USBRS Campaign Video

We love Adventure Cycling. It was a few issues of Adventure Cyclist loaned by a friend that got us really into bike touring. We were excited when they asked us to create a campaign video for their US Bicycle Route System, a signed series of roads that are meant to criss-cross the country. The campaign went live yesterday and below is the video we made.

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5 Reasons Why Bicycle Tourism Matters

Three full days of countless conversations with fellow advocates at the National Bike Summit has made us realize the importance of bicycle tourism to the larger bike movement. One of the most interesting presentations we saw was by Douglas Meyer of Bernuth & Williamson Consulting, called “Perceptions and Possibilities.” It dealt largely with how bicycling issues, and advocacy itself, are perceived by both bike advocates and politicians. There was sometimes a fascinating disparity about what would make an effective argument for cycling. Some of the themes that surfaced were having good success stories, broadening the coalition of people that support cycling, and demonstrating how cycling can help more than just cyclists. Of course, for us, it seemed obvious that promoting Bicycle Tourism addressed many of these issues. Here are five reasons we feel that bike advocates and tourism professionals have to pay attention to bicycle tourism in the coming years.

#1 Bicycle Tourism is Good for Business
Dovetailing neatly with the theme of this year’s National Bike Summit is one of the most obvious benefits of bicycle tourism – it’s good for business. Cyclists, like other forms of travelers, require lodging. But, in addition, because bicycling is a physical activity, cycle tourists require food and drink. Lots of it. There are many studies that have shown that bicyclists also tend to spend more nights in an area compared to non-cycling visitors. This is a very appealing detail to destination marketing organizations and convention and visitor’s bureau. It translates to “heads in beds” for a longer duration. Check out some preliminary numbers on bicycle tourism spending in Oregon.

#2 Bicycle Tourism Bridges the Urban-Rural Divide
Bicycling has typically been discussed from an urban perspective as relieving congestion and increasing mobility. There is no problem with these arguments, except that they only resonate with people who live in cities. There is a vast America that does not live in cities, who are still represented by congressmen and senators who vote on policies that affect all of bicycling. One could argue that they may even have a tendency to vote against cycling, not because they may have anything against bicycling but because it hasn’t been made relevant to them or their constituents. Bicycle tourism can bridge that gap. We’ve sat in on bicycle tourism meetings in Central and Eastern Oregon where, amazingly, business owners from these small communities were heavily invested in attracting cyclists – precisely because cycling had been made relevant to them.

#3 Bicycle Tourism Revitalizes Communities
The humble bicycle has the ability to bring communities back to life. This is no exaggeration. We traveled to New Zealand and rode the Central Otago Rail Trail and were completely amazed at the power of a 100-mile gravel trail in the middle of nowhere. What was once a dying area of New Zealand has found a new identity through the rail trail. We have also witnessed US equivalents, along Adventure Cycling Routes and rail-trails and mountain bike destinations. Many of these communities are rural and have experienced a collapse of an industry (timber, mining, farming) and are looking for a way to reinvent themselves. Bicycle tourism is a good fit for areas with country roads and basic hospitality services.

#4 Bicycle Tourism Makes Bicycling Relevant to More Than Just Bicyclists
Bicycle tourism is multi-disciplinary by nature. It means involving not just bicycle advocates, but a wide variety of businesses that are invested in creating the identity of a region (destination marketing organizations, chambers of commerce, business improvement districts). This creates a powerful, broad coalition. One of the lessons we learned in Meyer’s presentation at the National Bike Summit is how important it is to find supportive voices who are NOT cyclists. Bicycle tourism can help find and unite these voices. When a farmer in New Zealand, who used to be skeptical about bicycling, now calls it the most important development in his region “since the gold rush.,” this is powerful testimony! Bicycle tourism allows people to benefit even though they may not be cyclists themselves, and, with the successes, comes a greater empathy and support for bicycling.

#5 Bicycle Tourism Makes Bicycle Advocacy Easier
Ultimately, bicycle tourism is bicycle advocacy. It is coalition-building, with new partners. It is about harnessing the economic engine of bicycling and adding yet another powerful tool to the bike advocacy toolbox. The Central Otago Rail Trail was such an outstanding tourism success that the New Zealand government wanted to replicate it across the country and devoted $50 million to new trail development. Announced under a conservative government, the decision came as a complete surprise to bicycle advocates around the country, who likened it to “winning the lottery.” Interestingly, many of the cycling assets that were developed for tourism could and were being used by locals, making it a win-win.

The National Bike Summit was an interesting experience for us, since it was our first time attending and we didn’t quite know what to expect. We more or less tried to bend every willing ear we encountered to talk to about bicycle tourism. We couldn’t help but feel a bit like Cassandra from Greek mythology when we found ourselves constantly explaining our case. But, we also had some great conversations with colleagues from Virginia, Oregon, Iowa, Missouri, Indianapolis and even Arkansas. By the end of the summit, our throats were hoarse from talking, but it was worth it to get some minds thinking about the next evolutionary step of “bikes mean business.”

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our new Brompton Touring Book, or some of the fun bike-themed t-shirts we’re designing, or buying your gear through our Amazon store.)

What is Bicycle Tourism?

Readers of this site know that we are involved with advocating for bicycle tourism. But what is “bicycle tourism” really? Bicycle tourism is an emergent way of understanding an array of economic activities involving the bicycle. It is where business, tourism, and advocacy meet.

