Seacoast Area Bicycle Riders invites you to join Sustainability Ride

PORTSMOUTH — There are many ways to live a more sustainable, earth-friendly life. Many of us have forgotten how fun and freeing it can be to ride a bike, even to run errands. The cost savings associated with a mode shift from car to bicycle, even for short trips of 2-3 miles, can add up to savings for your pocket while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Our Seacoast community is making strides towards improving road safety for cyclists.

We can collectively help to move this along by integrating cycling into our daily lives and advocating for improvements to cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. Seacoast Area Bicycle Riders (SABR) is hosting its second annual sustainability ride on May 11, and invites riders of all abilities to participate.

The ride will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Portsmouth Women’s City Club, 375 Middle St., with a review of safe biking practices and tips on how to integrate joyful biking into your daily life.

From there, the group will head to the McDonough Street neighborhood for a short urban jaunt through the back streets of Portsmouth. We will wend our way past the Foundry Garage and bike through less-known neighborhoods, heading to our first stop, The Refill Station at 124 Bartlett Street. The Refill Station is focused on limiting our reliance on single use plastic and provides eco-friendly house products. Learn more at https://www.therefillstationnh.com/

Leaving the West End business district, we will travel to Portsmouth High School for the ECO Club’s annual sustainability fair utilizing the well-traveled bike lane on Middle Street.  The ECO Club has 50-plus members and works to create sustainable practices at the high school and promote environmental awareness through education and action. Currently, more than 40 vendors are registered to participate. These include local craftspeople, food vendors, and environmental organizations. The club will also sell a wide variety of plants for homes and gardens that have been grown in the PHS greenhouse. Learn more by following the PHS ECO Club on Instagram @phs.eco

After perusing the fair, riders will hop back on their bikes to ride through the Willard Street neighborhood to the final stop, Treeline Outfitters in the West End at 125 Brewery Lane. “Treeline” is a community gathering spot with an emphasis on high-quality gear made with sustainable practices. Learn more at https://treelineoutfittersco.com/

We hope this ride will inspire you to hop on your bike the next time you need to pick up a few groceries, meet up with a friend for coffee, or just want to feel like a kid again. Please visit our website at seacoastbikes.org/events for more information and to RSVP for the ride.

While learning more about how cycling in our community supports sustainability efforts on the Seacoast, ride participants will learn about the revitalized Bicycle Benefits program. People on bikes are more likely to make repeat trips to their local stores.

In our community, several businesses have joined this effort by offering discounts to patrons who arrive on bikes with a “Bicycle Benefits” sticker on their helmets. The Refill Station and Treeline Outfitters are two participating businesses that are stops on the Sustainability Ride. For a full list of current Seacoast businesses that offer “bike benefits” to riders, please visit: seacoastbikes.org/bikebenefits .

Seacoast Area Bike Riders is a non-profit organization run by volunteers. Join SABR and help support our mission of making the Seacoast better for biking! Information: seacoastbikes.org/join-sabr

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seacoast Area Bicycle Riders invites you to join Sustainability Ride