Examples of RAGBRAI, Ride the Rockies, and Pennsylvania trail…
Here's one of the best reasons for towns to support bicycling — those sweaty, sunburnt cyclists usually have money in their wallets and they're hungry, thirsty and looking for some off-bike activity.
Small towns across Iowa know this; they compete to be named host cities to 10,000-plus cyclists on RAGBRAI every year.
Cumberland Mayor Lee Fiedler knows it too; he's busy convincing downtown businessmen that the opening of the Great Allegheny Passage will deposit some 250,000 hikers and bicyclists on the city's doorstep this year and they need to keep businesses open on weekends.
RAGBRAI
The same day that Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa announced the eight host towns for this year's tour July 22 through July 28, every hotel room in the Cedar Falls (one of those towns) booked up, reports the Cedar Falls Courier.
Town boosters had inundated the RAGBRAI organizers with more than 500 postcards to lobby to put their town on the ride. There's a reason, reports the Des Moines Register. The ride can have a $200,000 economic impact on host towns.
Allegheny Passage
This onslaught of bicycle tourists shouldn't be news to businesses in Cumberland. The small town is located at one end of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath, a popular 186-mile bike path along the Potomac River with Washington DC at the other end.
What's new this year, however, is that the Great Allegheny Passage is open and cyclists will be able to ride straight through to Pittsburgh on the 152-mile rail-to-trail network.
A tourism report estimated that trail users earn an average household income of $150,000 per year.
If the buzz on the Great Allegheny Passage newsgroup is any indication, cyclists will be flooding the 340-mile route between Pittsburgh and DC. There are frequent inquiries from solo and small-group riders seeking information, and the Rails to Trails Conservancy is sponsoring its Greenway Sojourn between DC and Pittsburgh from June 23-30.
Cumberland mayor Fiedler told business leaders that the downtown is not ready for the 250,000 new visitors this year. “We better be ready to show them there's a reason to come back.”
While some agreed that downtown businesses should institute weekend hours, others said the cyclists are only interested in ice cream and cheap food. The shops and fine restaurants won't see any more business.
David Kauffman, the outgoing head of the business association, said it's time for strategic planning. “For a period of time, downtown Cumberland slept. We are now its caretakers, and we must take on an active role in its recovery.”
If those Cumberland business leaders need any more convincing, they should read the comments of Joe David Rice, head of the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism. Quoted in the Arkansas Business Journal regarding the cycling and the opening of the Big Dam Bridge, the world's longest pedestrian bridge:
“We're particularly interested in this because there aren't many poor people biking these days. They ride expensive bikes and when they come here to do it they're going to stay in better hotels, eat fine meals and generally spend a lot of money. Anytime you can attract people to the state for an event who normally wouldn't come here, it's good.”
(Update: Feb. 6, 2007 — The Craig Daily Press reports that this year's visit by Colorado's Ride the Rockies bike tour will infuse $175,000 into the local economy.)
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