Because it is so multi-disciplinary and takes place in so many forms and doesn’t fit in the traditional discourse of bike advocacy or tourism, there is some difficulty in defining exactly what is bicycle tourism. Some tourism industry definitions we’ve seen classify a tourist as someone who travels more than 50 miles from their home and stays overnight. This, of course, breaks down when you consider the physics and use of a bicycle. For a car, 50 miles is no large distance; but for a bicycle, depending on the cyclist and the terrain, 50 miles could be an entire day’s worth of travel. We’ve done several overnight bike trips that are less than 50 miles from Portland and have stayed overnight, bought food in restaurants in neighboring towns, and would consider the whole endeavor a tourist activity. However, using the traditional and sometimes auto-centric definition of what a tourist is, that trip would not be counted.

For us, we would define bicycle tourism as any travel-related activity for the purpose of pleasure which incorporates a bicycle. It is broad, but purposefully so, because bicycle use is so varied. Let’s look at some examples of what we would classify as bicycle tourism.

Organized Tour

This is perhaps one of the most obvious and visible forms of bicycle tourism, where a large number of cyclists and support crew travel through an area. Great examples of this are Cycle Oregon and RAGBRAI. Participating cyclists and host towns are encouraged to interact. Cyclists support the local economy when they travel through, often setting sales records during the event. We rode Cycle Oregon in 2012 and spoke to many riders who revisited the towns they passed through at a later date. In addition, Cycle Oregon does an excellent job of supporting the local communities through a grant process.

Event/Festival

Another very visible form of bicycle tourism is a bicycle event or festival which draws visitors from out of town. Good examples are the Tour of California, which attracts spectators from around the state and country to watch world class athletes perform. On a smaller scale, we’ve enjoyed going to the Day of the Dead Cyclocross Race in Bend, OR the last few years as just spectators (there is a mandatory costume day). It is not only attended by riders, but also their family and friends, who all require accommodations, food, and copious amounts of beer. Other examples would be the Great Western Bike Rally in Paso Robles, New Belgium’s traveling Tour de’ Fat, and the ever-growing World Naked Bike Ride in Portland.

Long Distance Self-Supported Touring

Of course, there is self-supported bicycle touring, which is near and dear to our hearts. This is where cyclists load up their bikes with clothes and camping gear and ride down the Pacific Coast, across the country, and to all points within and beyond. The economic impact of a self-supported tourist is hard to quantify since there are no entry fees or registry. However, there is strong evidence that they make a significant financial impact. We’ve spoken to many businesses along Adventure Cycling routes that cite touring cyclists as an important part of their business. A church in Dayville, OR, which offers accommodations to bike tourists, has been able to add amenities to their community room (like a computer, wifi, kitchen facilities, and laundry) from the donations from cyclists over the years. Self-supported tourists appear “cheap,” but in truth are spending a tidy sum of money; they just have to economize it over a longer period of time. For example, a cyclist riding the Pacific Coast over two months. If their average spending is $20/day, their net spending over the course of 60 days is $1200. Now let’s say there are 2000 people a year who ride the coast (Bike Newport in Newport Oregon has started keeping count and last year they had 1500 cyclists stop in!). If they all spent $1200, that is a total of $2,400,000. Not bad for a bunch of cheap cyclists!

Bike Overnight / Short Form Touring

Related to long distance self-supported touring are those that go on short-distance bicycle tours because they cannot take off weeks or months at a time. Short-form touring is growing in popularity, because it is the most viable and economical form (in terms of time and money) of bike travel. It is also the most accessible to families. One trend we see is that of older Millennials, who embraced a carfree or carlite lifestyle in their youth, and are now having families. They still want to keep bicycling and are incorporating it into their family vacations.

Destination Bicycling

Another form of bicycle tourism is when particular features at a destination attract cyclists to an area. Places like Moab, UT and Whistler, BC for mountain biking, and the Pacific Coast and the Blue Ridge Parkway for road biking, have cultivated a mystique that attracts cyclists annually from around the world. On smaller, but no-less-important scales, are local and regional trails. When we were in San Luis Obispo, we rode the Bob Jones trail, a 4-mile paved path that leads to Avila Beach. It is by no means an epic ride, but even in the middle of January, the parking lot was full of parked cars with bike racks. People were unloading bikes by the car-load to spend a family afternoon riding the trail and enjoying Avila Beach. Hotels in Avila Beach, realizing the popularity of the trail, mention their proximity to it. Another popular example is the beach path in Santa Monica. Residents from around Southern California, and even internationally, come to ride the beach path and spend money at the businesses around the pier. A remarkable example that we’ve thoroughly documented is the Otago Central Rail Trail, a 100-mile gravel path that has completely revitalized an area of New Zealand that was dying on its feet.

Bicycle tourism is varied and can take shape in many different forms. Everything from the logistical miracles of large event rides to popular biking destinations, all the way to solo self-supported bike tourists. What is remarkable about bicycle tourism is that it can occur virtually anywhere there is a place available to ride a bike. Unlike skiing or surfing, which are dependent on particular geographical features, people ride bikes on mountains, quiet country roads, in cities, on beach paths, and even on snow. It is the sort of tourist activity that almost any region can foster and promote.

Our interest in bicycle tourism grew out of our own travels across the country and abroad, where we saw many gems of small towns that most car drivers would pass without even stopping, but which could reach out to cyclists looking for quiet roads. It is our hope that, in the next few years, we can bring the concept of bicycle tourism to the attention of both bike advocates and the tourism industry.

(Keep our adventures going and the site growing! If you’ve enjoyed our stories, videos and photos over the years, consider buying our ebook Panniers and Peanut Butter, or our new Brompton Touring Book, or some of the fun bike-themed t-shirts we’re designing, or buying your gear through our Amazon store.)