Pub. 6 2018 Issue 1

27 Spring 2018 The Community Banker forcing the event to shift to a lottery system. Cyclists and their families and friends (approximately 8,000 visitors), from all over the US and the world, now flock to the small town in Kansas annually to ride 200 miles on dirt farm roads - filling every hotel room in Emporia and the neighboring towns, as well as dorm rooms in the university and the living rooms of local residents. Casey Woods, the director of Emporia Main Street, has directly attributed the event to the success and opening of new businesses in Emporia, with many businesses embracing the city’s unofficial nick- name of “Gravel City.” In another anecdote that Casey likes to tell, the local hospital was trying to recruit an orthopedic surgeon, a process they anticipated would take several years. One of the first calls was to a surgeon in Virginia, who by chance had ridden Dirty Kanza three times and jumped at the opportunity to move to Emporia because of the legacy of the event. The Great Allegheny Passage is a 150-mile, unpaved trail that connects Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cumberland, Maryland (and several small towns along the way). The trail initially cost $80 million to build, a process that spanned from 1992 to 2013. Recent economic studies show that trail users spend $75 - $100 million dollars a year, and visitors on a multi-day bike trip spent an average of $125 a day on food and lodging. Over the last 8 years, the Great Allegheny Passage has seen a net gain of 65 new businesses, generating 250 new jobs, with many of the businesses attributing 40% of their customers coming from the trail. A huge part of this business growth is due to the Trail Town program developed by the Progress Fund, a nonprofit Community Develop- ment Financial Institution. The Trail Town program offered lending and guidance to businesses and entrepreneurs along the trail. Big Bike Country As new residents to Montana, Laura and I are amazed at the un- tapped potential for bicycle tourism within the state. We have traveled and worked on projects across the country, and the sheer range of experiences that Montana can offer is unparalleled. Montana has everything from paved bicycle touring routes that cy- clists have been riding since the 1970s, to mountain bike trail systems that are attracting national attention; the opportunity to ride Going to the Sun Road before it’s open to cars, to a mind-boggling number of unpaved forest and farm roads. A handful of destinations like Whitefish and Ovando are starting to capitalize on this potential. The Great Divide Mountain Mountain Bike Route, an off-road collection of dirt roads and trails that runs from Canada through Montana to the Mexican border, is experiencing more ridership than ever, due to the exploding interest in off-pave- ment bicycle travel. The Whitefish Bike Retreat caters to cyclists riding the Great Divide, offering lodging, shuttle services, and even clinics on how to ride the trail. The Blackfoot Commercial Co in Ovando is a general store with an attached inn, and they host cyclists every year from all over the US and abroad. It is not uncommon for all the rooms in Ovando to be booked by cyclists riding the Great Divide. Yet, despite these sparkling examples, a lot of the opportunity is lost - left to be, as Bill White would say, “gold flowing down the river.” The beauty of bicycle tourism is its simplicity. No amusement parks or golf courses have to be built. Small towns don’t have to reinvent themselves to be something they are not. Most places already have everything they need: a place to sleep, a place to eat, and the dirt road beneath their feet. Of course, here in Montana, the mountains and big skies don’t hurt either. Russ Roca is co-owner of The Path Less Pedaled - a bike travel blog-turned-business. Since 2009, The Path Less Pedaled has focused on the ways in which cycling can positively impact small and rural communities, and has partnered with community leaders and tourism agencies across the US to work through the challenges of marketing a destination to a bicycling audience. You can contact him about bicycle tourism services at pathlesspedaled@gmail.com