Take a look at this video of how bike travel can revitalize rural areas. To learn more visit PathLessPedaled.com.
Watch video: Bicycles and Small Towns America
Small Town Wins – How to attract cyclists to your community
Studies show visiting cyclists tend to spend more on food and services than a traveler passing through in a car. After hours of pedaling, they have raging appetites — and feel more inclined to pamper themselves.
Also, smaller towns tend to gain more from a rise in cycle tourism because these travelers are more likely to venture away from big-city attractions than those in a car, research shows. Some smaller communities are taking the initiative to paint themselves as cyclist-friendly destinations.
A resident of Twin Bridges, a tiny town of 400 in Montana that sits at the fork of several rivers and touts itself as a fly-fishing destination, decided to welcome cyclists. Intrigued by the stories of the Lycra-clad visitors passing through, one man convinced the town to invest $9,000 to build a basic shelter for cyclists, and then ask for visitors’ donations to maintain it. Word of the friendly overture spread on the cycling grapevine. And now local stores, the town laundromat and restaurants are benefiting from the rise in cycling visitors.
The initiative speaks to a broader truth about cycling tourism, notes Pronovost: “If you don’t have the infrastructure, you won’t be in the destination guides.”
www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2717129/ AND
www.adventurecycling.org/adventure-cyclist/online-features/twin-bridges-rural-friendliness-pays-dividends/
