Leave it to a Portland area bike blog to cover the Wisconsin economy! BikePortland.org informs us that a recent study out of UW-Madison found that bike-related tourism and industry adds about $1.5 billion to our great state’s economy every ding dang year. From the aforementioned blog:

• “Recreational bicycling” had the largest impact, accounting for $924 million. Of that amount, the study says, $533 million is direct spending and $391 million is due to “indirect and induced effects, such as increased purchases of supplies and labor by restaurants and hotels serving cyclists.
• But wait, there’s more:
• • Bicycling creates 13,000 Wisconsin jobs
  • Bicycling has a larger economic impact than deer hunting ($926 million) and snowmobiling ($250 million) combined.
  • 49% of Wisconsinites participate in recreational biking
  • A 20% increase in biking could increase economic activity by $107 million and create 1500 more jobs

Um, holy crap and wow. And apparently, this study even details the bicycle industry’s positive impact on Wisconsin's health care costs. So, lest some of you snarky-yet-lovable commenters out there think Volume One is excessively pro-bike, just remember – when we post about biking, we’re really posting about the economy. And health care. Whatever that means.