==
Bike-Walk Alliance of NH == 
May 2011: National Bike Month, Commute Green in New Hampshire
If
you bike or walk in New Hampshire, there is something on this Bike-Walk Alliance
of NH web site that should be of interest to you! There is so much activity
here in the Granite State involving biking and walking it is difficult to
write about all of it. However, let's get started!
Highlights of May 2011 news follow
National Bike Month started in 1956 by the League of American Bicyclists
What started as Bike to Work Day by the LAB in 1956 (then the League of American Wheelmen) on the third Friday in May has since expanded into Bike to Work Week and finally the entire month of May as now called National Bike Month. Many states including NH have further expanded the basic concept to include walking, carpools, public transit, trains, and even telecommuting as means to avoid the use of single occupancy cars for commuting and all utilitarian trips when possible. By going "green", saving gas, pollution, money, and traffic headaches while obtaining some exercise via "active transportation" helps everyone and the environment.
Here
in NH, the 2011 Commute Green NH program
is well underway with a new web site, many coupons and giveaways, and a chance
for you to log your "green miles" as either an individual or part
of a corporate team. BWA-NH is a statewide supporter of the program and is
donating a collection of sponsorships, LED flashers, reflective leg bands,
pens, bumper stickers, and helmet stickers as giveaways. For more information
and to register, please visit www.commutegreennh.org.
AAA
of Northern New England
promotes sharing the road with bicycists in their latest newsletter. Maine,
Vermont, and New Hampshire are covered in one article which was compiled after
AAA's Pat Moody spoke with the bike advocacy groups in each state. If you
don't have that newsletter, you can check out the two page article here
for page one and here
for page two.
7th Annual Safe Kids 500, Tuesday, May 3 at the Loudon race track
This
very popular event allows kids (and everyone else) to bicycle around the famous
NASCAR track in Loudon only with safety in mind, not speed. The event is sponsored
by the Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth while many organizations including
BWA-NH support the effort and have display tables to highlight their programs.
All bicyclists are required to wear a helmet and they are fitted (or provided
at low cost) prior to cycling on the one-mile oval race track. Bike are checked
and minor repairs performed by the expert mechanics from S&W Sports of
Concord. For more details, please
see the event flyer.
NH received two Distracted Driving Simulators in April
The NH Highway Safety Conference in Meredith had distracted driving as the main theme with multiple presentations and demonstrations proving that drivers cannot safety drive and talk/text on cell phones even if hands-free devices are used such as Bluetooth headsets. There are many possible distractions while driving including eating, changing radio stations, checking a GPS unit, etc. but cell phone use leads the way as the most distracting. Just talking on a cell phone increases the risk of a crash by four times - about the same as a drunk driver with a .08 BAC. Texting while driving increases the risk by eight. Drivers seemingly "must" use their phones while driving to the point of being addicted as proven by extensive tests including brain scans. Most drivers acknowledge there is a risk factor but "they" are better than others who are talking and texting while driving. And even with the NH anti-texting law, enforcement is a problem as usually nothing is done until after a crash when cell phone records are examined - and the victims are examined in a hospital or a morgue.
What can we do? While certainly there is no one answer, better education and awareness can help. BWA-NH was instrumental in the NH Highway Safety Agency and the Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth obtaining two Distracted Driving Simulators (DDS). The computerized and portable devices will be taken into schools and public places to allow drivers of all ages to learn for themselves that they are really not good at driving safely when playing with their cell phone. The simulators run a program called "One Simple Decision" - and it really gets the point across: simply do not talk or text when driving. Multitasking may sound like a good idea and many people feel they do it very well. Unfortunately, the statistic and deaths prove otherwise.
During May, a core group of safety professionals will be trained on the DDS by the Injury Prevention Center in Lebanon on the set-up, use, and database logging so they can train others who will be able to borrow the units at no charge for up to a week at a time. When not in use, one unit will be stored in Lebanon at the IPC office, then second stored in Concord at the Safety and Health Council of Northern New England office where BWA-NH rents space and services. The goal is to greatly increase the awareness of NH drivers of distracted driving so they will change their habits before causing a serious crash. Bicyclists and pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users with distracted drivers being a severe risk which is increasing every year for the past decade or more. The DDS units are but one way we hope to address this serious issue.
Please
see our Distracted
Driving page for details and photos.
Bicycling Education efforts continue
With May being National Bike Month and the school year winding down, many schools are holding bike-ed classes with the help of certified LAB Cycling Instructors and the BWA-NH "Train the Trainer" program. School personnel are very thankful for the efforts and comprehensiveness of the program, especially when the on-bike sessions are included. A recent LAB "Kids-II" class for grades K-5 at the Canterbury Elementary School is but one example of another success story.
