cycle tourism

There are a lot of imaginative uses for abandoned railroad tracks out there, from awesome urban parks like New York's High Line to bike and pedestrian highways. Lloyd, however, points out the downside to permanently removing tracks:

This morning at 5.30am I was on my bike. I'll be on it again tomorrow at the same time.

I don't own any skin-tight cycling clobber. Nor do I own much of a bicycle, just one of those easy-rider roadster bikes with a comfy seat.

In serious cycling circles, I'd be considered a bit of a joke.

But that doesn't stop me getting on my bike every morning before work. The fact that I have a fabulous limestone cycling pathway along the coast from my home has made the morning bike ride an irresistible ritual.

The economic benefits of environmentally smart cycle tourism can drive a recovery in provincial New Zealand and have the potential to double the amount tourists spend annually – from $320 million to $640 million, tourism leaders say.

At the Ecotourism 2010 conference in Rotorua this month, cycle tourism leaders explained the power of pedallers and applauded the injection of $9 million of the prime minister's $50m cycleway fund into "quick start" ventures that will see new multi-day routes operating this summer.