encourages multiple off-bike stops to take in the stunning murals adorning the sides of buildings across one of America’s best cities for biking. 

For those looking to practice their fly fishing cast in addition to enjoying a great multi-day nature ride, head to Hillsboro, Oregon, just 20 minutes west of Portland. This 60-mile (one way) ride sets the table for the perfect bike camping trip through the PNW’s coastal range. Beautiful views of the Willamette Valley along the Nestucca River make this ride one of our favorites for 2021.

With a slogan as simple as “Ride Bikes. Drink Bourbon.” you can’t really go wrong with the Bourbon Country Burn. A three-day casual tour through the rolling pastures surrounding Lexington, Kentucky, the Bourbon Country Burn offers daily rides ranging from 20 to 100 miles. Each ride includes stops at local bourbon distilleries — as many as six per day — and, of course, plenty of taste tests along the way.

We think the best way to see our nation’s capital is on a bike. This loop around Washington developed by PeopleForBikes staff adds an extra element— stops at some of the top breweries in D.C.’s booming craft beer scene. Hitting four different watering holes over a 15-mile ride, this brewery tour combines hops, history and even a short hiatus into Maryland.

A world-class mountain bike park in a town of only 50,000, Slaughter Pen offers a robust singletrack trail network accessible right from downtown Bentonville. Featuring flow sections, major downhills, technical rock gardens and huge berms, Slaughter Pen will excite any level of rider. It is also one of only 15 trail networks worldwide to earn an IMBA Silver Level Ride Center designation.

When was the last time your bike trip included a nautical component? Starting from the heart of downtown Seattle, this route offers an ideal intro to those looking to get their feet wet in the world of bike camping. After a short ferry ride across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island, an easy seven-mile pedal to the Fay Bainbridge Campground gives riders an easy opportunity to get out of the city and into the magnificent Pacific Northwest.

When your friend describes a ride as “so beautiful my eyes hurt,” it’s one you probably don’t want to miss. Located just two hours south of Denver, this all-day ride follows the path of the dismantled Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad that carried gold from mountain mines to the valley floor. From staggering mountain vistas to rolling through an 1800s mining town all with gentle grades and little to no traffic, Phantom Canyon is one of Colorado’s best kept gravel ride secrets.

Usually held in March, Camp Tucson features three self-supported rides of varying length and intensity intended to show off some classic southern Arizona desert trails. It also provides those looking to tackle the infamous 300-mile Arizona Trail Race in April with valuable recon and training.

Take Metro North’s Hudson line from Grand Central Station north for one hour to access this 31-mile route between Peekskill and Cold Spring, New York. This two-county country road ride winds through the Hudson River valley and provides a refreshing break from the big city. Brooklyn-based 718 Cyclery chose this route as the inaugural ride for their Women’s Adventure Cycling Club.

No American must-ride bucket list would be complete without an oceanside ride down the West Coast. This picturesque 111-miler recommended by our friends at Leave It On The Road stretches from Reedsport to Gold Beach, Oregon, with remarkable views of the Pacific over your right shoulder the entire way.

While Stillwater, Oklahoma provides plenty of great options for a decent cup of coffee, our friends at District Bicycles decided to go a little outside the box (well, 35 miles outside the box) for their cup of joe. Located in Guthrie, OK, cyclist-owned Hoboken Coffee Roasters serves as an ideal mid-ride pitstop. Gravel and dirt roads deliver expansive views of the north central Oklahoma countryside.

Are we missing one of your favorite bike routes? Download Ride Spot and share your favorite ride!

Looking for more inspiration? We've got you covered.

Pedaling Through the Pandemic: Staff Rides 

Carry Your Summer Biking Habit into Fall  

Cities are dynamic entities. If you look at photos from 100 years ago, most city streets would be unrecognizable. While preserving history is important, places and infrastructure require constant revision and revitalization to accommodate modern populations — working with the old to build the new.

Every December, we like to celebrate the new. We scour reports, public records and, most importantly, solicit submissions from city officials and community members to review the year’s latest bike projects. 

Does your city or town have a bikeway that was completed in 2020? Now is the time to show it off.

It doesn’t matter if your new bikeway is 10 meters or 10 miles long, if it’s critical to your place and doing important work to connect your community’s bike network, we want to hear from you. We’ll choose the top 10 new bikeways based on innovative construction, relevant location and how well they improve access, connectivity and safety. The winners will be featured on the PeopleForBikes website. 

If you’re proud of a new bikeway in your community, please send the following information:

100 words or fewer explaining why the bikeway should be recognized as one of America’s best of 2020, with an emphasis on how it has improved your overall bike network

When (month of 2020) the bikeway was completed

Email address and/or phone number of a contact person to follow up with: preferably the person/organization behind the funding/advocacy of this new bikeway

Please send your submissions to placesforbikes@peopleforbikes.org no later than Monday, December 7.

Call For Submissions: America’s Best New Bikeways of 2020

“We broker suffering.” That’s one way Todd Sadow describes Epic Rides, the company he founded to produce mountain biking events. Epic is now in its nineteenth year of sharing the joy, as well as the pain, of mountain biking. “We give people the chance to show up at a start line where they know they will be well-supported, and safe, to go out and push their boundaries.”

Sadow waxes poetic about suffering, but it’s only one part of the Epic ethos. Early on, he noticed that Epic events weren’t attracting beginners and he recognized an image problem: too hardcore. Sadow saw that gap as an opportunity, one where, he says, “We could give beginners a place where they would feel welcomed and we would be able to encourage entry into the sport.” Expanding their customer base this way also offered the nascent business a possible path to sustainability. Epic added shorter rides to its banner event, the Whiskey Off-Road, and Sadow has never looked back.

