Bikecentennial '76 was an event consisting of a series of bicycle tours on the

TransAmerica Bicycle Trail The TransAmerica Bicycle Trail was the first bicycle touring route to cross the U.S. It was developed and mapped by Adventure Cycling Association, and travels between Astoria, Oregon, and Yorktown, Virginia, along mostly rural, two-lane highways. ...

across the United States in the summer of 1976 in commemoration of the bicentennial of America's Declaration of Independence. The route crossed ten states, 22 national forests, two national parks, and 112 counties between

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...

, and Yorktown, Virginia, a distance of about . The route was chosen to take cyclists through small towns on mostly rural, low-traffic roads. About 4,100 riders participated in the event, representing all 50 states and many foreign countries. Several route options were available to the participants, ranging from an 82-day, 4,250-mile cross-country trip to a more modest 12-day trip through the Rocky Mountains. Roughly 1,750 cyclists were signed up to ride the entire length of the trail. Most of the participants rode in prearranged groups of 10 to 12 with a group leader, while about a quarter rode solo. The riders were essentially self-contained; they carried camping gear, food, and other necessities in panniers on their bicycles. Bikecentennial had been a

501(c)(3) nonprofit A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 501 ...

since 1974, and after the 1976 event the organization lived on to serve the needs of traveling cyclists, developing more routes and making maps. Bikecentennial changed its name in 1993 to Adventure Cycling Association.

Origin

A 1976 bicycle tour across the United States was conceived by Greg Siple in 1973 while he, his wife June, and Dan and Lys Burden were riding an 18,000-mile bicycle tour, called

Hemistour Hemistour was a bicycle tour from Anchorage, Alaska, to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, completed in part by Dan and Lys Burden and in full by Greg and June Siple from 1972 to 1975. Twenty-nine other cyclists joined the Burdens and Siples for parts of ...

, from

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

, to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, to promote bicycling and hosteling. June Siple coined the name Bikecentennial a few months later as Hemistour progressed through Mexico. Siple had founded an annual bicycle tour called the Tour of the Scioto River Valley (TOSRV) in Ohio with his father in 1962. During a break from Hemistour, Dan Burden became severely ill and had to drop out. He and his wife, Lys, focused on building the Bikecentennial event while the Siples continued their tour of the Western Hemisphere.

Route

Bikecentennial's route, called the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, was developed by Lys Burden with the help of Bikecentennial staff and volunteers. The route was chosen to satisfy several requirements, such as a road surface suitable for bicycles, minimal traffic, varied terrain, historic and interesting landmarks, and access to basic services like campgrounds and grocery stores. The Bikecentennial TransAmerica Trail should not be confused with the similarly named

Trans America Trail The TransAmerica Trail or TAT is a transcontinental vehicular route, intended as a recreational pathway across the United States using a minimum of paved roads, traveled by dual-sport motorcycles, off-road vehicle, or touring bicycle. The trail w ...

(TAT), a mostly off-pavement, 5273-mile (8486-km) motorcycle route between the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Port Orford, Oregon, that has become popular with

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

riders. The route crosses the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

nine times in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.

Ride

The TransAmerica Bicycle Trail was inaugurated on May 14, 1976. The TransAm groups, those riding coast to coast, set off from trailheads at either Astoria, OR, or Yorktown, VA, while other groups riding shorter tours set off from trailheads inland. The prearranged groups consisted of about 10 to 12 riders including a leader, trained by Bikecentennial staff, who would handle the group's money and delegate chores like buying food, cooking, and cleaning up the campsite.

Support

Bikecentennial received support from the Wally Byam Foundation, Huffy bikes, Shimano, the Bicycle Institute of America, and the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration.

Legacy

The success of the 1976 event led Adventure Cycling to map several additional bicycle routes across the United States and Canada. The

Adventure Cycling Route Network The Adventure Cycling Route Network, developed by Adventure Cycling Association since 1974, comprises over 50,000 miles of routes for bicycle touring in the U.S. and Canada and is the largest such network in North America. Overview The Adventure ...

now consists of over 44,000 miles and is the largest bicycle route network in North America. Since 2014, the annual Trans Am Bike Race has used basically the same route as that used for the Bikecentennial.

References

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