Bikecentennial, Inc., was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1974 in Missoula, Montana. It began as the planning organization for a cross-country bicycle touring event celebrating the nation's bicentennial. The idea for the event, dubbed Bikecentennial: Summer of 1976, was shared by two couples: Dan and Lys Burden and Greg and June Siple. The friends came up with the concept during a 1972 cycling expedition they were undertaking from Alaska to Argentina. By the fall of 1975, Bikecentennial, Inc. had more than a dozen full-time staff members, nearly 5,000 subscribers, and the backing of partners from
Bikecentennial, Inc., which changed its name to Adventure Cycling Association in 1993, continues to operate in Missoula.
The Bikecentennial, Inc. Staff Reports collection consists of two bound volumes dedicated to the planning of Bikecentennial: Summer of 1976, a cross-country bicycle tour event organized in honor of the nation's bicentennial. The transcontinental route, which established the Trans-America Bicycle Trail, stretches over 4,000 miles from Virginia to Oregon. The non-profit organization Bikecentennial, Inc., now known as Adventure Cycling Association, is based out of Missoula, Montana, and continues to research, educate, and promote travel by bicycle.
The publication of the staff reports in 1976 was intended by the organization to help guide future event planning efforts. The writings are unedited and are broken down by section as follows:
Section I: Executive (including project summaries, records, and policies from the executive director, secretary, office manager, and finance department)
Section II: Programs (including trips planning, transportation, leadership training, Independent Rider Program, and project survey)
Section III: Publications (including media kit, film proposal, slide-tape program, and guidebooks)
Section IV: Field Reports (including reports, handbooks, and interviews from national field directors, regional coordinators, and trail heads)
This collection is arranged in two volumes.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to the University of Montana.
Bikecentennial, Inc. Staff Reports, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.
These reports were held by Greg Siple, co-founder of Bikecentennial/Adventure Cycling Association, until he donated them to the University of Montana Archives in 1990.
Gift of Greg Siple, 1990.
These volumes were placed in the Archive's Special Collections in 1998. In 2022, they were processed as the Bikcentennial, Inc. Staff Reports (Mss 972) and a finding aid created.
Other publications produced by Bikecentennial, Inc./Adventure Cycling Association are located in the Montana Cycling Collection (PAM 13).
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.