Membership FAQ

Why join? If you ride a bike, you should join. Your membership helps fund all of our work protecting and expanding cyclists rights, and helping ensure there is funding, know-how, and willpower for cycling projects at the state and local level.  Your membership also connects you to the cycling advocacy community, and gives you many great individual benefits, as well.

What does membership cost? Please see our join page.

What are the benefits of membership? There are many great benefits to being a League member! All members receive our bi-weekly enewsletter American Bicyclist Update, and a subscription to our magazine, American Bicyclist, as well as Bicycling magazine. We also offer discounts to various cycling and cycling-friendly businesses.

Members at the Advocate and higher levels, as well as all organizational members, receive a subscription to Bicycle Times, in addition to other benefits. Silver Spoke members also receive free roadside assistance through the Better World Club.

What is my login? All members receive a username and password when they join. For individual members, the username is your first initial and last name (i.e. John Smith’s username would be JSmith). For all members, the default password is your membership number. You may be able to retrieve your login information via this page if you know your membership number or the email attached to your account. If you are still having trouble logging in, please email bikeleague@bikeleague.org, and we’ll be happy to give you your username and password.

When you first login, we recommend that you change your password to something other than your membership number.

If I am an LCI, what type of membership(s) do I need to have? All LCIs need to maintain two memberships: a personal League membership as well as their LCI. Examples of personal League memberships include: individual, advocate, Silver Spoke, family, advocate family, Pacesetter, Life member or Life family member. Affiliation with a member organization does not fulfill this requirement. Multiple LCIs may affiliated with a single family membership.

If I renew my membership early, will I still get a full year of membership? Yes. When you pay for your membership—be it a bit early or a bit late—will not affect your expiration date. For example: if your membership expires in June 2011, but you renew for another year in April, your new expiration date will be June 2012.

When does my membership expire? When you join, your membership expiration date is set for the first day of the following month. For example, you signed up for a one-year membership in March of 2012 (whether on March 1 or March 31), your expiration date will be April 1, 2013. Note that our website will not update your expiration until some time the following business day, when we process the previous day's payments through our system. In the case of a new membership, using the example above, your expiration would show as 4/1/2012 until it is processed, when it will update to 4/1/2013. (In some cases when the office is particularly busy, or when key staff are out, it may take longer than one business day to process membership payments.)

I’m trying to lessen my carbon footprint. How do I opt out of the magazines? To opt out of a subscription to American Bicyclist, Bicycling, or Bicycle Times magazine, please email bikeleague@bikeleague.org.

How much of my membership is tax-deductable? For all one-year memberships except Silver Spoke, all dues minus $17 is tax-deductable. For two-year membership, all but $34 is tax-deductable. For Silver Spoke memberships, $37/year is non-deductible. The non-deductible portion of Life members is $115. LCI payments are entirely non-deductible.

Does the League ever share my name? See our complete privacy policy.

If there are multiple people from my organization joining the League, is there a discount? Definitely! If there are five or more employees/volunteers at your League-member organization, they can join as individual members at the discounted rate of $30 per person. If ten or more people want to join, each person pays only $25; that’s $15 off of the regular individual member price. To receive this discount, payment and new member information must come from the sponsoring organization in as few transmissions as possible. For more information, please email bikeleague@bikeleague.org.

How does unification affect my membership? In February, the League's board announced that the League was exploring a unification with Bikes Belong and the Alliance for Biking and Walking, to create a single, stronger national cycling advocacy organization. The transition team's announced intentions include honoring all existing membership obligations, and building a membership-based organization going forward. For the latest information on the unification, visit http://bikefuture.org.

ORGANIZATIONS

Why join? If your organization cares about bikes, sustainability, health, or the environment, you should affiliate with the League. In addition to supporting the League's advocacy and education work, you help us develop training and resources for bike clubs and other cycling organizations. Member organizations are automatically listed in our FindIt, and may add their rides and other events to our calendar.

Who should join as an “affiliate?” Anyone! Any company, organization or group that supports the work the League does, but is not directly involved in cycling. This could be a law firm, auto-repair shop, or running club. If you're interested in recognition from the League and/or advertising discounts, please consider a corporate membership.

How do I get the discounted insurance through the League? Member clubs and advocacy organizations are eligible to participate in our discounted insurance program with American Specialty insurance. Most activities of most member organizations are covered, but some limits apply.

How do I log into the Club Corner? All member organizations receive a username and password when they join. If you don’t have your username or password handy, please email bikeleague@bikeleague.org, and we’ll be happy to get it to you.

How do I post a ride or other event? First, log in. Once logged in, there is an item on the menu “Post/Edit a Ride.” Just fill out the form and submit and your event will go live on our calendar. If you’re having any issues, please email bikeleague@bikeleauge.org and we’ll be happy to help.

What is a 100% club and how do I become one? 100% clubs are member clubs in which every single member of the club is also a member of the League. This is a great way to add value to your club membership, and pass along all the benefits of being a League member. The club pays the League just $15 for each membership to the League, a savings of $25 off of a regular individual membership. For more information, please email bikeleague@bikeleague.org.