Jubilee Celebrates Community and 50 Years of Bike Travel

The rainwater surrounded two lone trees in the Flycatcher Group Area parking lot like an island in a desert ocean. That was two nights before the Jubilee in the Desert kicked off at Catalina State Park near Tucson, Arizona in January, 2026. Campers who arrived early for this once in a lifetime celebration hunkered down as the ground was no longer absorbing the sudden deluge. Cyclists from across the country were gathering to celebrate 50 years of the landmark bike travel event Bikecentennial, crossing the United States in 1976 on the newly christened 4200 mile Trans America Bicycle Route.

That massive tour across ten states coincided with America’s bicentennial and Bikecentennial later morphed into the current Adventure Cycling Association. Now, 50 years later, many of us who rode in 1976 joined younger cyclists and current members who have supported Adventure Cycling along the way. This was the kickoff event celebrating a half century of bike travel and bike touring. The irony with the Jubilee being in the desert is rain is not all that common for January in southern Arizona. It rained for two days before Day One broke out in sunshine and blue skies.

50 YEARS IN THE MAKING

I first learned of plans for the Jubilee in the spring of 2025 and found myself scouting the park in June with a longtime Adventure Cycling tour leader. On that day, it was 115 degrees in the Arizona sun and cycling was far from my mind. But imagining a hundred or so tents, jovial presentations about bike travel and reminiscing about that memorable summer 50 years before was easy to visualize. With the support of Adventure Cycling staff, Board members and volunteers, the gathering six months later had now come to life. This was, after all, a celebration of the premier bike travel organization that has empowered thousands of cyclists with tools to journey the roads and bike friendly trails across the United States.

ROCKED AND LOADED IN THE DESERT

When the sun broke out on Day One, January 9th, 2026 at Catalina State Park, attendees showed up on four wheels as well as two, camper vans loaded with bikes as if a grand tour was about to begin. Locals bike packed in with loaded panniers and weekend food supplies. Adventure Cycling staff, nearly half of the ACA Board of Directors and volunteers, myself included, greeted everyone with jovial anticipation for the weekend ahead.

We had marked out tent sites with orange flags and devised a welcome loop in the Gila Monster Group Area for participants to receive tote bags filled with event materials and maps for pre-planned routes in and around Tucson. The atmosphere was electric as strangers became friends, family members who weren’t necessarily cyclists melded into spontaneous conversations recalling their spouse or partner’s past bike travels. No one was a stranger by the end of the weekend.

“Such a fun event! Was fabulous to reconnect in person with ACA friends and make new ones as well,” said Adventure Cycling Tour Leader Brielle Wacker.

Not only did the Jubilee celebrate the history of Bikecentennial, it highlighted what Adventure Cycling has done to promote bike travel for the common cyclist, creating highly researched routes using state of the art cartography, developing maps first in paper form and now offering digital tools that integrate with today’s cycling technology. Over the past five decades, Adventure Cycling has been recognized as a leader in bike advocacy and promoting safe bike travel by innovating meaningful routes for riders of all ages.

That history was a central theme in many of the presentations and socializing at the Jubilee. In my role with a self-proclaimed title of “the pesky volunteer,” I heard dozens of memorable stories from those who had either participated in Bikecentennial or discovered bike travel years later with support and leadership from Adventure Cycling.

ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME CELEBRATED

One of the evening gatherings provided time to share personal memories of how Bikecentennial transformed into a lifetime of adventure on two wheels. Many members explained how Adventure Cycling helped them discover the backroads of America as they learned how camping by bike can let cyclists absorb the landscape better than from within a car.

“Ray (Hanson) and I met on the Pacific Coast Trail tour in 2009,” said Tish Crane of Prescott Valley, Arizona.

“And here we meet, 17 years later with a little back and forth on Facebook,” Hanson said, who led Crane’s van-supported tour. “We had some adventure, some rain, some tailwinds and we had awesome people in our group,” he said. Reunions like this were common at the Jubilee years after meeting on earlier Adventure Cycling tours.

One Bikecentennial alum, Tom Kalina, who could not attend the Jubilee, noted on Facebook after seeing a group shot of the 76ers that “I still think of the folks from that summer as young people having a blast. We are now old people, but still having a blast!”

And having a blast was the goal of on site Adventure Cycling staff members Nicki Bailey, Max Caplanides and Executive Director Andy Williamson. They were assisted by other staff who were unable to attend but had wheels down in organizing the Jubilee into a rousing success.

“This energy is real. This weekend is special because we’re celebrating 50 years of a shared love for the power of traveling by bicycle,” Executive Director Andy Williamson told the audience Sunday evening. “This history, this path we have been on is super important as we shape the future of bicycle travel, and that’s what this organization does,” Williamson said.

