BicycleTourism2

We’re going to start a new weekly feature on PLP with a roundup of bicycle tourism related news. We always have our ears to the ground with interesting developments with how communities and destinations are embracing cycling. To be featured in the roundup or to send us tips, email us here.

Pedal the Oregon Coast on Rails
Kicking off this week’s Biketourism Roundup is one of the most shared stories on our Facebook page. You will soon be able to pedal from Bay City, Oregon to Tillamook via pedal rail car. Started by Kim and Anita Metlin from La Grande, Oregon, it is an extension of a similar pedal rail concept that they operate from Joseph to Enterprise, Oregon called the Joseph Branch Rail Riders. We had a chance to ride their rail riders a few years ago when they opened and it is a blast.

Bikes and Agritourism in Central Oregon
Our friends at Good Bike Co are putting Prineville, OR on the map for adventure biking! They are perfectly situated along both the Adventure Cycling TransAM and Oregon Outback route and see an influx of touring cyclists every year. As well as functioning as a full service bike shop and hang out spot (craft beer on tap, anyone?), they have also started to work with local farms and ranches to offer unique guided bike tours. We chatted with them a few weeks ago and learned that their farm tours were written up in Sunset Magazine! The also have plans to offer some cool van supported gravel tours in the future.

Trending: Bike Destination Sites
Another strong trend we are seeing is destination sites adding bicycle specific content or creating a new bike specific websites. As cyclists and biketourism advocates this is great news. It means destinations are seeing the potential benefit to their area as well as investing in promoting cycling. Here area some standouts that we’ve seen.

Visit Lodi – Lodi has been busy with bikes. They have hosted their own Bicycle Tourism Summit, a stage of Tour of California the last two years and have added bike routes to their general visitor’s page. Also telling is their tourism advocate of the year is a big proponent of biketourism.

Visit Mammoth – has a great bicycle landing page with bike specific trip ideas. The list everything from iconic road rides to even “Fall Color Mountain Bike Rides” (great way to frame the experience!). Each ride has a mini editorial write-up, how to ride it and related businesses. The only thing missing are links to downloadable RideWithGPS tracks!

Explore La Crosse – La Crosse, Wisconsin also has an excellent page dedicated to biking with some pretty evocatively named rides like “Driftless Region’s Most Scenic Ride“, “Cheddarman” and “Baristas Epic Coffee Ride.” Each route has an accompanying description and downloadable links so all you have to do is pedal and enjoy the ride without worrying about cue sheets.

The big takeaway with this new trend in bike destination sites is that you don’t have to be Oregon to do it! While Oregon has led the way with biketourism marketing and campaigns, it is no longer the only state doing so and many new destinations are developing their own biking products.

Got a bicycle tourism related tip or news story? Email us here.