As many of us know, there's a lot of great bike touring country in the USA, but I'm wondering if the current government has deterred plans for bike tours, and will it ever return to the pre-Trump popularity?
by S_Bratfast
As many of us know, there's a lot of great bike touring country in the USA, but I'm wondering if the current government has deterred plans for bike tours, and will it ever return to the pre-Trump popularity?
by S_Bratfast
40 Comments
[deleted]
Well considering this admin hates nature, I doubt it will get any better. USA is a free-for-all on the roads . Cars will hit you and get away with it even if you report it to the authorities. Current admin has no plan to remedy this, they instead wish to expand highway infrastructure, gut national parks and kill anything that doesn’t consume oil to move.
If you can get past that, There’s tons of good riding here and most people are very gracious and courteous. Just be wary that many smaller minded individuals do not consider a bike a vehicle and will punish pass you.
I know the current admin is pretty anti bike as are Republicans for some reason but I’d like to do a coast to coast bike tour in the near future. But motorists have been getting quite aggressive toward other drivers and especially cyclists so I’m hesitant to do a ride.
My choice of vacations and politics do not mix.
Right now gas is too cheap to ride bikes…. Right?
These don’t really have anything to do with each other unless you have to deal with the immigration side of things.
Nothing has really changed here in terms of the relative ease in the United States of bike touring.
Is this Sunset Bay ? Toured last autumn and, while off season, it was definitely a hot topic amongst the non citizens on the trail. Not to mention wondering if state parks or national parks would even be open. It was definitely an additional thing to think about.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/21/karen-newton-valid-visa-detained-ice
Caveat that I am an American citizen, but yes I am still touring here and still met many travelers from around the world over the last year. Politics aside, it is still a very beautiful and diverse country to travel by bike.
Are some deep red areas hostile to foreigners? Yes. Will a truck with a Trump sticker give you grief at some point along your ride? Probably. Are many of our cities and towns terminally car-oriented to the point that they are dangerous and unpleasant to ride at times? Yes. Is it expensive to travel here? Eye watering.
But… There are still so many beautiful routes with jaw dropping scenery and friendly, welcoming people in the USA. As with anywhere else in the world, most people you meet while touring are curious about where you came from and where you’re heading, happy to offer recommendations or even share a meal.
So TLDR… if cycling here is something you wish to do, I wouldn’t let who is in the white house deter you from exploring the country, the same way I wouldn’t let Milei stop me from cycling Patagonia or whatever
I mean I live in the US, and am super against our current administration.
I really don’t think it will change your experience drastically. An administration doesn’t instantly change everyone in the country, you’ll still come into contact with the same people with the same values.
I went once to the US for business reasons, but have been avoiding it for leisure travel. Definitely would prefer to bike… pretty much anywhere else.
Well, recent policy decisions of the Trump administration have made everything expensive which makes taking time off of work pretty difficult. It was already difficult before 2016, now it’s just even worse. I was fortunate to do a 7,000-mile car tour, across three months, of western USA in 2017 before Trump’s first term really had impact. I don’t think I could afford to do that again even with a bicycle (I’m hoping to do smaller ventures though).
i think the only reason I’d worry is if you’re trans or look Mexican
I live 70km from the US border, wife and I have family in multiple states we’d love to visit.
We are actively avoiding going to the US for any reason.
If you were Ukrainian would you vacation in Russia?
Every summer I meet a few cycling tourists. Even met an English man touring his way up to Mackinac island today. So yeah it’s happening though I can’t say if it’s skewed because I just happen to live near / work at a cycling attraction.
And my German cousin has been egging me to do the great American rail trail with him… But again we have family here spread across the US so Cycling is not the only attraction. Still I think it would be fun… Just not sure when I’d ever have 60ish days off to do it. (his goal of averaging 100km / day)
FTR: for those who are planning a cycling tour of Mackinac island I suggest shooting for early week (Monday through Wednesday) or before memorial / after labor day… And do spend the night there if you can swing it. There’s plenty of great interior sights beyond the main loop and arch rock.
I live in a very red area of a very red state and I don’t think you would have any issues whatsoever here. Now if you were speaking Spanish driving a truck with a bunch of ladders it would be a different story. That being said, unless this is your only chance to tour here, please wait until we have a better group of people running things here.
Do not tour here.
Do not bring money to this Fascist Regime.
Go to Canada instead.
Im sorry our administration sucks (a lot). But it is a beautiful country filled with generally nice people. If you ever tour through SE Ohio, ill hook you up with a place to stay!
My POV as a US citizen is that there is almost no chance of a foreign visitor being detained by ICE. Millions of foreigners visit the US every year (still) and have no issues.
If however you don’t want to visit the US because you don’t support the Trump presidency, I understand and agree with you.
I wouldn’t recommend visiting the US to any of my foreign friends.
If you have aren’t phenotypically white looking, I wouldn’t come
I stopped crossing the border in 2016. Lots of cycling to be done anywhere else.
Touring with the current regime?
Frankly I can’t even imagine any of those bozos on bicycles, so I’d bet big on “no.”
Seriously: it’s by a wide margin my least favorite regime since I hatched close to sixty years ago. But man, there’s been and there are plenty of nations with some pretty damn questionable leadership, and adventure-hungry cyclists get all googly eyes talking about the natural beauty and perhaps the cultural wonders of some of those places without ever pausing to mention the outages perpetrated by those in power.
