But the barriers to long-distance bike travel are broad and many. New gear is expensive and logistics seem daunting. Mileage is physically demanding and some routes seem dangerous. It can feel like there’s a “code” among cyclists that’s hard to understand.
Bikeout’s mission is to help limit these barriers. We've found that if you provide the right tools, the potential of bike travel can be opened up to more people.
The team at Bikeout is made up of bike travel enthusiasts. We’ve gone on dozens of trips for days or weeks at a time. As we’ve gotten to know the bike travel community, we’ve found a consistent truth that supports our thinking: nearly no one does their first trip by themselves.
Our goal became about elevating the experience by offering the things we tend to miss when we travel ourselves: an incredible meal prepared by a chef, along with programming, like music and yoga, to round out the quieter moments. We asked experienced ride leaders to help show people the way and we carried everyone’s gear straight to the farm to make it that much more enjoyable.
To our great surprise, the event sold out in just a few days, so we doubled our capacity and sold out again. And it wasn’t just newcomers to bike travel. The bike touring community had found a new way to celebrate what they love, too.
Since then, we’ve hosted more than 1,000 riders at our large-scale overnight events and more than 80 percent of riders say they’re more likely to explore bike travel. In 2020, as a result of the global pandemic, Bikeout began offering digital trip Guides that provide riders with independent adventures.
Bikeout was founded in 2016 by Brian James Kirk, Amanda Crawford-Staub and Mat Tomezsko. In 2022, Bikeout's operations were taken over by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
