I'm really glad Adventure Cycling is in the world. I personally don't really enjoy having to find out (usually by trial and error) which roads are good for doing a tour from A to B. I know it goes against the "adventure" part for some people, but for me, I really appreciate having a map (waterproof, no less) with a little line on it, which tells me where services and campgrounds are, and the route is likely to be pretty scenic and as traffic free as is reasonably possible. Touring is hard enough without ending up on freeways unexpectedly or taking a main road when there was a much better one just over the hill with no traffic, but I just didn't know about it. And you get to meet other touring cyclists too! The Adventure Cycling Association have put a LOT of work into their routes. One of my little dreams is to one day have the time to work my way through all of them - "collect the set" so to speak:
http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/index.cfm
I have to say I don't understand the hostility that some people here seem to harbor against this organization. They have helped support Crazyguyonabike since I first started the ads back in 2006 (they were one of the first organizations I approached, just seemed like such an obvious choice, and they were totally into it). They do fundraising, as any non-profit has to, but that doesn't mean they are just all about the money. This world runs on money, you can't just ignore it, and employees need to be paid. The rent doesn't happen on good wishes alone. Adventure Cycling does a lot more good in the world, advancing the idea of touring by bicycle, than most of the businesses that we all work for (or have worked for in the past - I was on Wall Street at one time, what a soul sucking experience that was). Appreciate them for being here, they are on our side.
Neil