It’s National Bike Month and Dori Drachman, MSHub steering committee member celebrates May with her electric bike the Specialized – Como model. She has outfitted it with panniers or saddlebags that fit on the bike with a metal roll rack to hold even heavier items as she rides around Peterborough.
She really likes taking her electric bike on the road to pick up groceries or small items at various stores. With side road options in Peterborough, Dori doesn’t have to hit the main roadways and feels safe knowing she has the extra pick up of the assisted electric engine helping her up hills and providing speeds that she couldn’t hit easily on foot pedal alone.
For safety, she has purchased a rearview mirror for the handlebars to see easily behind her, so she knows when cars are coming up on the road. This is a great safety feature that makes looking forward and seeing what is behind you easier with less need to always sharply turn your head behind you – just like in cars.
Dori knows that every trip she takes on her bike is one less trip she takes with her car – reducing greenhouse gases in Peterborough and the Monadnock Region. Knowing that in rural communities transportation is the highest contributor to greenhouse gases means that she is playing a role in reducing these gases for herself and her neighbors while exercising and helping herself keep fit.
In fact, in the entire state of New Hampshire, transportation is the highest contributor to greenhouse gases. So, all those who are able, can take to the trails and side roads and reduce our dependence on our cars. And, if anyone could use a little push, consider an electric bike. With charging from a traditional electrical plug, it can provide transportation for so many of your regional needs if you live near a town or city center or a regional bike path that provides safe access to amenities.
Dori Drachman lives in Peterborough, NH where she is a member of the MSHub Steering Committee and the Peterborough Energy Committee.