Advocacy & Safety - Wisconsin-Bicycling Contributes More to Economy than Hunting and Snowmobiling Combine

According to a study released today by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, bike-related tourism and industry pumps $1.5 billion to that state’s economy each year.


http://bikeportland.org/2010/02/02/in-wisconsin-bicycling-contributes-1-5-billion-to-economy/
http://www.bfw.org/education/index.php?category_id=4746

It's nice to have Trek headquartered in your state.

As a WI cyclist and sportsman I know I pump a lot more money into the economy hunting & fishing than I do biking. I suspect the industry part slants it a bit, if it was just tourism I wouldn't believe it one bit. Trek sells a lot of bikes, but many are asian made, not to mention components. Pittman - Robinson money was $15m last year alone. I'll have to read the study.

Edit - It's just deer hunting. That misses alot of other hunting that is done by out of staters. Drive the Federal forest in fall and 80% of the plates on the side of the forest road are out of staters bird hunting. That biking brings in some dollars is good, don't get me wrong, but I think the study is misleading.

caveat from the report:
Currently little data exists on the total number of cyclists and their expenditures in Wisconsin. Similarly,
there is little reliable information concerning preferences of Wisconsin cyclists by demographic group.
Given resource and time constraints for our study (three months), we were unable to conduct a
representative survey of cyclists in Wisconsin to obtain this information. We therefore relied heavily
upon data from other geographic locations and from surveys conducted in the past. We cannot
guarantee the accuracy of these studies, nor that they can be perfectly applied to the entire state of
Wisconsin.

Well, I didn't read the study, but if they're counting either Trek's gross or net income it would certainly help to boost the numbers

i suspect active vacationing/tourism is going to surpass hunting and fishing as a value to ANY states' economy soon as fewer will be able to afford $35,000 bass boats and a pole barn full of ORVs and snowmachines.

i suspect active vacationing/tourism is going to surpass hunting and fishing as a value to ANY states' economy soon as fewer will be able to afford $35,000 bass boats and a pole barn full of ORVs and snowmachines.

Except you don't need all that crap to fish or have fun in the snow. People just think they do.

Except you don't need all that crap to fish or have fun in the snow. People just think they do.

So that's why they're not buying enough fishing or hunting crap to overcome the cost of a good Madone frame, eh...

I'm sure it's only because of Trek.

Think about it, to contribute to the economy you have to be spending money, and those activities are a lot more expensive than bicycling is to the average person, who just buys-and-rides.

Wisconsin is a great place to ride - plenty of trails, country roads, quaint towns and villages, B&B's.

I think you all should put some teeth into this study and spend a week up here riding. Of course, I'd wait a few months until the weather is a bit better. Heck, combine your trips, bring the old Mt. bike & shotgun. Bird hunt in the cool morning and ride in the afternoon! I recommend the Tyranena Oktoberfest ride, first rest stop is the Trek HQ

http://www.tyranena.com/bikeride/

Wisconsin is a great place to ride - plenty of trails, country roads, quaint towns and villages, B&B's.

I think you all should put some teeth into this study and spend a week up here riding. Of course, I'd wait a few months until the weather is a bit better. Heck, combine your trips, bring the old Mt. bike & shotgun. Bird hunt in the cool morning and ride in the afternoon! I recommend the Tyranena Oktoberfest ride, first rest stop is the Trek HQ

http://www.tyranena.com/bikeride/

Someone asked about Wisconsin on another forum, and I think I found two trails in the north-western section that you could do a triple century out and back with about 15 miles or so of road riding between the trails.

A non-representative sample of two:

Over the last five years, my wife and I have spent a few thousand dollars in WI. To the best of our collective memories, all of the spending was cycling related.