The potential for Norfolk County to host thousands of cycling tourists is here now that the north shore of Lake Erie is part of a 1,400-kilometre long biking trail.
But local businesses need to be ready to serve them, a seminar in Port Dover was told last week.
“We need as many businesses as possible to act as staging areas,” said Marlaine Koehler of the Toronto-based Waterfront Regeneration Trust, the charity that has established a biking route from St. Clair Lake to Quebec that follows the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway.
What’s needed, Koehler said, are such things as secure places for cyclists to lock up their bikes, places for them to sit in the shade on a bench, or spots where they can get their water bottles filled. Also needed is access to bicycle repair kits and air pumps.