I get that my country is a special case by virtue of its military and economic position in this world – when America sneezes it’s way more impactful. And it’s different that we collectively chose this regime, it’s not a hereditary dictatorship or a group that rose to power in a military junta. No surprise when people focus far more on this than in other countries. But it’s also true that most anything that would’ve drawn cyclist tourists here in years past is still about the same, and for a very large majority of citizens and tourists, life goes on.
Not at all meaning to minimize the bad stuff, from inconvenience to tragedy, that victimizes too damn many others – it really, really sucks – but again this is hardly the only nation we could say that about, nor anywhere near the one most devastated by awful leadership. To me it’s a real affront to the many millions of good people suffering badly in some of those nations to pretend otherwise.
Just drove the road from the Oregon coast through Eugene to Bend and back – spotted several fully laden tourers along the road in the mountains.
About to travel from Seattle to Los Angeles. I’m traveling up the Olympic Peninsula to deception pass, then south through Seattle!
Doesn’t matter who is in office. Great place to tour.
I’m avoiding the US until it reverts back to being reasonable.
Ehh , government administrations typically do not change regular day to day society.
Man as I canadian, it’s something I think about everyday. I spent much time in the US in the past and would take my little family there every summer as well as tons of backpacking and bikepacking in Vermont, NH, etc. But I couldn’t do it now. Both on principle as both the foreign and domestic policies of the current administration are just completely contrary to my values. But also for safety reasons. We’re hearing tons of stories of tourists being detained by ICE for several weeks even if they are there completely legally. We personally know several people who have had their phones and socials searched for “anti-trump rhetoric” (and my phone would be pretty compromising in that aspect 😅). So for now it’s a no go for me. Which sucks because it is undoubtedly a beautiful country with nearly endless amounts of worthwhile backpacking routes…
You might enjoy this book “a ride across America” by Simon Parker. He is a British journalist and rode across the US after the 2024 election, discussing the issues and politics with the people he met. It was interesting. In the end, most everyone was a decent person, trying to make ends meet and live their life. Just how to do that and what the causes of problems are, are very different as he moved through the country.
I travel the western half for work, spend 2-7 months in each spot. The only places Ive seen a visible impact is in cali. Otherwise the federal govt has had little impact on day to day life other than costs. The biggest disruption youll see is on reddit.
No more Trump people than there was with Biden. For whatever reason 6 million Biden voters from 2020 stayed home in 2024 so Trump won.
You can look at the voting totals
It is what it is, in general individuals are always nice. Groups of people?… that’s when you see something else.
Ride the California coast, you’ll be okay, though keep your eyes open.
Bad stuff first: I’ve been ‘rolled coal’ on in Mendocino county once and gotten really sneery attitude for being on a bike from one convenience store at Fort Ross. Big Sur is one of the most unmissable touring experiences in the world, but I genuinely believe that there is an anti-cycling undercurrent in both the locals and the parks people there.
Otherwise people have been excellently cool in 30 years of me riding the pacific coast road. It is a joy to ride.
Touring cyclists are pretty much invisible to cops and I’d be surprised if immigration goons are out looking for them here either. Local rednecks are a factor, but much less than anywhere else in the country. You just need to be careful about motorists, just assume that they’re crazy and stupid because they are.
To be honest, there wasn’t a pre-Trump popularity to recover to. Outside of maybe 1976 ‘bikecentennial’ (right about the era when the peak of the baby boom was in peak cycling age), it’s always been an extremely, extremely niche interest. 1 American in 100 ever has, and not many more foreigners. If you’re at all sociable, I’d suggest looking into a couple of the ‘rolling caravan’ organized tours of one state or another. I’m posting this from a tent on Biking Across Kansas right now. The couple foreigners on a ride are loved in the community, and even when the tour has to face sub-optimal roads, the fact that there’s 300-500 bikes on the road that day reduces the individual danger because the drivers are already expecting bikes (even if unhappily).
You have to understand that a large majority of US American citizens dislike Trump. Come next election you’ll see. Still, there is a large number of MAGA idiots who still have not changed. It’s depressing for sure. I’ve been listening to YouTuber Bike Farmer lately who says the most anti fascist thing anyone can do is ride a bicycle. As an American who lives just south of the Canadian border I don’t blame Canadians one bit for their attitude. I wish they wouldn’t attach Trump’s insanity to all Americans though.
As an American citizen, yes. I am trans and touring in America is as safe as it’s ever been for a trans person. Never been particularly so. But we’ve gotta live our lives. I’m not putting anything on hold on account of the president. But I live in rural Texas so going basically anywhere is an improvement!
Yeah I just did the GAP trail to the C&O Towpath!! Almost died on the PA bike route home to Philly though but hey Google Maps starting routing trucks on this service road and the bike touring maps haven’t updated yet.
Im doing the Pacific coast(Vancouver to tijuana ) starting late june . I look very Mexican( was born in american) and will be wearing my Mexican world cup shirts lololol. Ill give u a report
Folks, steer clear of crossing the US border for a while, ok?
Yes, beautiful country to cycle in but the random crazies turn the experience into a dangerous one. We cycle locally inthe states, and mountain bike Its it’s not uncommon on the road to get yelled at just for being there , or for someone to come too close or suddenly gun it just as they pass you. I prefer toto rod ride ride in other countries where the culture is more respectful towards others. I prefer mountain biking inthe states as the bears as less dangerous than what’s on the roads. Saw a bear cross in from to of me a few hours ago on-a remote road. Great sight .