story & photo
by Christopher Annino

Our present day economy is faced by health, social, and global challenges. Citizens and members from the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce gathered last year to devise a plan to deal with these issues. The idea was to have a community bike program so that tourists or locals could utilize public bicycles as a transit system. Many local business and organizations such as Groton Elks, Bank Square Books, CMB Creative Group, Mystic Market, Cyndi’s Pet Care, Docko Inc, Pizzetta, Hair Unique, RiverWalk Restaurant, Rotary Club of Mystic, Sea Swirl, Captain Daniel Packer Inne, Grover Insurance LLC, and Mystic Cycle Center assisted in making this idea a reality.

This summer 94 bikes were donated for this public project. Out of the 94 bikes 23 were utilized this summer, certain areas in Mystic such as The Mystic Depot Welcome Center, The Mystic and Noank Library, The Noank Shipyard, Pizzetta, and Seaport Marine harbored the community bikes. Mystic Cycle Center assisted with readying the bikes for public use.

“I think it’s a great idea. In a way, we have solved the three major problems in our country global warming, obesity, and traffic. It is a great way to get healthy by saving money.  I feel that we eventually need to encourage bike paths and lockers to make it more accessible for people. People want to ride their bikes, but they also need to be safe” said Rob Kapell, owner, Mystic Cycle Works .

The program has gone under the name Mystic Community Bikes Inc, and after not even a year they already have a board of directors which includes President Tim Evers, Vice-President Tricia Cunningham, Secretary Rich Froh, Treasurer Keith Hallal, Tim Babcock, Arnold Adams, Rick Ely, Maggie Jones, Brian Kent, and Peter Roper.

“I have always enjoyed riding a bike it’s a convenient viable means of transportation. It’s also feeling of freedom, our first year was a tremendous success, and we will continue to allow this program to grow as time goes on” said Vice-President Tricia Cunningham. The program is closed from November 1st and will re-open May 1st, for more information on Mystic Community Bikes inc go to www.MysticComunityBikes.org or call 860.572.9578.