May 8, 2008 NH couple bikes to save money, environment Play video

(NECN: Durham, NH) - In Durham, New Hampshire, rising fuel costs and an environmental mindset have prompted one family to go car-less.

NECN’s Lauren Collins has their story.

Script:

Brent Bell and Beth Potier have tuned up their bikes and decided not to drive a mile the entire month of May.

“During the week, we're pretty much on our bikes all the time. We don't use the car.”

May is National Bike Month, and next week is National Bike to Work Week. This is the couple's contribution to the cause, and a way for the family to reduce its carbon footprint. It'll also save a little cash.

Brent, Beth, and their toddler son live about a mile from where the couple works at UNH. They are the model family for this kind of experiment. They've agreed to use the car in a medical emergency, but won't cave in for convenience sake.

“On Sunday, I biked into Portsmouth, did some shopping, got something too heavy to carry back on my bike, but I just waited for the bus, put my bike on the front of the bus, and just took the bus back.”

Feeling inspired? A regular bike commute should not be approached lightly. You should make sure you're healthy enough for the rigors, that you have the right safety equipment, a good bike, and that you know the rules of the road.

It's ok to start small:

“Even if you do a day a week, that's 20 percent fewer commutes by car and that's great.”

Greg Bakos is a league cycle

instructor. He also works at VHB, a Bedford-based civil engineering firm that encourages employees to bike it to work. One of his colleagues, a young mother, is a regular cycle commuter:

“And when I see her come through the doors, she's always refreshed and happy and everything else compared to the people who came in by car.”

“What I really like is I see my neighbors, and I stop and say ‘hi’ and have these kind of conservations, it's much more social.”

A routine this family finds easy to get into.