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July 31, 2008
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Happy trails To raise money for bike trails in the Manchester area, the Manchester Regional Trail Alliance will host the first-ever bicycle tour around the city and surrounding towns on Sunday, Sept. 14. Cyclists can choose either a 25- or a 35-mile route; each will have rest stops that also serve to show off the city’s hidden treasures, like the Weston Observatory, which will be open for the event. (The Weston Observatory was built in the late 1800s in Derryfield Park with monies left to the city by James Weston, who was a governor of New Hampshire and a mayor of Manchester. Throughout most of the year, the observatory, which has fallen into disrepair, is closed.) There will be a rest stop at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire and one at Massabesic Audubon Center. “It will give individuals in the city a chance to visit places they haven’t visited before,” said Jane Beaulieu, the organizer of the ride for the MRTA. The goal is to raise $30,000 this year for regional trail efforts. One important goal is connecting Goffstown to Manchester via the old train trestle that crosses the Piscataquog River, which needs to be rehabilitated to be safe for the public. There are rail trails on both sides that will one day, the MRTA hopes, connect several cities and towns together. “We’re going to be able to ride our bikes from Manchester to the Massachusetts border in the next couple of years,” said Ryan Belanger, owner of Alternative Bikes in Goffstown and Jake’s Bike Shop in Manchester. Personnel from the bike shops will be helping out at the tour with technical expertise, and raffling off a few bikes. Each cyclist must pay a $25 registration fee and then raise $125 to ride in the tour. Belanger has volunteered time working on bettering area trails, most of which are abandoned train lines that crisscross the state. The fact that the money will go back to the trails is one of the main reasons why he signed up to support the ride. The MRTA comprises representatives from trail groups who are all working different sections of cycling trails. They aim to coordinate their efforts and team up to create a more forceful lobbying group. One issue the MRTA hopes to affect is the selection of the Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator, an employee of the state’s department of transportation. With discussion of trains making a comeback, even on the abandoned Lawrence Branch that runs from Manchester to Lawrence, Mass., Beaulieu is not concerned that the efforts to make bike paths will be lost. “You can have both,” she said, as long as there are no liability concerns for the train operators. Often, the rights of way are wide enough to accommodate both. Originally, organizers hoped to have a 50-mile and a 100-mile ride (called a century ride in the cycling world), but Beaulieu had to cut the mileage back for this first in what the MRTA hopes to be a yearly tour, because there were century rides scheduled for the week before and after the tour. To sign up for the tour, go to www.bwanh.org or call 626-1260.
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