About 50 Mainers get bikes in three-month test Magazine to gauge effect on health, daily routines

PORTLAND – About 50 Portland-area residents received bicycles Monday that they will use for free for three months as part of a test to see how the bikes will affect their lives, health and daily routines.

The winners, ages 14 to 73, won the use of the Trek bicycles and helmets as part of an essay contest in Bicycling magazine. Portland was chosen to be the magazine’s “bike town” over half a dozen other cities.

The winners said they were looking for ways to lose weight, save money on transportation, overcome fears or spend more time as a family.

Elyse Tipton, 43, wrote that she wanted her family to become “bikecentric.” Tipton, 43, her husband, Tom, 51, and their 15-year-old daughter, Hannah, each received a bike.

Tipton said her family’s Portland home is close to schools, a mile from a grocery store and about 31/2 miles from her workplace.

“Our distances are so short we wanted to do more riding and less driving of a car,” she said.

At a presentation ceremony Monday, Stephen Madden, the magazine’s editor in chief, said Portland was chosen over Manchester and Concord, N.H.; Burlington, Vt.; Ithaca, N.Y.; Charlottesville, Va.; and Grand Rapids, Mich.

He said Portland was selected because it is a bicycle-friendly city with bike lanes on roads, bike trails and manageable traffic. An additional consideration was Maine’s high obesity rate, which is the highest in New England.

He said the magazine will keep tabs on the winners for three months and report its findings in a story in a future issue. The winners will return their bikes in October, or they can buy them at a reduced cost. They retail for about $400.

“Hopefully after three months everybody will be bike converts,” Madden said.