Chamber wants people to get on a roll

New map will promote cycling in the area

BY LAURA MUELLER
laura.mueller@perthcourier.com

Reprinted with permission from:  The Perth Courier

Listening to birds chirp, feeling the wind on your face, and pulling over at a moment’s notice to check out a sight along your route: is there any better way to sightsee than by bicycle?

That’s the idea behind a planned set of bike routes the Perth and District Chamber of Commerce plans to roll out in the next month.

“It is a really relaxing way to explore your environment,” says Karen Rennie, the town’s heritage manager and chair of the chamber’s cycling route committee. “It allows you to actually go into green spaces.”

The committee is hoping a new map showing cycling routes in a variety of lengths, difficulties and settings in the Perth area will attract environmentally-conscious tourists to Perth. The routes would encourage people who visit to tour the area in a way that has less impact on the environment.

Nine routes are planned for Perth and neighbouring townships (Lanark Highlands, Tay Valley and Drummond/North Elmsley).

Rennie, an avid cyclist, says cycling tourism is a niche market Perth is perfectly poised to capitalize on due to its mix of urban and rural settings with a multitude of safe, scenic routes for biking.

“If you travel at all, cycling is huge,” she says. “It’s easier to put in bike racks than parking lots. Everything is cycle-friendly. They are promoting green, eco-friendly travel.”

Perth already attracts a large group of cyclists every year without marketing towards them, says Madeline Bouvier, co-manager of the chamber of commerce. The two-day Rideau Lakes Cycling Tour passes through Perth each year, bringing thousands of people to Last Duel Park. The chamber often receives positive feedback from the cyclists about how much they enjoy biking in the area, Bouvier says.

The idea for establishing a network of cycling routes was born three years ago, but after some initial progress the plan remained stalled until recently.

“We’ve had this influx of interest,” Bouvier says. The number of people on the committee has grown to eight and the group has been busy expanding on the plans that were initially drawn up when the cycling route idea was first pursued.

The routes will range from a leisurely 10-kilometre jaunt through town on mostly flat, smooth terrain, to longer and more physically challenging routes.

“That’s the beauty of it,” Bouvier says. “It encompasses everyone from recreational cyclists to people who compete in iron man.”

Laurel-Lea Shannon, a local cyclist who runs www.womenscycling.ca, says the routes are a great idea.
“There are so many routes around here, but people might not know where they are on their own,” she says.
Shannon is trying to start up a weekly women’s road cycling group and says the cycling map will be a great help to her when she is planning treks for the group. Women interested in joining the group can contact Shannon through her website.

Aside from being a “green” way to tour the area, cycling also provides a way for families to get active, Bouvier says.

Tourists aren’t the only ones who could benefit from the routes, Rennie says. Having pre-established routes could take the guesswork out of heading out for a spin for residents as well, she says.

“Perth is perfect. You can walk almost anywhere. If we stopped and took two seconds we could take our bike instead of our car,” she says.

Still, creating a series of cycling routes will not instantly transform Perth into a bicycle-friendly town, Rennie and Bouvier admit.

There is a learning curve for motorists in any community to adapt to driving with bikes on the road, Rennie says. Adding bike racks could greatly benefit the town by encouraging people to cycle and reducing traffic and parking congestion, she says. The town should consider bike lanes as part of the process of reconstructing streets such as Wilson Street, Rennie said.

“This is a starting point,” Rennie says. “We are going to build on it each summer.”

Right now, the committee is finalizing the routes so the pamphlets can be printed, likely later this month. Three cyclists recently joined the committee and offered to cycle each route and meticulously check for areas that could be improved, or opportunities to include rest stops or attractions in the route in formation.

There are also advertising opportunities for chamber members that would like to be featured along the routes, Bouvier says.

If the map helps cycling gain popularity in the area, there could be an opportunity for a business to offer bike rentals, Bouvier says.

The map will also be incorporated into the chamber’s new website, which is expected to launch in the next month. The site will be interactive to allow visitors to comment on the routes and make suggestions, Bouvier says.