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Big business on two wheels
Cycling's spinoffs mean millions spent in Niagara and close to 5,000 jobs

Matthew van Dongen, Standard Staff
Local News - Saturday, July 23, 2005 @ 01:00

They’re hot, sweaty and pedaling hard towards some fine Niagara wine.

Nine ambitious executive-types from across Canada — on bicycles, on the job.

“It’s a nice break from board meetings — and we still get paid,” laughed semi-breathless manager Julie Hughes, angling her rented road bike around yet another breathtaking green-blue curve of the Niagara Parkway.

The group of corporate movers-and-shakers meets informally every year to share ideas and — normally — a few drinks, maybe a round of golf.

But this year, they chose instead to talk shop at the Oban Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake, following up by a 30-kilometre bicycle tour to Marynissen Estates Winery.

“A round of golf is your typical corporate bonding experience,” said grinning Toronto exec Mike Crouse, eyes rolling like bike tires. “But not everybody likes golf.”

Health-conscious corporate bosses aren’t the only ones mixing business, pleasure and bicycles in Niagara.

The region attracts more than two million cycling tourists every year, according to a regional study released in 2003. That’s 15 per cent of all Niagara-bound tourists.

Area bicycling clubs are also celebrating record membership levels.

The recreational Niagara Freewheelers Bicycle Touring Club boasts 400 riders.

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