The Great American Ride is a 3,700-mile

virtual team bike ride along the route of the Great American Rail-Trail™,

a signature project of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, our event charity. The developing trail is more than 53% complete & will connect over thousands of miles & 12 states between Washington State & D.C.. We’re combining the camaraderie of team cycling with the fun & sightseeing of a long-distance solo ride. It's a journey that you can experience from wherever you call home.

Gather your team & chip away at the miles as a group. Each day, you’ll report your miles & watch your team dot move across the map while the leaderboard will update the overall standings! To make the miles more fun, we’ll send you facts & highlights about the locations you ride past along the way.

Registration closes on May 1 @ 11:59 PM. Entries are non-refundable, non-transferable (to another person &/or event), & cannot be deferred to another year.

How It Works

Individual team members will track their own rides using one of the many GPS-enabled tracking systems (e.g., Strava, Map My Run, Garmin, Wahoo, etc.). From there they will self-report the time & distance of your ride into the reporting site, which will update the official leaderboard and move your team’s dot across the course map. Entries without GPS will be permitted but are not encouraged for the sake of validation. 

Perks & SWAG

• Unisex Short Sleeve Shirt (cotton/poly blend)
• Event medal
• Pre-mapped 3,700-mile course across the country
• Leaderboard and online map updates
• Virtual travel experience through fun facts and photos of things you would see along the route

Referral Rewards

The only thing better than the Great American Ride experience is sharing it with friends & family! Invite others to join you on your journey & earn the following rewards:

• Refer 5, receive Great American Ride Water Bottle
• Refer 10, receive GAR water bottle + Goodr Sunglasses

Share your unique referral link (found in your confirmation email)! You can share the link via email, social media, or text. Remind your friends/family to use your link to score all the rewards! To be counted towards your referrals, they must register using your unique link.

Teams

You must join a team, but you can compete as a team of 1 or up to 12. You should assign one team captain to set-up your team & then share the team name & password (optional) for the other team members to register & join. All team members need to register themselves & join the team during registration. For more information, visit our Team Captain page.

Team Sizes:

• 4-Person Team: 1-4 members
• 8-Person Team: 5-8 members
• 12-Person Team: 9-12 members

Team Type

• Open
• Female
• Co-Ed (at least 50% of the team is female)

How to Log Activities 

1. Participant Look Up
2. Lookup Registration
3. Log Activities 
4. Two ways to log:
   
   • Manually Enter
   • Load Activities from File
5. Submit Activities

How To Edit

1. Participant Look Up
2. Lookup Registration
3. Log Activities next to event name
4. Manage Activities
5. Edit or Delete

Course

Virtually ride the route of the Great American Rail-Trail™, which traverses 12 states between Washington and the District of Columbia.

The Great American Rail-Trail™ is the nation’s first cross-country multiuse trail, stretching more than 3,700 miles between Washington, D.C., and Washington State. This trail is an iconic piece of American infrastructure that will connect thousands of miles of rail-trails and other multiuse trails, serving tens of millions of people living along the route as well as those who visit the trail from around the country and the world.

Throughout your team’s journey, our group of experienced race organizers will be with you every step of the way! We’ll set up ways for you to stay connected with your team and highlight noteworthy portions of the virtual route you are completing.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is a nonprofit org working to build a nation connected by trails, re-imagining public spaces to create safe ways for everyone to walk, bike, & be active outdoors. RTC is the nation’s largest trails organization—with a grassroots community more than 1 million strong—serving as the voice & advocate for the nation’s narly 40,000+ miles of multiuse trails. The Great American Rail-Trail™ is a signature project of RTC & the organization’s most ambitious trail project to date. As the nation’s first cross-country multiuse trail, the Great American Rail-Trail™ will be entirely bikeable & walkable, connecting travelers of all ages & abilities with America’s diverse landscapes & communities.

Let’s Go, RVA! Sports Backers mission is to inspire people to live actively. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to producing quality participatory events that motivate residents & visitors to be more active, hosting group exercise programs for both youth & adults, & advocating for safe bike & pedestrian infrastructure. 

Although we have had to morph and change our normal programming & events over the past two years, we have not stopped pursing our mission. And we are excited to be back to hosting in-person events/programs & have been met with an equal amount of excitement from the community & participants.