E-NY BIKES Update; Back to School Edition Sept. 8, 2004

1. Fall "Better Roads" Workshops Elmira, Malta and Clifton Park
2. Bicycle Friendly Communities Workshops
3. Elevated Bicycle Arrests During Republican National Convention
4. Local Bicycle Club Forms in Plattsburgh
5. Local Albany Bicycle Coalition is forming
6. NY Bikes! Events Calendar Issue 2 is Out

The New York Bicycling Coalition is putting on three workshops on bicycle and pedestrian safety this September. It is the final series of workshops where NYBC has worked with the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee to address community issues with bicycle and pedestrian safety and access.

The NYBC bicycling and pedestrian safety workshops build relationships between localities and state and federal road planning experts to jointly address the vexing cycling and pedestrian access issues. The workshops also establish a dialogue between advocates, local officials, and state and federal transportation experts so they may continue planning better cycling and pedestrian facilitates. Send a note to jesse@nybc.net if interested in attending a workshop.

September 9 - 1pm-6pm - Elmira - Steele Memorial Library 101 East Church Street

September 22 - 3pm-7pm - Malta - Community Center One Bayberry Drive

September 27 - 2pm-6pm - Clifton Park - Clifton Park Town Hall One Town Hall Plaza

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2. BICYCLE FRIENDLY COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS
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The New York Bicycling Coalition is working with the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) with funding from the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to perform Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) Workshops. Similar to the "Better Roads" workshops with the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, these workshops are focused more on bicycling infrastructure, education and design. In addition, there are five workshops being held outside of New York. List of Workshops and Locations (if scheduled):
BFC Workshops in 2004: March 26th - Albany; June 1 - Brattleboro, VT; June 16th - Rochester; July 13th - Cordova, Alaska; TBA - NYC Metro; Sept. 23 - Rutland, VT; October 1 - West Palm Beach, FL; October 26th - Poughkeepsie (Millbrook), NY; TBA - Rhode Island; TBA - Roanoke, VA

The New York Bicycling Coalition will coordinate feedback from the workshops and provide recommendations to the APBP and NHSTA on what format works well and how to generate positive change in advancing bicycle friendly communities.

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3. ELEVATED BICYCLE ARRESTS DURING BICYCLE NATIONAL CONVENTION - AUGUST 20TH TO AUGUST 29TH
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There were unconfirmed reports of over 400 arrests during the recent Bicycle National Convention in New York City. Many of these arrests occurred during the August 27th Critical Mass, but there is also indication that many bicyclists out for recreational or communting rides were also arrested after the Critical Mass ride that occurs every last Friday of the month in cities across the United States. New York City has one of the largest Critical Mass rides anywhere. You can see the New York Times Article on the Critical Mass ride August 27th at: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/28/politics/campaign/28protest.html?pagewante d=1&ei=1&en=8d8fafeb6e853419&ex=1094817401

The group Time's Up at http://www.times-up.org is holding meeting every Tuesday and Thursday at 49 E. Houston Street (between Mott and Mulberry Streets) at 6:30pm to gather stories of cyclist's arrests during the Bicycle National Convention. There is also a legal form:
http://www.times-up.org/bnc/bike_legal_intake.pdf to fill out where you can enter in detailed information if you were arrested during the Convention. Many of the bicyclists were charged with multiple counts for traffic infractions, in addition to getting arrested. It was surprising to the New York Bicycling Coalition that bicyclists were incarcerated, as well as ticketed.
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4. LOCAL BICYCLE CLUB FORMS IN PLATTSBURGH
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Welcome to the Adirondack Cycling Team, a new touring club that has just formed and is a member of the New York Bicycling Coalition. If your club or organization is interested in joining the New York Bicycling Coalition to support bicycle advocacy, please send a note to nybc@nybc.net or visit http://www.nybc.net/join to join online. The more groups and individuals that join gives us a stronger presence in New York and Washington.

Also joining NYBC over the summer is the New York Cycle Club http://www.nycc.org; the Buffalo Bicycle Club http://www.buffalobicycling.com/ the Big Wheels Bicycle Club (Lockport) http://www.bwbc.bfn.org/ and the Niagara Frontier Bicycle Club (Buffalo/Niagara) http://www.nfbc.com. See Issue 2 of our Events Calendar or http://www.nybc.net/resources for a comprehensive list of the bicycle clubs around New York.
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5. LOCAL ALBANY BICYCLE COALITION IS FORMING
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The Albany area has formed a new bicycle advocacy group. With many issues across the state, the New York Bicycling Coalition cannot focus all its energy on the Albany area, yet there is an incredible need in the Capital for bicycle advocacy, both at the state government level and the street level. If you live in the capital district and are interested in attending a meeting on local advocacy, please send a note to: bikinginalbany@lists.riseup.net. This list serve will be use to send notices about meetings, lectures, resources, bike rides and other information. There will be more to come about this exciting new chapter in bicycle advocacy. The next meeting of the Albany Bicycle Coalition will be Sept. 23rd at 7pm. Stay tuned to the list serve for location details.

See http://www.nybc.net/resources for a list of bicycle advocacy resources and organizations in your region.
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6. NY BIKES! EVENTS CALENDAR ISSUE 2 IS OUT
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The major bicycle events of the season have been updated in Issue 2 of the NY Bikes! Events Calendar. This tabloid newspaper of bicycling events across the state has been sent to members and bikes shops across New York. If you are not a member and are interested in riding, visit http://www.nybc.net/clubs/calendar or request a copy of this Calendar by e-mailing nybc@nybc.net. The days are getting shorter and the air is cooling off, so get your fair weather riding in soon. The days may be too short to finish a century before too long, check out all the century rides around the state.

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