Although he has made a point of attracting pros by offering generous prize money (a welcome change in a world where big cash payouts are rare) Sadow is adamant that Epic continue to offer something for everyone. “There is only one first place, but there are so many more people that don’t care about first or top twenty, but just want to finish, and we’ve always wanted them to feel comfortable.”

Even the choice to plonk Epic’s rides and parties into mid-sized downtowns is a long-term strategy to expand mountain biking. How? Many casual visitors to these smaller urban cores are bound to wander near an Epic event, and Sadow thinks that’s great for the sport. “It gives mountain biking a chance to be seen by non-mountain biking people and be understood.” They realize, Sadow says, “’I can be a mountain biker? I don’t have to go huck off a cliff? I can just ride down this pleasant dirt path and that’s mountain biking?'” The company also raises money at every event for direct advocacy efforts that advance mountain biking—typically for International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) or National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) chapters that are helping to develop and maintain local trails.

Communities have always welcomed Epic Rides, according to Sadow. Partly that’s because Epic works closely with them to help create traditions. “We want to build cycling events for communities that they can take ownership in and that represent the experience that they want people to have.” And, no surprise, the events are also good business for these cities. A three-day weekend event that signs up around 2,000 riders, like the Whiskey, could attract five or six times that number of friends and family to join the party and cheer on the riders. Perhaps most important, Epic works to leave behind enduring tangible benefits, Sadow says. “We’re going to contribute every year back to your trails so that you have a year-round legacy and tourism draw.”

We know that sometimes the best bike ride of your life can take place right outside your front door, on your local neighborhood streets and trails. Then there are those other times—when the wanderlust kicks in and the need to travel with your bike just overwhelms you. For those moments, here are a dozen bike riding events that we think are worth the trip.

Started by endurance champion Rebecca Rusch, RPI is not for the faint of heart. To conquer this event you’ll have to ride 100 miles, “on grueling gravel roads, through canyons, over summits, and across high mountain basins.” Still, if you’ve ever wanted to explore riding in the Gem State, this is the ride for you. Plus, a portion of the proceeds are donated to PeopleForBikes, to help us toward our goal of making every bike ride better across the U.S.

Founded in 2011, Slow Roll Detroit is a weekly bike ride (every Monday from May through October) dedicated to promoting cycling in the City of Detroit. Thousands of riders show up for a leisurely ride that builds community at a pace that welcomes riders of all types. You may not think of Detroit as a top bike riding destination—this event will surely change your mind.

Climate Ride is an organization that produces charitable multi-day rides, allowing participants to explore different regions of the world while raising money for non-profit beneficiaries. Some of the event locations include Bhutan, Glacier National Park and Nova Scotia, but you can do an independent challenge any time, anywhere. Participants can choose from more than 100 beneficiary organizations, including PeopleForBikes. That means you can enjoy a great ride and also contribute to making bike riding better across the U.S.

If you think there’s nothing exciting about riding in Iowa in the middle of summer, you’d be wrong. RAGBRAI is the largest bike touring event in the world and there’s a reason why people come from all over to participate. Yes, the riding is fun, but the atmosphere can’t be beat. Rest stops along the multi-day route feature local food vendors and you’re guaranteed to get a laugh from the hilariously-named teams.

On the higher end of bike trips are the all-inclusive tours put on by Trek Travel. With destinations all over the world, Trek Travel makes it easy by providing guides, bikes, gear, accommodations and support. From Italy to the Rocky Mountains, from road riding to mountain biking, the only hard part is choosing which trip to take.

Don’t try getting around New York City on the first Sunday in May because you’ll probably get rerouted. The Five Boro Bike Tour is the nation’s biggest cycling event, with about 32,000 cyclists participating. Proceeds fund Bike New York’s free bike education programs, which means you’re doing a good deed while riding on roads and over bridged across the five boroughs of NYC.

The second oldest 100-mile mountain bike race in the United States, the Leadville Trail 100 MTB was first run in 1994 and takes place in Leadville, Colorado on the second Saturday in August. With a total elevation gain of 11,000 feet, this mountain bike race is definitely not an entry-level event. You’ll be totally wiped if you finish, but you’ll get a special belt buckle for your effort.

What better way to navigate the hills of San Francisco than on a kid’s big wheel bike? The race takes place at 20th and Vermont Streets in San Francisco, California on Easter Sunday and features funny bikes and costumed riders. The event is held rain or shine and only plastic wheels are allowed.

Riders of all ages and levels can explore some of the best rail trails in the U.S. on the annual Rails-to-Trails Sojourn. The 2018 event will take place in Pennsylvania on the beautiful D&L Trail. The event is a fully supported bicycle tour that includes hot showers, great food, fun evening activities, and awesome optional trips.

With 70 cities participating, there’s bound to be a World Naked Bike Ride near you, or in a place you’ve always wanted to visit. Participants ride bikes naked to “celebrate cycling and the human body,” during the event which has been taking place for more than a dozen years. Participants see the event as a creative way to draw attention to the presence of bike riders and our worldwide dependence on non-renewable energy.

Bike MS is the largest fundraising bike series in the world. There are rides throughout the nation and route distances vary from 15 to 150 miles, including one day and multi-day events. You can ride as an individual or as a part of a team and each ride has a fundraising minimum and features cycling routes, support, volunteers and experiences. To date, Bike MS cyclists, volunteers, and donors have raised more than $1 billion for MS research.

A combo bike ride and music festival, the Pedaler’s Jamboree will celebrate its 10th year in 2018. Riders can enjoy the Katy Trail in Missouri by bike and then celebrate their accomplishment by jamming to a solid lineup of bands. The 2018 performers will be announced soon, but you can click here to see previous bands who have rocked the stage.

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