The Cycling City: Join the biking revolution!

Welcome to “The Cycling City.“ This is a new column that will discuss how cycling can benefit not only the individual but also the community as a whole. We will look at why people ride bikes, and how cycling can make a community healthier, happier, and more connected while providing a true alternative transportation network. We will explore how cycling has been woven into the culture of cities around the world and discuss how those models could help make the Queen City a “Cycling City.”

Have you had a feeling that you are seeing more and more people on bikes lately? Have you found yourself thinking about joining them? I have good news for you…first, your eyes have not deceived you – since 2020 bike usage saw a huge boom that was spurred by the COVID lockdowns. As public transportation, restaurants, gyms  and many of the places we enjoyed going to closed down, many people sought outdoor activities. Cycling became a popular alternative way to commute to work or school, or to stay healthy, to be with family and friends or just fill the boredom. The resulting bike sales surge was so intense that manufacturers and bike shops could not keep up with the demand. It felt as if bikes were the only thing more scarce than toilet paper! People looking to buy bikes often were met with a 6-12 month wait list. The consumer tracking firm NPD Group reported year over year bike sales of adult bikes under $200 increased 203% in April 2020 . All of these new cyclists joined people who already had bikes and headed to the outdoors. A study of trail use in Connecticut showed a 53% increase in use state-wide in June 2020 compared to a year earlier. This increase in ridership occurred at a time when many states were already constructing many amazing cycling trails that gave riders beautiful and safe places to explore free from vehicle traffic. Realizing the diverse benefits of cycling, many of these new riders continued to use their bikes even after the lockdowns were lifted.

A little bit about me: I live in Manchester, I am a firefighter, and I am on the Manchester Conservation Commission, the Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission, and I am involved with several non-profit advocacy groups. I am an avid cyclist and cycling advocate. I am not the fastest nor the most skilled cyclist around – I just happen to be passionate about cycling! Up until about three years ago, I was like many of us: I bought a bicycle with the best of intentions, rode it once, and then hung it in my garage and never touched it again. It probably would have stayed that way except for the events of a beautiful and warm Sunday morning in June, 2019. This was a day that changed my life forever…a day that I wasn’t supposed to live to see the end of.

At 49 years old, I experienced a near-fatal medical event requiring emergency surgery and several subsequent surgeries over the next two months. I spent five months trying to recover physically and spent much more time recovering emotionally. Both of those journeys continue to be part of my daily life. There was a significant time that I did not know if I would ever fully recover, or if I would be able to return to my career. But, I was determined not to be defined by my ordeal. I spent months in physical therapy and working with a trainer at my gym to physically recover. In October my best friend invited me to go on a bike ride with him on the Nashua River Rail Trail. I was excited to go, but found myself consumed with thoughts of collapsing and dying on the ride. Determined to overcome my fears, I took my bike off the wall and headed out with my friend. It was the first time I was exerting myself physically outside of the protective enclosure of the gym – I knew that if I couldn’t handle it, I could be stranded miles away from the parking lot. While (spoiler alert) I did not die, I did ride very cautiously and asked to turn back after about only four miles.  While my ride was very short in cycling distances (where 20-50 miles are typical)…I did it, and for me it was a major milestone in my recovery! Cycling gave me a sense of accomplishment – and it was the first of many more to come.

The following summer, my new girlfriend Diana and I were trying to start a relationship in the summer of COVID – meaning everything was closed and there wasn’t much to do. So, we headed for the outdoors, and for us that meant getting back on our bikes. She also had also bought a bike years before and only used it a handful of times. We rode many of the rail trails around Manchester. We were amazed by the urban trail network that is right here in our backyard and were able to build our cycling confidence.

We then took advantage of a planned trip to North Conway to expand our cycling into the White Mountains which included riding portions of the Presidential Rail Trail and the Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail which utilizes portions of existing trails and roadways to form a contiguous bike route from Vermont to Bethel, Maine. Later that summer, we completed several bike rides in the Metro-Boston area which were truly inspiring as to what urban cycling could be. These rides included the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway that runs from Cambridge to Bedford Massachusetts and is used by tens of thousands of users annually.

