cccorlew

I went to an amazing (at least to me) bike tourism event in Lodi, CA. I went to see the keynote speaker, but the event was really a surprise. Lodi is looking into trying to make their small city attractive to cyclists!

My blog post
Curtis Corlew in Bicycle Land: Lodi Bicycle Summit, Building Bicycle Tourism and the Path Less Pedaled

Local paper story
Bicycle Summit: Lodi can be cycling tourist center - Lodinews.com: News

I love this trend!

berner

My area is not widely known as a cycling mecca but this is actually the situation. In my town itself, Bristol, Rhode Island, a small town on Narragansett Bay, a region with a strong boating, yachting tradition and a tourist destination, riding a bike anywhere in town is a pleasure. Streets are not crowded and motorists are curteous and patient. This is also mostly true of the area in which I ride, a radius of about 50 miles from the house.

I can't prove it but one factor contributing to such a good situation is a good bike club with a strong effort of cycling advocacy and working with public officials and transportation departments. In the 4 years I've been cycling, there has been a noticeable increase in bicycle use. I see bikes parked all over town at shops and restaurants, post office, library, and grocery store. Some of the bikes arrive on the bike path for a day near the water and some are folders that arrive on a yacht cruising New England waters. I've spoken with people who have driven 200 miles to spend a week-end riding the bike path and poking around town. Eventually, there will be a bike path all the way to Cape Cod, which already has a good bike path. Like many others here, I'm not a big fan of MUPs but the more MUPs there are and the more cyclists there are, the greater the awareness and, one would hope, the safer we would all be.

B. Carfree

I actually disagree with Russ and Laura about what makes an area work for bike touring. In my experience, and I probably have more touring miles than they do, it's more about the local culture being both reasonably law abiding and not angry at the presence of people who are obviously from elsewhere being there. Infrastructure has very little impact on the quality of my experience in a locale. I'll go further and say that, at least in America, bike-specific infrastructure is what you put in when the culture has failed to adequately work for people on bikes.

cccorlew

Actually, I don't think you are that far apart.They talked bout business and residents seeing cyclists in a different light. One of their stories was about a business guy going around to talk to all his neighbors about being nice to cyclists on the road. And some of the infrastructure they talk about is businesses making it easy for cyclists to be their customers. They talk about changing the mindset of people. Sure, some it might be bike paths and such, but sometimes it's something as simple as better bicycle oriented signage.

They have a lot of what I hope are mind changing stats for locals about how much cash cyclists drop in small towns. And as we all know, here in the USA money talks.

I'd rather been seen as a cash cow than a potential bug on a wind screen.

B. Carfree

I feel the same. When I am well treated in an area, I find ways to spend more money. When a region is inhospitable, I leave my credit cards in their holder and do without.

Of course, sometimes it happens backwards. I was riding with some friends in Colorado, one of whom was feeling a bit ill, and we stopped in a small store to buy dinner supplies and confirm the location of the next campground. While we were chatting we noticed some T-shirts for sale as a fund-raiser for a local child who needed a liver transplant. We bought several T-shirts as gifts and also purchased mailing supplies for the store owners to mail them for us (they were also the local post office). By the time we were done, they noted our ill companion and decided she was in no shape to get up the last hill to the campground. They gave us a cabin to stay the night and left the store open for us to use the shower in the back of it.

cccorlew

You, B.Carfree, are a good citizen as well as a good cycling ambassador. I read your post aloud and my wife noted that when we tour we don't take advantage of small stores restrooms, we always buy something so we become customers and not freeloaders. I know I always try a bit of propaganda, mentioning we are bike tourists and how lucky we are to patronize local businesses.