Bicycle tourism presentation rides into Sidney next week

In an effort to develop and promote bicycle tourism in the area, the Cheyenne County Visitors Committee will host a community presentation Monday evening to discuss ways to make the county more friendly to local and visiting cyclists.

"We'll go over different options and ways to promote bicycle tourism, whether it be within Sidney, intertwining and using the pathway more, or if we will look into some other thing to make this a more bicycle-friendly community," Heather Housmann, tourism director for the Cheyenne County Visitors Center, said.

Eco-tourism consultant Alex Duryea with the Nebraska Tourism Commission will be conducting the presentation.

"He's traveled all over the state and is a bicyclist himself," Hausmann said.

Hausmann said Duryea plans to explore the Sidney area, either before or after the presentation.

"He's going to go out on his bicycle and see firsthand what will work for us," she said. "I think he will be a great resource."

Talking points for the presentation include the benefits of and upcoming trends in bicycle tourism, how to cater to cyclists' needs, how bicycling tourism is a perfect fit for small towns and how to get the community involved.

Hausmann said while the primary focus is bicycle tourism, they want to hear from the local community and their needs as well.

"The presentation is open to the public, so if anybody has comments or suggestions, they can come in and give an idea as to what our community is wanting," she said. "What are the pros and cons? What do we need to think about doing?"

Hausmann said she also wanted to stress that this meeting is not just about Sidney, but all of Cheyenne County.

"We need to hear from all of our cycling community," she said. "Whether they are from Sidney, Potter, Lodgepole or another town, we want to hear from them."

While there will inevitably be some ideas that will be out of the scope of what they could do financially, Hausmann said there are opportunities in the form of grant funding they will also explore and discuss.

"Our idea is to take all of those things into account," she said. "Our thought is not to reinvent the wheel, to go off and do it on our own, but to work together with things that are already starting to happen or already in place."

One such example was the Deadwood Trail exercise path, which is bicycle-friendly and encompasses nearly 4.5 miles, connecting the county fairgrounds to Legion Park to along the 17-J Link heading to the outskirts of town and Interstate 80.

"That is something already being used, but what about making the roads connecting our town more bicycle-friendly as well," Hausmann asked. "That can be done with signage along our roads, making people more aware that (cyclists) are out there."

Hausmann said the presentation is also intended to help create awareness to the growing interest of bicycling, both locally and statewide.

"There are people who are into cycling that are going at the minimum of 20 miles a day," she said.

The presentation will be held at the Cheyenne County Community Center, located at 627 Toledo St., on Monday, April 18, beginning at 6 p.m. It is open to the public and anyone interested is encouraged to attend and engage in the discussion.

For more information, contact the Cheyenne County Visitors Center at (308) 254-4030.