TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (WLNS) — What started as just another night scrolling through Facebook, turned into a three-year business venture for a creative high schooler and a new adventure altogether for Michiganders.
Starting May 25, Michigan residents will have the chance to tour a railroad by gliding down the tracks on a special bicycle, thanks to Grand Ledge High School graduate Macie Hefron.
Hefron, 22, said she was scrolling through Facebook one night when she saw a video of a bike gliding down a train track.
That moment inspired Hefron to create her business, Wheels on Rails, which brings the unique cycling activity to Traverse City.
According to Hefron, rail-biking uses special manufactured bikes with railroad wheels that can glide down a train track like a locomotive.
”This is completely abandoned and out of service and it is just sitting there, so why don’t we utilize it,” Hefron said.
She came up with a business proposal using her passion for biking and experience working for the Michigan Department of Transportation.
Hefron stayed persistent and received mentorship from people on the coast and actually went to Maryland last spring — with her business paperwork in-hand — to try this activity herself.
According to Hefron, Wheels on Rails has been in production for three years, and now her business is ready to go.
“I knew it would be hard. Being a young 22-year-old girl, I talk about my business often. I have huge passion for it and when I talk to people, people are like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it.’ But the biggest thing I’ve learned is, if you have a passion, follow it. And that is what I did,” Hefron said.
Hefron has stayed true to her idea, and suggests that other young business owners do the same.
To find out more about rail-biking and Wheels on Rails, visit wheelsonrailsmi.com
