Bicyclists take center stage at meeting
Hoping to demonstrate bicycling has a constituency transcending any specific demographic, about three dozen devotees converged on City Hall Tuesday night in a show of solidarity with the city’s effort to position itself as a bicycling destination.
Many arrived on their bikes, clad in their biking togs. Running the gamut from the self employed, the retired, the professional class, craftsmen, educators and service industry employees, the contingent represented the silver set, middle-schoolers and ages in between.
Mayor Pat McCabe, a fellow bicycling enthusiast who has used his platform to promote the activity since being appointed to the office last month, had them queue up in front of the lectern, with each coming to the microphone to tell their age and occupation.
“This is so we can have an understanding of the breadth of the community, the cross section of the community, that’s involved in this activity,” McCabe explained to the Hot Springs Board of Directors.
The board’s adoption of a resolution acknowledging the Northwoods Urban Forest Park Feasibility Study Report occasioned their arrival. Presented to the board in February, the report outlined a strategy for tapping into the tourism potential of the 2,000-acre tract of unspoiled woodlands the city owns north and west of Park Avenue.
Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison told the board the Northwoods is poised to become a mountain biking mecca, with Visit Hot Springs contracting the International Mountain Biking Association to plot a series of trails through the park.
“The low-hanging fruit at this point is mountain biking,” Arrison said. “The International Mountain Biking Association has flagged 16.6 miles of trails. We can start building on this tomorrow once we get the funding. It’s also GPS’d an additional 28 miles of trails, which will give us 44.6 miles of probably some of the best mountain biking trails in the country.”
He told the board the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission has warmed to the idea of biking becoming a critical piece of the city’s tourism portfolio. The IMBA has designated the city as a ride center, conferring bronze-level status on the Bear Creek Trail, Iron Mountain and Possum Kingdom Trail.
“When we started this several years ago, everybody was saying ‘Nobody bikes, what are you talking about?’” Arrison told the board. “But it’s incredible how many people of different age, economic status and jobs bike. They have a great economic impact on what’s going on.”
Arrison cited a litany of data showing the economic activity and sales tax revenue biking generates but seized on the $46.9 billion in bicycling trip related expenditures made annually.
“That’s what it’s about for the A&P Commission,” he said. “It’s tourism. It’s bringing people in that spend their money on our community.”
A.J. Johnson, director of Garland County’s Cedar Glades Park, told the board that the park, located west of the Northwoods, regularly attracts mountain bikers from neighboring states. The city envisions using bike trails to connect the two parks.
“There’s not a week that goes by that I don’t see a car from Texas, Oklahoma or Louisiana out there mountain biking,” he said.
Mountain biking is the most immediately actionable of the recreational activities identified in the report, but the potential for other pursuits is apparent if not immediate. Hiking, zip lining, archery, shooting and kayaking and canoeing in lakes Sanderson, Dillon and Bethel are all within the realm of possibilities, the report said.
While those may be years in the making, Arrison said mountain biking can proceed almost straightaway. He said trails could be built before the end of the year.
“We talk a lot, but I want to see something happen,” he told the board. “I think this is really going to happen in this year. It’s not going to be something that we’re talking about 10 years from now. We’re going to do something in the Northwoods. We’re going to build some trails.”
Tuesday night’s discussion unfolded amid May’s designation as National Bike Month. In recognition of the celebration, two biking-related events are scheduled for Memorial Day weekend. McCabe will lead a “Slow Roll” through the downtown area May 26, with participants disembarking from Spa City Cycling, 859 Park Ave, at 4:30 p.m. They’ll proceed down Park to Whittington Avenue, stopping at Parkside Cycle,
719 Whittington Ave., before heading to the Hot Springs Farmers & Artisans Market for Food Truck Friday.
“This is not a race,” Arrison said in the news release for the event. “Cyclists of all ages and abilities are invited to ‘slow roll’ through one of America’s prettiest downtown areas.”
There’s no charge for participating, but helmets are required. The first 50 riders arriving at Spa City Cycling will receive a free T-shirt commemorating the event.
The Hot Springs Friends of the Park is sponsoring the 18th Annual Du for the Parks Duathlon at Transportation Depot on May
28. Registration starts at 6 a.m., with all the proceeds supporting the development of the Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail. More information is available by calling
501-321-2027.
Sam Spencer, the Hot Springs Police Department’s downtown bicycle officer, reminded the board of the rules of the road for motorists maneuvering around bicycles.
“You have to be three feet away from a bike when you pass it,” he said. “Keep a look out for bicyclists. They try really hard to obey the laws.”