Is Bicycle Touring in Decline?
Bicycle touring numbers feel like they're down—fewer loaded panniers on the road, Adventure Cycling Association facing major financial headwinds, and a lot of long-time tourers quietly aging out. But is touring actually in decline, or is it just shifting into something that looks different—like bikepacking, gravel, and shorter, more flexible trips? In this episode I dig into Adventure Cycling's recent membership and financial update, talk through generational and economic trends, and explore whether we're seeing the end of an era… or just the end of one version of it. Is Bicycle Touring in Decline? What the ACA Letter Tells Us Recent email to ACA membership on a vote regarding selling their building in Missoula Membership down from almost 40,000 in 2023 to about 18,000 today. Donations down. Demand for guided tours has softened. Sales of maps/routes have dropped with free digital tools and GPS routes everywhere. Their diagnosis Members aging out of cycling. Some people don't feel enough value in a paid membership. Travel patterns are changing; inflation and costs are up; maybe fewer people committing to long guided tours. The building sale piece: ACA can sell their big, underutilized Missoula headquarters for ~$2.55M, then lease back just the space they need. The goal is to buy a "runway" of a few years to rebuild membership and modernize programs (digital experience, routes, tours, events). This is serious—membership halving in a couple of years is not a blip. But this is one institution. It's a single data point, not the whole story. Is ACA's Crisis Proof That Touring Is Dying? Possible "touring is in trouble" interpretation: If the biggest U.S. touring org is shrinking, maybe demand really is falling. Fewer people willing to pay for routes, maps, and guided tours could indicate less interest in traditional loaded touring. Alternative explanations: Value perception problem: If you can download GPX routes for free, people might not feel like they need a membership. Younger riders may not connect with a membership model or a print magazine in the same way. Business model problem vs. touring problem: Guided tours and paper maps are specific products. Those can decline even if DIY touring thrives. If a streaming-era kid doesn't buy DVDs, it doesn't mean movies are dead—just that the business model changed. Same question here: is ACA Blockbuster, or are movies in trouble? The Aging Out Effect The ACA explicitly mentions aging out of cycling. Talk through generational dynamics: A lot of classic touring energy came from the boomers and older Gen X. Long, multi-week tours require time, health, and often retirement or very flexible work. People aging out doesn't necessarily mean the activity is dying, but: If younger generations aren't replacing those numbers, you get a visible decline. Touring can look intimidating: expensive gear, big time commitments, safety fears. Possible barriers for younger riders: Student debt, unstable housing, fewer long chunks of vacation, higher baseline anxiety around traffic and climate disasters (heat, smoke, extreme weather). The Rise of Bikepacking and Off-Road Travel Ttouring may just be changing costume: More folks are drawn to bikepacking and gravel: lighter gear, off-road routes, "adventure" branding. Social media and brands push a certain aesthetic: frame bags, dirt roads, epic photography. Contrast vibes: Classic touring: fenders, racks, panniers, highways, small towns, campgrounds. Bikepacking: singletrack/doubletrack, BLM land, forest roads, more "expedition-y", often shorter but punchier trips. If someone is out for five days with bags on their bike, sleeping outside and moving every day… and we're calling that bikepacking instead of touring… did touring really decline, or did it just get relabeled? Is bikepacking now the umbrella term for bike adventuring? Is It Just a (pardon the pun) Cycle? Historical perspective: There was a big touring boom in the 1970s and again mini-waves around the early 2000s . We thought the 2020 COVID bike boom would impact things, but did it? Outdoor sports often rise and fall with the economy, culture, and media stories. Economic cycle: High inflation, higher travel costs, and general uncertainty can make long trips harder. At the same time, travel has become more fragmented: people take 3-day trips instead of 3-week odysseys. Cultural cycle: Right now, gravel and ultra-events (Unbound, etc.) get the headlines. Touring is slow and unsexy by comparison. Slow unsexy things tend to look "dead" for a while… until the next backlash against all the hype and burnout. We might be in the hangover phase after the COVID bike boom and a big cultural swing toward short, 'epic' experiences. Other Factors That Make Touring Feel Smaller Safety and traffic fears: distracted driving, speed, road rage, social media amplifying every horror story. Climate and weather extremes: heat domes, wildfire smoke, storms—touring has always danced with weather, but now the dice feel loaded. Information overload: paradoxically, infinite online info can make people freeze and not choose any tour. Shift to micro-touring: overnighters, weekend campouts, credit-card touring instead of epic cross-country runs. That looks less visible on the ACA radar but might be the real growth area. What ACA's Plan Signals About the Future Positive outlook: Selling an underused building to buy time to modernize could be a good sign. It's a choice to adapt instead of slowly bleed out. They're explicitly planning to invest in: More routes and route updates Digital and website improvements Stronger advocacy tools Expanded tours and member events The big question: Can an organization built around old touring models reinvent itself for a world of bikepacking, GPS, and dispersed, remote communities? Will they pivot toward being the hub for all forms of bike travel, not just pannier touring? Final Take: Is Touring Actually in Decline? Yes, in the classic sense. Fewer people paying for memberships, maps, and guided pannier tours. The touring demographic that built ACA is shrinking and aging. No, if you widen the definition. Bikepacking, mixed-surface, overnighters, and "ride-to-your-Airbnb" trips are essentially touring by another name. People are still traveling by bicycle; they're just doing it with different gear and routes. Mostly, it's in a messy transition. Legacy institutions and business models are under intense pressure. New formats (digital communities, route-sharing platforms, YouTube, social media) are where a lot of the energy lives now. The story isn't "touring is dying"—it's "touring is migrating." Go on any kind of bike trip—overnight, credit-card, dirt, paved, doesn't matter. Support whichever orgs, creators, or communities actually help them get out the door (ACA, local groups, creators, etc.). If you're an ACA member, vote on the building sale by November 24. Whatever side you land on it seems like this will likely define things for ACA for the next several years. •Bike touring has always been a niche. The question isn't whether the niche survives—it's what form it takes for the next generation. And we all get to shape that.
