Originally Posted by
Atlas Shrugged
I disagree that bicycle touring is dying off globally; it is more of a North American issue. As I have stated before, NA is probably the worst place I have ever bicycle toured for what I enjoy and dislike. Take Europe, for example: an estimated 25-30 million cyclists participated in at least one overnight trip last year. These numbers are increasing approximatly 5% year over year. Europe has approximately 467,000 of bicycle lanes, and the Eurovelo system consists of 91,800 km of continuous roads. This does not include the effectively unlimited quiet secondary road infrastructure. With extensive legal protections for cyclists on the road, as well as an excellent driver culture of respect. In Spain, for example, the overtaking driver must maintain 1.5 meters of clearance and, more importantly, be 20 km/h below the speed limit. Imagine that law in Wyoming or Montana.
The driver culture in NA is horrible, and overall, I find it unenjoyable. When you can find a secondary road getting passed with a foot or two to spare by some pickup towing a horse trailer is another version of hell and ruins the whole experience for me. Look at the ACA routes with hundreds of miles along the side of a highway, the only redeeming factor being that a garbage-strewn shoulder is available.
Sales of touring bikes and gear in Europe are strong, and, related to this thread, the good news is that the 520 Disc Frameset is still listed in Trek's 2026 catalogue in several European regions and the UK. Trek now positions the 520 as a "builder's bike." Since serious touring riders often have very specific preferences for drivetrains (like 3x10 setups) and saddles, Trek sells the chromoly steel frame and fork separately so you can custom-build it.
My brief riding experiences in Europe mirror what you said... people for the most part have respect for cyclists on the road over there. While I was in a bike centric place, so it may be inflated - there were riders of all types all over the roads. Riders everywhere - young riders on road bikes, old guys and everything in between. On the mountains, on the connector roads between the mountains and towns - bikes everywhere.
I've come to dread riding on the roads here - other than 6:am Sunday morning, I don't want to be on the roads. And even though I live in the busy North East corridor - my county, especially my part of the county - is sparsely populated farm land. We have little or no real traffic/congestion at any time of the day - but the drivers are just flat angry. Put a person behind the wheel and either they change, or their aggression is unleashed because they are protected by the cage around them.
We rarely see group rides locally anymore, rarely hear about group rides and the local bike club rides are sparsely populated. Very few young people... even out on the MTB trails, its typically old guys or a few middle aged people.
Our local Bike to the Bay MS ride used to have 1000's and 1000's - now its in the mid hundreds and is on the verge of not happening.