First-ever Bicycle Tourism Summit hopes to make Oregon “The Place Bicycles Dream About”
Originally published in the May 2006 issue of The Bicycle Paper

Last Saturday 150 people filled the Eugene Hilton for the Oregon Bicycle Tourism Summit. The purpose of the Summit was to share ideas and collaborate on an effort to establish Oregon as the top cycling destination in the country. Attendees came from every corner of the state and were treated to a series of informational presentations, hands-on workshop sessions, an exhibitor expo and networking opportunities.

The event got off to an inspiring start when Jay Graves, owner of the Bike Gallery (a 6-store chain in Portland) had each participant stand up and introduce themselves. In the crowd were several mayors, many bike shop owners, members of the media, entrepreneurs and several Oregon-based bike industry luminaries including the founders of Bike Friday, Burley Designs, and Co-Motion Cycles (all based in Eugene).

From that moment on, it was clear that this summit would go down as the seminal moment in the history of bicycle tourism in Oregon.

During his opening speech, Graves shared a vision from a recent trip to Amsterdam where cyclists, “ride between cities on ribbons of bike-only paths.”

Following Graves was former Commissioner of State Parks and long-time Oregon bicycle advocate John Blackwell. Blackwell’s vast experience provided an important perspective. A self-described Francophile, Blackwell said in order to become the #1 cycling state we need to first become more bike-friendly. He said the first order of business should be to, “nurture a culture of civility” on our roads so we can be like France where a cyclists can “ride with impunity through country roads and paths.”

Lending a more analytical perspective was Todd Davidson, CEO of Travel Oregon. Travel Oregon is the organization responsible for marketing and branding Oregon to the rest of the world. During his speech Todd shared interesting statistics about how bicycles fit into Oregon’s tourism mix. We learned that of the 19 million overnight trips to Oregon, that people only rode bikes about 3-5% of the time. He also made the point that 72% of visitors to Oregon said the state is “great for bicycles” and that according to their surveys; Oregon is ranked #1 for bikes in the Western region.

In order for Oregon to make solid gains in bike tourism, Travel Oregon must work closely with bike advocates and the bicycle business community to integrate bicycle imagery and messaging into their advertising campaigns.

Tim Woods, Director of Oregon Parks and Recreation shared with us that his organization is currently looking for a new, full-time Bicycle Tourism Coordinator position within Oregon Parks and Recreation. They should have someone in this position by June or July.

Sheila Lyons, bicycle facilities manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation relayed their progress on creating a state-wide bike route map. She also expressed their intention of making the maps available online in the future.

After lunch, Congressman Peter DeFazio gave us his perspective from “inside the Beltway”. He spoke with optimism and told the crowd that transportation (and especially bicycles) is one of the last remaining non-partisan issues on Capitol Hill. He shared encouraging information about the recently passed transportation bill, which he said was the first time large amounts of federal dollars have been set aside specifically for improving bicycle infrastructure.

After the speakers, the final part of the summit was workshop sessions where attendees were asked for their input on three different topics. These topics included website development, “Marketing the Experience”, and “Growing the Resource” which dealt with infrastructure and facilities.

The workshops were lively and interactive and many exciting new ideas were discussed and shared. These workshops gave participants a sense of ownership in the effort to make Oregon, “The place bicycles dream about” and it was clear that to achieve this dream it will take the effort and collaboration of everyone.

For Cheryl Edwards, a bike loving entrepreneur and resident of tiny Dufur, Oregon, this summit is what she’s been dreaming about for years. Cheryl and her husband have big plans for hosting cyclists on her land which is ideally situated at the base of Mt. Hood’s famous mountain bike trails. She wants to create a hut-to-hut system and establish a bed-and-breakfast on her property. She came to the summit to tell people about her dream and share her enthusiasm for the effort. After waiting many years for this opportunity she said, “I could just about cry that they’re doing this right now.” Cheryl’s comments echoed the enthusiasm of many people at the Summit.

With a successful summit under their belts, the future of bicycle tourism in Oregon now depends on the follow-up of attendees and organizers. It will be important to maintain the momentum and turn these dreams into reality.