For adults wishing to hone their on-road cycling skills, a second LAB "Traffic Skills 101" course is scheduled for the Concord area this September. Please see our Traffic Skills-101 page for details.
Canterbury Elementary School sign announcing bike event, April 16, 2011
About 1/4 of Canterbury Elementary School students in bike-ed class, April 15, 2011
Canterbury Elementary School students practicing straight-line starts/stops
Rail Trail progress
Paperwork for the Derry-Windham-Salem tri-town TE grant for $1.2M as awarded in 2010 continues to move forward but a pace not likely to see any construction until 2012. Users of the paved sections of the Derry and Windham rail trails can't wait until the centers of Derry and Salem are connected. For the same Manchester-Lawrence railroad corridor extending south through Salem and into Methuen, MA, discussions are underway between the Methuen Rail Trail Alliance, City of Methuen, Iron Horse Preservation Society (IHPS), NH-DOT, and the Town of Salem with BWA-NH helping to arrange critical meetings in Concord. The concept of IHPS building a useable rail trail at no cost in exchange for old railroad is a new concept for New Hampshire so new guidelines must be established before any work is done. At this time, IHPS is likely to start work in Methuen this summer and would certainly benefit all parties concerned if they are allowed to continue north along the M&L corridor into Salem. Our June BWA-NH update will carry news of the meetings, hopefully with good results to report.
Did
you see the BWA-NH April updates? If not, here you go!
April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month
Motorists are routinely distracted by many things when driving with often tragic results concerning bicyclists and pedestrians as the most vulnerable road users. Car crashes are often fatal but at least there is some protection afforded by several tons of steel and plastic to absorb an impact. Bicyclists and pedestrians have no such protection, so when a distracted motorist veers off-course or simply was not looking at anything but a cell phone, we have a major problem.
Coinciding with the National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, the State of NH just received two simulators which are to be unveiled at the NH Highway Safety Conference in Meredith on April 26. These units are portable and will be deployed around the state in locations where they are likely to attract attention - they will be taken to the public as well as used in classroom settings. The Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth Hospital and the NH Highway Safety Agency are behind the funding and training of operators for the units. When not in use, one will be stored in Hanover and the other in Concord at the Safety and Health Council of Northern NE office which is also the BWA-NH Concord office. The idea of obtaining the simulators was suggested by BWA-NH at the "Safe Kids 500" event in Loudon last year. The NH-HSA and IPC ran with the idea so now we can put the simulators to work - and hopefully convince many motorists that they really cannot be using a cell phone to talk or text and drive safely at the same time.
Bicycling Education Update
The "Traffic Skills 101" course as conducted from the BWA-NH Concord office on April 2 and 9 under the coordination of Paula Bedard saw all 12 student pass the written and road tests to earn their certificates. Several plan to continue their LAB cycling education to become League Cycling Instructors thereby joining the ranks of eight current NH LCIs. The parking lot drills and road tests were not easy, but everyone made it in one piece! Another TS-101 course is being planned for mid-September, so if you missed this one in April you will have another chance later this year, likely in September. All participants commented on how much they learned even if they had been cycling for years. Check this BWA-NH web site for details of the next course.
Plans are underway for a 2 ½ day League Cycling Instructor Seminar in South Portland, Maine, likely in August. Applicants must first complete the TS-101 course then register for the LCI Seminar via the LAB web site. The schedule has not yet been confirmed but check the Bike Education page on site often for details.
Bicycling education in many NH public schools has been conducted by the NH LCIs as the "Train the Trainer" program publicity is being started. The school personnel and students have expressed their thanks for presentations given to the elementary school students. Several schools have already inquired about the "standardized and sustainable" aspect of the "TTT" program which is free to them thanks to a Safe Routes to School grant obtained by BWA-NH. Full implementation is not expected until the next school year but we are glad the word is making the rounds!
In
support of the "TTT" program, a local bike shop and member of the
National Bicycle Dealers Association must be involved per the LAB/NBDA "Bicycling
1-2-3" guidelines. The latest bike shop to now have certified staff is
Littleton Bike and Fitness as owned by Dave Harkless. BWA-NH conducted the
Skills Instructor training session on March 8 for two shop representatives,
two school teachers, two doctors, and the Littleton Police Chief. All were
certified under the LAB/NBDA program as "Skills Instructors" so
they can implement the desired standardized and sustainable bicycling education
in their facility or anywhere in their community.
