Summit draws attention to Chattanooga's bike tourism industry @timesfreepress

Shannon Burke, owner of Velo View Bike Tours, is photographed on the Walnut Street Bridge on Thursday. Burke is moving his business, his family and his residence from Austin, Texas, to Chattanooga. Velo View Bike Tours specializes in bike vacations across the country.

Photo by John Rawlston /Times Free Press.Bicycles were scattered around the Edney Building in downtown Chattanooga this week during the inaugural Southeast Regional Bike Tourism Summit.

Bicycles were scattered around the Edney Building in downtown Chattanooga this week during the inaugural Southeast Regional Bike Tourism Summit.

Inside, their riders — in town from seven states — discussed things like bikepacking, electric bikes, U.S. bike routes and the economic benefits that they can bring to communities.

Bicycle tourism is a burgeoning idea in the South, and Chattanooga will soon be the headquarters for another business based solely on the concept.

Velo View Bike Tours, an Austin, Texas-based company founded in 2012 and known for its four-night bike vacations and three-night bike retreats, is moving to Chattanooga, where the company will also experiment with day trips in the Chattanooga area and other regional rides.

Owner Shannon Burke, a panelist during the bike tourism summit on Wednesday and Thursday, and his wife, Celeste Cyr, both have family in Tennessee, and that played a part in the decision to relocate to the Southeast.

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