Sacramento Area
Mountain Bike
Association

Economic Benefits

Off-road bicycling has grown into a mainstream sport with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of participants.  Many of them are highly motivated and dedicated, and are willing to spend large amounts of money to pursue their passion.

According to the National Bicycle Dealer Association, mountain bikes dominate the market, ringing up some 37 percent of all sales.  The newly evolved "comfort bikes", which make up another 20 percent of all sales, are more like mountain bikes than road bikes.  By contrast, true road bikes account for around 4 percent of all sales.  As little as 20 years ago, if you saw somebody on a mountain bike, it was likely they made it in their garage.  Check out the NBDA's statistics for all the details.

Increasing off-road cycling options in the Sacramento area is good business for anybody who sells, rents or fixes bicycles, or sells accessories.

Wherever bicycle trails have popped up, even in places where they were initially opposed by residents, they have brought economic good tidings.  The trails which have been studied brought in from $4 to $26 per visitor.  Check the whole story here.

In northwest Wisconsin, off-road bicycling trails constructed and maintained by the Chequamegon Area Mountain Biking Association are worth approximately $27 per user per day to the region, and draw in participants from Minneapolis, St. Paul, Madison and Chicago.

Moab, Utah, is Mecca for mountain bikers.  Sacramento could never hope to draw people from all over the world to ride, as they do in Moab, because we do not have the terrain.  However, Moab shows how potentially lucrative off-road cycling can be to host communities.  The University of Colorado conducted a detailed study using the "Travel Cost Method" and found that, in 1996, the average Moab mountain bike trip was worth approximately $200 to the community, and that mountain biking was generating between $8.4 and $8.8 million annually in revenues.  If anything, the authors felt the estimate was low, because the fall is the busiest season and they did their sampling in March.

This demographic profile of an off-road cycling enthusiast reveals a well-educated and affluent mountain biking public. (Adobe Acrobat file)

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has recognized the economic and recreational importance of mountain biking with its draft new land management plan.

One economic argument frequently used against new off-road cycling trails is that the prospective land owner or manager will incur massive new liability as a result of the new activity.  A search of legal databases shows few cases; nearly all won by the landowner.

Sacramento is struggling to build a vibrant, 24-hour downtown.  By providing an outstanding recreational opportunity in the downtown area, we can reach that goal.