Cyclists flocked to Lennox and Addington by the thousands this past summer, creating a new market for local business owners. In hopes of cashing in on this growing trend, the county is teaming with Welcome Cyclists to host an educational workshop on Oct. 3. The goal is to help local shops become ‘cycle friendly’ and encourage riders to visit while in town. “Some people might not know a lot about cycle tourism,” said Louisa Mursell, Project Manager with Welcome Cyclists. “We begin by telling them a bit about the value of cycle tourism across the world and what other regions and countries have experienced. Then we talk about what’s happening across Ontario and more specifically in the local area.”

By telling the business owners about some of the trails in the region, it’ll help them see the potential market that is out there.

“A large part of the program is certifying businesses as cycle-friendly,” said Mursell. “We have criteria that each business category needs to meet to become certified.”

Becoming certified isn’t too difficult. Businesses that provide accommodations need to have covered storage for bikes, offer healthy foods and have a simple bike repair kit on site. Once certified the businesses become listed on an online database that cyclists can access.

“We have a huge website at WelcomeCyclists.ca,” said Mursell. “We do all sorts of promotions of cycling across Ontario so more and more cyclists are finding out about our website and they’re accessing the travel and route information on the local businesses that welcome them.”

The county’s economic development office helped co-ordinate the workshop to not only help promote their trails, but to help boost the local economy.

The session runs from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Napanee Business Centre and is free of charge. Business owners will have to register prior to the event by logging onto www.welcomecyclists.ca/join-the-network or calling Mursell at 1-866-333-4491.

Welcome Cyclists is a non-profit group dedicated to certifying and promoting bicycle friendly businesses and tours throughout Ontario. To date they have held 19 workshops across the province.

From:  Shops taught to build bike savvy
By: Adam Prudhomme
The Napanee Beaver
September 22, 2011