Bennington, MA to lend bikes to hikers

[SavageLlama]

Free bikes for hikers to use - Now this is a great idea!


Town is about to get 'hiker friendly' with bikes
By Jennifer Huberdeau
Bennington Banner
June 10, 2005

BENNINGTON -- Bright yellow bicycles will soon be a prominent feature along the streets in an effort spurred by local businesses to make Bennington more accessible to hikers.

"We're just starting to distribute them now, but hopefully they will all be available within the next couple of weeks. They will all be bright yellow, all free of charge [for people to use]," Steve Hinchliffe, owner of Nature's Closet. "We call them hiker's bikes, but they'll also be available to the community."

Use of the bikes will be provided free of charge to anyone over the age of 18. Users will be required to sign the bikes out and return them to the business from which they were originally borrowed.

"In Bennington we're right off the Appalachian Trail and that's a pretty big deal and a pretty big asset for the town. We've never really, as a town, taken advantage of that," Hinchliffe said. "The bike program is really designed towards them because they are walking 2,000 miles. It takes six months to get from Georgia to Maine and we're about the 1,500th mile on their journey."

Initially 15 bikes will be available at businesses in the downtown area. Bike racks, supplied by the Better Bennington Corp. and the town of Bennington, will also be available.

"I think it will be nice to see Bennington become a little more biker friendly," said Renny Beal, owner of Isabella's Eatery. "I'd also like to see more trails and bike lanes in the area."

A new shuttle service from the Appalachian Trail and Long Trail head began on June 1. The hike from the trail head into Bennington is about five miles.

"We're running the shuttle twice a day from Nature's Closet. One at 6 p.m. and one at 9:30 p.m.," Hinchliffe said.

"The hike from Route 9 to Kelly Stand is the longest roadless stretch of the trail. It's an 18 mile hike," said Brendan McKenna of Nature's Closet.

Said Robin Andrews owner of South Street Cafe: "We have a bike. We already have a fair amount of hikers that come in and drop off their back packs."

In addition to providing mobility to the hikers, information sheets with critical resources, such as directions to the post office, shopping centers and the recreational center will also be available for hikers.

Hinchliffe said all of the bikes are second hand and were either bought or donated.

"We bought quite a few at the Salvation Army," he said.

Peter Hall from Highland Bike Shop and Faith Rhodes of Roads and Trails bike shop lent the services of their businesses, repairing the bikes. Both shops also have the yellow bikes on hand.

"Dan and I always say when the kids grow up we're going to hike the Appalachian Trail. I hope that when we stop in a city, they'll be bikes for us to ride," Rhodes said.

There will be free dinner for hikers, catered by the Rattlesnake Cafe, in July.
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[Jaybird]

this is a GREAT idea...

several cities around the nation (even non-TRAIL cities) are doing this same type of program is some shape or fashion...

If the hikers...keep it honest..& take care of the bikes, as if they were their own property...& treat them with loving, kindness while in use....the program will be a GREAT SUCCESS.

Glad to see it.

[stupe]

Bennington, MA to lend bikes to hikers .

And they moved the whole town out of Vermont and into Massachusetts? I hope they brought the brew pub with them.

[SavageLlama]

And they moved the whole town out of Vermont and into Massachusetts? I hope they brought the brew pub with them.

Ha! I bet the folks in Bennington wouldn't be too happy to know I've lumped them in with flatlanders.

I must be getting old... but it seems like whole sections of the trail just kind of meld together if you haven't hiked them in a while. I think it's high time I went hiking!

[The Hog]

The great state of Vermont has just gotten greater!

[minnesotasmith]

Then I'd say they need the following:

1) A large hiker hostel, with prices not over ten bucks a night (five bucks better), and a 24-hour-access shower

2) A large cheap grocery store with backpacking-friendly health foods

3) At least two different AYCE restaurants (different types of cuisine, say, a Chinese and a Western Sizzler/Ryan's), not over ten bucks a meal

4) An outfitter run by hikers ala Montain Crossings

5) A 24-hour laundromat, that has a change machine and soap/softener vending machine

6) A Wal-Mart

7) A Payless shoes, Oriental food store, used book bookstore, large public library with extensive open hours, a U.S. Snail Post Office, a doc-in-the-box open evenings/weekends, a package store, UPS store, and a commonly-used nude sunbathing area just outside the hiker hostel wouldn't hurt, either, but why be greedy?

[superman]

In 2000 the only place I saw bikes that were available to hikers were at the Hiker Paradise in Gorham, NH. It's a great way for the town to move us around to spend our money. I usually walked around towns mumbling about "steps not on the AT don't count."

http://groups.msn.com/OldGUYthenandnow

[A-Train]

Bennington is in VT, and Minnesota, I have this funny feeling you've never been there since if you ever had, you wouldn't suggest Bennington need a Wal-mart. There is only one in the whole state (Williston) unless the highly opposed one in St. Albans got built. Vermont is one of the rare areas in the east still lacking serious sprawl and industrial buildup and I hope it stays as prisitine as possible.

Anyway, I doubt they are losing sleep over how to become more hiker friendly

[Peaks]

A-Train, Bennington Vermont has had a Wal-mart for several years. It's in the old WT Grant plaza on the north side of town.

[A-Train]

woops, well then my apologies to Minnesota. Never saw that part of town I guess. Point still stands about Vermont's lack of development throughout most of the state