On Common Ground - Winter 2017: Walkable Neighborhoods

When my 16-year-old daughter and I went on one of our weekly outings last summer, we hopped on our bikes in Verona, Wis. (population 10,600) and pedaled 13 miles on the Military Ridge Trail to Mount Horeb (population 7,500) for an early dinner at the Grumpy Troll Restaurant. Then, as the sun set, we cruised back on the old Chicago and North Western Railroad corridor.

That ride is repeated thousands of times each summer on the 40-mile-long trail near Madison, Wis., and hundreds of thousands of times each year on other trails around the country, pumping millions of dollars into rural communities.

According to the Wisconsin Bicycle Federation, cycling boosts the Badger State’s economy by a whopping $1.5 billion annually through tourism, recreation, retail and manufacturing, providing more than 13,200 jobs. It brings in $535 million in tourism dollars from out-of-state visitors alone, and it all started when Wisconsin built the Elroy-Sparta Trail back in 1967 on an abandoned Chicago and North Western rail bed. Since then, the state has spent more than $240 million on bicycle projects.

Bill Kalscheur, treasurer of the Friends of the Military Ridge Trail and a former grocery store owner in Mount Horeb, estimates that more than 100,000 people ride the trail that cuts through his town each year.

“Mount Horeb and the Grumpy Troll are a big destination for a lot of the riders, too, but businesses in the towns of Verona, Riley and Blue Mounds also benefit,” he said. “It’s a great trail because it connects to Gov. Dodge State Park, Blue Mounds State Park and there’s a new spur to Brigham Park.