Commute Green NH program launched
With
May being National Bike Month and May 16-20 National Bike Week cumulating
with many events on May 20, the State of NH via many supporting organizations
including BWA-NH have again this year organized the state-wide Commute Green
NH program. Bicycling and walking are highlighted, of course, but intermodal
transportation including local public transit, carpools, express buses, and
even the Downeaster train service along the coast all provide ways to avoid
using single occupancy cars for transportation. The Commute Green NH program
offers many ideas to save money, pollution, time, and many giveaways are available
just for signing-up and logging your "green" miles traveled during
the week of May 16-20. For more information and to register for many useful
coupons and giveaways, please visit http://commutegreennh.org
7th Annual Safe Kids 500, Tuesday, May 3 at the Loudon race track
This
very popular event allows kids (and everyone else) to bicycle around the famous
NASCAR track in Loudon only with safety in mind, not speed. The event is sponsored
by the Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth while many organizations including
BWA-NH support the effort and have display tables to highlight their programs.
All bicyclists are required to wear a helmet and they are fitted (or provided
at low cost) prior to cycling on the one-mile oval race track. Bike are checked
and minor repairs performed by the expert mechanics from S&W Sports of
Concord. For more details, please
see the event flyer.
Update on Rail Trail activites
Rail
trail advocates continue to work on developing and planning additional sections
and finding the funds to build them. Several recent discussions between BWA-NH,
NH-DOT, and FHWA highlighted the requirements of the Transportation Enhancement
funding and how the "checks and balances" must be implemented to
comply with Federal regulations. This often adds about 36% to a project cost
for the "overhead" and about the same requirements for a multi-million
dollar highway construction project. Project managers will be required to
be certified, volunteer and local labor are likely not to be accepted, and
"soft matches" may be ruled out. Many details and reasons go behind
these decisions but the net result is that funding rail trails is a real challenge.
The $1.2M
Transportation Enhancement grant awarded for the rail trail passing through
sections Derry, Windham, and Salem in 2010 may not authorize expenses until
October 2011 when the 2012 Federal fiscal year starts. That means no design
or preliminary engineering can start until October after which construction
contracts must be negotiated, permits obtained, materials and equipment procured,
etc. so nothing would be seen by the public until the spring of 2012, two
full years after the grant was awarded. Projects funded privately such as
the present Windham Rail Trail and town-funded rail trails such as in part
of Derry typically are completed in far less time. However, if going after
"the big bucks" we either "play the game" or don't play
at all so we keep trying. The NH Rail Trail Coalition with Charles Martin
as President (affiliated with BWA-NH) is on top of the matter and is always
seeking the best solutions to implement rail trails for public use.
Safe Routes to School update
The NH Safe Routes to School advisory committee just completed reviewing the
Round 5 applications after many hours of scoring, viewing presentations, and
holding deliberative sessions in Concord. Over $2M was requested by 14 applicants
with only about $1M available so not everyone could be funded. Those awarded
funds after approval of the NH-DOT Commissioner are listed on the NH SRTS
web site. (See link on this BWA-NH web site home page.) BWA-NH is pleased
to be one of ten voting members on the SRTS advisory committee to help ensure
the interest of all bicyclists and pedestrians are considered in projects
funded by this Federal grant program.
Southern NH Trails and Outdoor Expo held
April 9
This event, free to the public, was held on Saturday, April 9 at the Hampshire
Hills Sport and Fitness Center, Emerson Road, Milford, NH. BWA-NH and the
GSW had a booth which promoted rail trails, recreational cycling, and bicycling
education. The nice weather contributed to a steady stream of visitors to
our booth and hopefully additional memberships will follow.
LAB President Andy Clarke visited NH on April 10
The Granite State Wheelmen Spring Banquet had 60 attendees enjoying good food, a nice social time, and heard from LAB President Andy Clarke about all that is going on within the League and around the country in support of bicycling. His special visit to New Hampshire was honored with donations to the League from both the Granite State Wheelmen and the Bike-Walk Alliance of NH. Not that Andy "really needed" another jersey, but now he has a GSW Seacoast Century jersey plus a T-shirt as tokens from his visit and to recognize from where the funds are derived to allow donations to the League.
The banquet also noted the 40th anniversary of the GSW with a special cake which included the GSW patch design. Andy helped celebrate the anniversary as did Dave Topham, the only member still active in the club since it was formed in July 1971.
. 
LAB
President Andy Clarke and GSW co-founder Dave Topham
admiring the GSW 40th anniversary cake, April 10, 2011.