Several Adventure Cycling Board members also joined in the festivities giving longtime supporters and Adventure Cycling members a chance to learn how they could help shape the future of the organization. And an event like this would be impossible without volunteers and we had many dynamic volunteers.

“You’re taking people out of their comfort zone, doing things that they have not done a lot before,” says Life Member, Tour Leader and volunteer Tony Docal. “You enjoy the experience of sharing not just the ride and the places you’re going to, but also learning how to do the camping with the folks. And watching them as the tour progresses becomes more comfortable doing it on their own and hoping they do more of it on their own with bike touring,” he said.

PEDALING FORWARD WITH THE SAGUARO

Under a bluebird sky, Saturday started with a hefty desert breeze. Pre-planned scenic rides were logged by several Jubilee groups on Tucson’s well kept bikeways. Local businesses were thrilled to greet our Jubilee riders, including Campfire Cycling in West Tucson and Dove Mountain Brewing, also on the west side. These rides gave all of us in the saddle an up close and personal tour of the Arizona landscape, framed by funky looking saguaros (tree-like cactus) that define the desert habitat. These iconic symbols of the American Southwest can live 150-200 years and top out at 50 feet.

There was no shortage of memorabilia from Bikecentennial and future tours led by Adventure Cycling. Some members brought their original guide books, vintage bikes ridden 50 years ago coast to coast, commemorative jerseys sporting Bikecentennial logos and artwork. There were even a handful of those brilliant orange triangles that have long since been replaced by high lumen tail lights. A couple of those visibility flags were not so orange anymore.

One unique display was a Bikecentennial timeline poster provided by Adventure Cycling member Lori Lewis. The timeline stretched out over several 6 foot tables and was full by the end of the Jubilee. It was chock full with Bikecentennial trip numbers and also allowed everyone who has ridden a segment or the entire Trans Am route to journal the memories of their adventures along a dated historical timeline chronicle from 1976 to present.

“I’m so happy that people enjoyed it and I know at least four people that reconnected after many years after reading the timeline,” Lori said.

LINKING FRIENDS IN A LONG CHAIN OF MEMORIES

Connecting and re-connecting was the foundation of the Jubilee. Riding bikes drew everyone to the desert but the enrichment of what Adventure Cycling offers adventure cyclists was prominent at campfire circles and open mic talks. As I shared my own Bikecentennial experiences with dozens of people, I learned that my legacy of being one of the 4000 riders in 1976 was much like that of other 76ers. We were young, inexperienced in bike travel, setting out on the road with no clue what lay ahead with each passing mile. Gray haired, thinning hair or no hair, we now represent the pioneers of touring the country on two wheels way before hi-tech gear graced bike shop shelves, cycling retail websites and modern day bikes.

“This weekend was a celebration of the soul of Adventure Cycling — people and the bonds forged from a bike saddle,” former Adventure Cycling Board President Joyce Casey said.

And what would a bike event be without live music, specifically saxophone, which floated over the campground on Sunday, Day Three, from Dusty and Gay Blech. With over 250 fellow cyclists enjoying wood-fired pizza from Tucson’s Fiamme Pizza, Dusty serenaded all of us with tunes like the Pink Panther theme (my request) and other sax favorites.

“The jam session last night was fun! We could hear his sax way down the trail past the picnic area,” said 76er Barbara Forbis Kilts.

As a semi-retired broadcast television videographer and producer, I interviewed several Adventure Cycling tour leaders and members about what this organization has given them in return as they lead cyclists out on bike travel journeys.

“I was trying to reinvent myself after some life changes,” Tour Leader Matt Moritz told me on camera. “It gave me a community and an opportunity to engage with like-minded people from all walks of life. It gave me a way to see the world with people who were just as excited to be out there as I was. As a tour leader, it gives me a way to come out of my shell,” Moritz said.

One Adventure Cycling member, Bob Haran, recalled at the Jubilee how, as a 20-year-old, he discovered Adventure Cycling in West Yellowstone, Montana as a Trans America group tour came through. His family hosted the east to west riders.

“The one thing I found out,” says Haran, now of Vacaville, California, “is that people really like to meet people on bikes and I really got to know them. So Adventure Cycling opened up a whole new world to me when I was 20 and I’ve never gone back.”

Haran’s dedication to bike travel and Adventure Cycling reflects what brought over 300 people to Catalina State Park in the middle of winter. To embrace life on two wheels, producing forward momentum not just on a bike but in life, and never feeling like time stands still when you pedal forward.

The Jubilee in the Desert was exactly that, an opportunity to keep the pedals moving with inspiration by those who carry memories of Bikecentennial 50 years earlier or have since taken to the saddle as an Adventure Cycling member, tour rider, tour leader or simply a cycling enthusiast with the support of this iconic bike travel organization.

With that mission in mind and a fifty year track record, the next 50 years will be a fun ride for Adventure Cycling and I can’t wait to be there for that celebration.

Wheels down everyone!

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