Since then I have sought out cycling experiences around the country and the world. I have been fortunate enough to be able to participate in organized events like the 32,000 bicycle-strong TD Five Borough Bike Tour in New York City, and the citywide “Ciclovia” in Bogota Colombia (the founding city of Ciclovia). I have also sought out opportunities to explore cities by bike including Denver; Boulder; Los Angeles; Chicago; Tulum, Mexico; Panama City, Panama; Hawaii; and Cartagena, Colombia. I am also working on a personal journey to “segment ride” from Boston to Bethel, Maine by way of Vermont. Cycling has made a huge impact on my life, and each one of my rides have provided me with vision and inspiration of ways that we could make our own city better.

As we dive into the world of cycling we will also examine the many different reasons that people ride bikes in our city. Some of these cyclists ride their bikes because they do not have access to a car. They use their bikes as a means of essential transportation to get to employment or vital services. Some cyclists have access to cars, but have made a choice to use a bike as a means of “active transportation” in their daily lives. They choose to ride their bikes to commute to work or school and run daily errands like going to the grocery store. A small percentage of cyclists are performance cyclists – these are people often on expensive bikes that compete in cycling events throughout the world (think: Tour de France). However, a large segment of cyclists are recreational users like me. We ride our bikes for enjoyment and enrichment – often we drive our cars to a trail somewhere and dismount our bikes to go for a ride to explore new places.

By gaining a better understanding of the different types of users, we can better understand what their needs are; we will learn about the existing bike advocacy groups in our city; we will discuss the current status of trails and bike infrastructure and what is planned for the future – locally, regionally and nationally; we will talk about the missing links in our city’s bike network and how we can fix them; and we will talk about how cycling is part of an “Alternative Transportation” network. We will also explore how cycling relates to the concepts of environmental justice and equitable access for underserved communities.

We will also dive into the exciting world of “eco-tourism” and ways that we can explore the world around us on a bicycle. Whether you want to visit the “Great North Woods” of New Hampshire,  ride a trail that includes a bike ferry across Lake Champlain, explore a new city, or even our own Queen City – exploring by bike allows you to see these places differently than just driving in your car. You see, in a car – we often just whiz through a community at 30-40 mph, but on a bike you are actually riding in a community and becoming part of the fabric of your surroundings.

So, if you have ever wanted to get out there on two wheels – the warm weather is not too far away! No matter what your goal is, there is no better time than the present to get into cycling! The COVID bike shortage has finally started to ease up and we are even starting to see sales on bicycles again! And, if you don’t feel confident riding a bike – there are active and inclusive bicycle advocacy groups and cycling clubs that have resources available to teach bike safety and riding skills. There are also a number of organized bike rides throughout the area that are open to riders of all abilities. So, grab your helmet and your bike lights and join the “Biking Revolution!”

The opinions and views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not reflect the viewpoint of any organization that the author is affiliated with.

About the author

In 2019 Don suffered a life-threatening medical emergency. In an effort to physically and mentally recover from that ordeal Don dusted off the bicycle hanging in his garage and took to the trails. Cycling became Don’s path to recovery and which evolved into his love of cycling.

In the past several years Don has logged many miles of riding throughout New England, the United States and beyond. In these travels Don has been able to see first hand how cycling has impacted people of all backgrounds in various communities. From the bustling streets of New York City and Los Angeles, to the remote fishing villages of the north coast of Colombia, Don feels fortunate to have been able to experience how cycling impacts all of these people.

Don is a resident of Manchester and enjoys serving the community as a Manchester Commissioner on the Southern NH Planning Commission, the Manchester Conservation Commission, is a member of the Board of Directors for The Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire and a member of the Manchester Environmental Justice Advisory Group. Don also enjoys a long career in public safety and is a career Fire Lieutenant/Paramedic for a local fire department as well as a fire instructor for the State of NH. Throughout his career he has also been a volunteer EMT, firefighter and part-time police officer.

While Don began cycling for health and continues to do so for recreation, he recognizes the important role that cycling has for all the members of our community. Don works to utilize his experiences to advocate for the advancement of cycling as a means of equitable transportation and economic development in Manchester and also in New Hampshire as a whole. By making cycling safer and more accessible we can connect our communities in ways never thought possible. Don often tells people “give me any social issue we are facing and I can tell you how cycling can help the problem.”