Basket & Bike is another company that has been created to capitalize on the Virginia Capital Trail. It offers excursions to destinations along the trail, including Upper Shirley Vineyards and Jamestown Island, as well as offering bicycle and helmet rentals and picnic lunches to cyclists.

Anne Poarch, founder of Basket & Bike, came up with the idea for her business after biking along state Route 5 in the summer before the trail opened. She stopped for a snack and thought it would be nice to have a picnic.

Poarch talked about how her business got started as part of the panel discussion held before the trail tour at The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing. Other panelists were Beth Weisbrod, the executive director of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, and John Cario, vice president and general manager of the Hilton Richmond Downtown.

“In the last 15 years, people have really discovered that the bike tourism market is absolutely huge,” said Weisbrod, who announced last month that she will step down and move into a position on the nonprofit’s board of directors.

Cario said he has noticed an upswing in cyclists traveling to the area since the 2015 UCI Road World Championships in Richmond. Tourists from as far as California have visited Virginia to cycle along the Capital Trail.