The Stevensville Bicycle Camp Committee (SBCC) will host a Bicycle Tourism Forum on Tuesday afternoon, April 14. The Town Council, local business owners, and interested supporters are all invited. Come and learn from experts how best to welcome touring world cyclists, who will soon be arriving from across Montana, the U.S., and the greater international community.
The final section of the Bitterroot’s bike path, from Lolo to Missoula (L2M), is scheduled for completion in spring 2016, and with its opening, the Valley can expect a decided rise in bicyclists riding the well-known-to-cyclists routes that run through the Valley: the Lewis and Clark Bicycle Trail and the coast-to-coast TransAmerica Trail. The “Montana Business Quarterly,” in its Summer 2014 issue, touted bicycle tourism as “the new phenomenon in the travel industry,” with cyclists “spending more time and money in the state than the average vacationer.” Visiting bicyclists boost tourism without the added infrastructure of new roads and parking lots.
A touring cyclist, riding roughly 40 to 100 miles per day, is happy to sleep soundly in national parks, beside lakes and rivers, among pines and sagebrush. But pedalers also need and like to come to town. For groceries, Wi-Fi, mail, laundry. For the drugstore’s sundries and souvenirs. For bicycle repairs and mending of gear. For networking, replanning, and map study. For grabbing a massage and ice cream. For hot showers and the luxury of an evening dining out and sampling local brews. For meeting townsfolk and enjoying the camaraderie of other long-distance cyclists.
The historic town of Stevensville offers the ideal Valley stopover for touring cyclists. Highway 93’s bike path brings them to the Junction, the path along the Cut-off road delivers them right into town, and SBCC’s proposed camp in Lewis and Clark
Park—equipped with secure bicycle lockers and located two blocks from downtown—will serve to increase largely foot traffic on Main Street, and about.
The Forum’s speakers intend to cover a lot of ground and will gladly answer audience questions. Ginny Sullivan, the Director of Travel Initiates at Adventure Cycling, will open the afternoon with her specialty, “Building Bicycle Tourism.” Jean Belangie-Nye, who is President of the Board of BWAM (Bike Walk Alliance of Missoula) and has been thoroughly involved in completion of L2M, the new riverside bicycle trail connecting Lolo to Missoula, will give a full update. Melinda Barnes, the Executive Director of Bike Walk Montana, will illuminate the local and regional benefits of bicycle tourism. Roger DeBrito of the Florence Civic Club will talk about planned kiosks along Highway 93 that will display important cyclist information, and Patrick McCarron will address highway and bike-path safety signage, which, eventually, will be installed by the Montana Department of Transportation.
As the wind-up, members of SBCC will discuss Stevensville’s excellent town access for bicycle travelers and the bicycle camp’s planned location in Lewis & Clark Park. They’ll unveil the first sketches of the proposed bicycle camp facility and the design of fund-raiser t-shirts, and then explain the process of changing the town’s ordinance on overnight camping to allow touring cyclists (with non-motorized arrival) to tent camp in Lewis & Clark Park. They’ll also address the fear issues of vagrancy, “stranger-danger,” and unapproved partying. There will be plenty of time for discussion, questions, and comments.
The Bicycle Tourism Forum will be held in the North Valley Public Library’s community room, 208 Main Street, from 2 to 5 p.m. Refreshments will be served.
SBCC is a sub-committee of the Stevensville Main Street Association’s Economic Development Committee, a 501(c)3. All donations are tax deductible. For more information call 777-3773, or visit SBCC’s web site: stevensvillebicyclecamp.org.