It’s “Green Commute Week” all across New Hampshire, and Friday marks the Seacoast’s 10th annual Bike/Walk to Work Day. Here’s everything you need to participate, and some tips for making this the freshest summer ever.

Seacoast Area Bike Routes is again partnering with local bike shops COAST, UNH, and the Rockingham and Strafford regional planning commissions to co-sponsor 10 free “alternative commuter” breakfasts in communities all around the Seacoast on Friday, May 18.

Feeling competitive? You can log in your walking or biking miles at http://www.commutegreennh.org/ or find events elsewhere around the state.

The goal of the day is to promote cycling as a healthy and safe way to get to work, decrease traffic congestion, improve air quality and raise public awareness of opportunities to improve bike facilities.

SABR reports that surveys in other states and communities have found that nearly 40 percent of those who participated in a Bike/Walk to Work Day event were first-time bike commuters, and of those, 32 percent have continued to bike to work since the event. In other words, small steps can lead to big, positive changes!

Map Your Route
The Seacoast is a fantastic place to ride a bicycle. There are miles of lightly-trafficked 35-mph roads along the coast and through the countryside for bicycle nirvana. Seacoast Area Bike Routes offers some mapped suggestions for commuter routes in the area at http://www.seacoastbikes.org/.

Want a warm-up? The SABR web site also offers links to statewide and regional bicycle route maps for New Hampshire and bike touring in Maine. as well as the East Goast Greenway, a proposed 2,900 mile traffic-free path linking Maine to Florida, an urban alternative to the Appalachian Trail. Locally, the Eastern Trail Alliance is working hard to re-establish the railroad corridor in southern Maine, from Kittery to Portland, as a recreational greenway.

Eat a Good Breakfast
Commuters who leave their cars at home can enjoy breakfasts around the region. Ride a bike, ride the COAST or Wildcat bus, walk, or carpool, and enjoy these free Commuter Breakfasts, 7–10 a.m.

• Dover – Dover Transportation Center
• Durham – the Whittemore Center
• Exeter – the Town Bandstand
• Lee – Stevens Field
• Newmarket – The Bike Factory in the mill
• North Hampton – Gus’ International Bike Shop, 55 Lafayette Road
• Pease – Tradewings, 130 International Drive
• Portsmouth Downtown – Popovers in Market Square
• Rye – Rye Public Library
• Stratham – Timberland, Stratham Industrial Park

Celebrate
Bike/Walk to Work Day deserves a cheer! The good folks at Portsmouth Brewery invite riders and walkers to get together for snacks compliments of the Brewery and a craft beer at the cash bar. Bike/Walk to Work Day organizers will announce the winners of the Commuter Challenge and drawing. Ride home after, or catch a ride with COAST.

Bring a Friend
It adds up—last year, Commuter Challenge participants on the Seacoast made 628 bicycle or walking trips to work during the five days of the challenge, totalling nearly 4,000 miles that would have otherwise been driven in a car.

Your whole workplace can participate in the Corporate Commuter Challenge. Downloadable materials are still available if you want to get your company riding for the day or for the summer, with maps and safety tips for cyclists, walkers and motorists who are sharing the road together. Learn more at www.seacoastbikes.org or www.nh.gov/dot/programs/bikeped/.

Bike-to-Work Summer
Even if you miss Bike-to-Work Day, you can still turn over a new leaf this summer. “Make a mini commitment, maybe one day a week, and start from there,” suggests Josh Pierce of Seacoast Area Bike Routes. Make a plan, get your bike ready, prep your gear and plan your route. It’s easy to find an excuse, but planning ahead will help you get excited about the first day. Get advice and gear from a local bike shop in your area, and before you know it, you’ll be in the groove like these local riders.

“The best thing about biking to work is that you get to leave the car at home. It’s great exercise, you smell the lilacs, and who knows what you might see or who you might meet along the way."—Tim Stone, StoneHill Environmental.

“Why wouldn’t I like biking to work? It’s free, it’s good excercise, it’s good for the environment, and not to mention it’s just good fun. No need to look for parking spots or fill a meter. No filling up for gas or waiting in traffic on my way to work. By the time I get home, I’ve done my excercise so I can just make a nice local food dinner and just relax.” —David Boynton, Seacoast Local executive director. 

“Wheeee... I still get that feeling after almost 10 years of commuting to work on my bike. Arriving refreshed and alert, having gotten in a work-out, each day begins with a positive attitude." — Parkie Boley, Child Care Coordinator at Families First.

“I like to bike to work because it gets my heart pumping a little on the way to work, because I can hear the birds singing and I can park right next to my office.”— Brad Lown, Portsmouth City Councilor, and attorney at Coughlin, Rainboth, Murphy and Lown, P.A. 

“I bike to work because I own a restaurant and do a lot of “quality control” during the day. Biking keeps me on the svelte side. The best thing is biking home in the evening.”— Scott Logan, co-owner, The Blue Mermaid.