Hundreds of cyclists to tour Powell, Cody next year

Posted 12/9/14

The 2015 Cycle Greater Yellowstone tour will bring hundreds of bicyclers to Powell for one night plus another two nights in Cody.

“It is a great opportunity for us to show off our great community,” said Powell Valley Chamber of Commerce …

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Hundreds of cyclists to tour Powell, Cody next year

Posted

Local economies could get pedal-powered push

As many as 800 cyclists plan to bike through the region next summer — and they may take Powell and Cody businesses along for the ride.

The 2015 Cycle Greater Yellowstone tour will bring hundreds of bicyclers to Powell for one night plus another two nights in Cody.

“It is a great opportunity for us to show off our great community,” said Powell Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jaime Schmeiser. “And it will be great for people to come to see our beautiful town and do some shopping and do some local support of the economy.”

Schmeiser expects the biggest benefit will be “getting the word out about our town and how close we are to everything,” since most of the cyclists will be eating meals and staying at a campsite provided by tour operators.

Still, some riders venture into the community to either stay at a hotel or sample local restaurants.

Assistant Cycle Greater Yellowstone Director Jennifer Drinkwalter said about a third of the bikers opt for a local hotel over the provided campsite, while the number of folks who eat out “varies widely from town to town and depends on how close the camp area is to local restaurants.”

For those and other reasons, it’s difficult to figure precisely how much cash comes with the influx of cyclists, but “we do know that in each town, it’s about $100,000” for a one-night stay, Drinkwalter said.

During the 2013 cycling tour, two nights were spent in Cody while Powell served only as a brief pit stop.

Tour organizers had originally planned to wait three years before returning to Buffalo Bill’s namesake, but decided to return sooner “because our riders loved Cody,” Drinkwalter recently explained to county commissioners.

The upcoming Aug. 15-22 event — which will be the tour’s third running — starts and ends in Red Lodge, Mont.

After traveling to Absarokee, Nye and across the Beartooth Highway to Cooke City, Mont., riders are due to drop down the Chief Joseph Highway and into Cody on Aug. 19.

“Be sure to take in the views of Heart Mountain as you finish in the cowboy heaven of Cody,” advises the tour website.

Cyclists will set up camp at the Park County Complex, with organizers planning to have a quiet camping area in the nearby Canal Park.

On Aug. 20, tour participants will have the option of biking the 100 miles up to Pahaska Tepee along the North Fork Highway or checking out everything else the Cody area has to offer.

The following day, Aug. 21, the cyclers need only ride the 25 miles to Powell, but they have the option of going another 52 miles by heading out to Lovell (via Deaver and Cowley) and back (via Byron).

“If you choose the short ride, Powell offers attractions such as agriculture tours, Heart Mountain Relocation Center, and museums,” says the tour website.

Bikers will camp at the Park County Fairgrounds that night before leaving for Red Lodge in the morning.

Cycle Greater Yellowstone was created by and supports the work of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, the non-profit environmental organization. It’s billed as “a week-long full-service road bike tour that showcases the natural beauty of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.”

Around 650 cyclists participated in this past summer’s ride, which visited Jackson, Pinedale, Lander, Dubois and other locales.

For more information or to register for the ride, visit www.cyclegreateryellowstone.com.

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