­To all the riders of the first ever ­Brooklyn Waterfront Epic Ride, thank you! This is an oddly wet summer, but despite a moderate threat of some showers over 50 of you out of the 110 that signed up where there Sunday August 9th, 2009 for what turned out to be a tru­ly epic ride.  Here’s a quick video from some of the photos highlighting the day…­

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Every month all year round, our TA BK committee hosts social group rides (yes, even in brisk depths of winter!), but this summer Larry Gast, Summer Greenstein, and Dave “Paco” Abraham led the planning of a big ride, something epic. Partnering with the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative’s tireless advocate Milton Puryear, several test rides with committee members Larry, Paco and Kevin Vincent were made to find the best way to feel what the future greenway experience would be like.  If you thought this ride was awesome, just imagine what it would be like when the full greenway is built… something far grander than that “little” greenway on Manhattan.

There were plenty of us marshaling the ride and we were able to immediately help people out with flats and a couple spills. (Minty, hope you’re healing well!) On behalf of the rest of the marshals I want to say thanks for the kind words that were shared with Paco, we did our best to make sure we truly rode the 40+ miles safely together as group and we’re glad you felt it.

A good portion of our route is part of the New York City Century ride (I’m signed up are you?) and Canarsie was our major rest stop where the dynamo known as Elena Santogade, TA’s community manager, helped us fuel up and refresh for the final push. She also had Biking Rules booklets to pass out, make sure you and your friends know the rules of the road, biking is all about sharing.

Rockway, the Riviera of Queens, was a worthy end to our ride due to the fresh made to order food at Rockaway Taco (chorizo & fish tacos are killer) and the homemade ices next door at DiCosmos… some local places in NYC have been making slow food for generations…. and are all best enjoyed when biking around this grand city.

For more visual goodness check out what several riders have shared with the world…

• VeloChic (who shared her birthday with us that day!) posted “40 Miles In Heals? No Problem!”
• Alex Porras posted a fun video from his *helmet cam*
• and we also have a pile of photos people shared via our TA BK Flickr photo pool

Who else shared pics or videos from the ride? Add a comment with the linkage and I’ll update the blog post, or just share your thoughts about anything, what did you think about the greenway experience? What was the best or toughest part of this unique group ride? What was your favorite ice and taco combo? Have you been back for more already?

(…Wondering what’s next? Lots. First is our feeder ride this Saturday into the final Saturday of this years’ Summer Streets. Beyond this just check our calendar up there on the right column —-> )

Ride Safe & Ride Often, especially with friends.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­by Kasia Nikhamina ­

Dear Brooklyn Committee, ­

I’m sorry I missed you all at the meeting on Thursday, July 30th. I heard from Paco that it was nice and low key but that you talked about some fun upcoming events, but also touched base on a few important issues. I hope the following minutes are helpful even though the info is secondhand! I have tried to include useful links as opposed to throwing all the information into this email.

A big welcome to those of you who joined us for the first time - hope to see you at future meetings and/or events! I’ve attached a flyer with our upcoming events, please share it with your friends! ­ 

As always, if I missed anything, please let me know at kasia.krolowa(at)gmail.com

1. CHAIR REMARKS

We decided to skip our monthly ride in July because the summer has been so jam-packed with events, but we wil have multiple rides in August, at Summer Streets - see below. There are a few more opportunities for bike valet this summer at Celebrate Brooklyn and Dumbo’s Movies with a View. Please email Kevin Vincent at kevonbikes(at)gmail.com or Sam Rockwell at samscheduler(at)gmail.com to sign up. Don’t let the summer end without joining us to promote TA and spread bicycle goodwill at these concerts and film screenings! After the shortened meeting, the group headed over to Movies with a View bike valet to promote TA. Continue reading »

This is your chance - Be a Part of the Biking Rules PSA Competition and submit photos of why Biking Rules in your Borough!  Here is the Committee Challenge:

Step 1: 

Each Committee Member Collects 10 images about Why Biking Rules in his/her Borough *Pictures can be as simple as an image of someone riding in a new bike lane, an iconic image of your Borough with a Bike in the frame, a group ride, kids learning how to ride, or a picture of your very own bike - get creative!

Step 2: 

Committee Chairs pool together the entries and Submit the images taken by their Committees to the Biking Rules PSA Festival Team - there must be a minimum of 500 images to submit.  Deadline for Committees to submit is August 31, 2009. Please email your photos to Paco at subtle116(at) gmail.com and don’t forget to put “BK PSA” in the subject line!

Step 3: 

The first Committee to gather 500 images will have a short PSA Video Animation made consisting of the images submitted.  This PSA will have automatic entrance into the Biking Rules PSA Festival this Fall 2009 and a chance to be part of the PSA outreach in 2010.