I met with Trudy and nine other Weekday Cyclists this past Tuesday at the Central Park Boathouse. Bike Ambassadors are looking for Seniors who ride to join us at Senior Center outreach events.

Want to say Thanks! to Phil and Shawn from Two Boots Pizza! http://www.twoboots.com/

By Sara Sarmiento, T.A. Bike Ambassador

As a bike ambassador, I frequently have to answer the question: What is bike share? My first response is often: Well, first of all, bike share is awesome...

And it is. I am constantly coming up with more scenarios in which bike share can dramatically change the way we navigate the city.

I recently met a friend in Central Park. Despite the fact that I knew I was going to spend the rest of the day carting a bike around with my earthbound friend, I took off from Queens on my bike. This led to an afternoon of locking and unlocking my bike as my friend watched on in what, I felt, was misplaced pity, alongside a running commentary on how inconvenient bikes are. Later, while my friend waited for a subway late at night, I was already halfway home.

Sara and Zack at Da Burger Joint! 131 2nd Ave. http://www.paulsburgers.com/

Frank Bruni calls Janette Sadik-Khan a visionary in his Sept 10th New York Times op-ed column. You can read the full piece, "Bicycle Visionary," here! For those of us not keen to reading the whole column, Bruni praises Sadik-Khan for her vision, writes about her opponents, highlights the progress (more bike lanes, more ridership, bike share program) she has made, and points out some more improvements (NYPD, bike racks) that we can all collaborate on in the foreseeable future.

The 94th Precinct, lead by Captain Komar, teamed up with T.A.'s Bike Ambassadors again to promote safe cycling at one of Williamsburg's most dangerous intersections. Over half a dozen officers from the precinct came out, set up a road block, and distributed safety fliers - including Biking Rules! - to passing cyclists AND drivers. Capt. Komar says that he's seen several accidents involving cars and cyclists over the last few months at the corner of Kent Avenue and N 5th, in Williamsburg, so he called in the Bike Ambassadors to do some paired-education. Together, we had several hundred conversations with all types of street users, and signed almost 100 New Yorkers on to our Safe Cycling Declaration. Hats off to Captain Komar and the 94th for their dedication to safe streets!

Two Wednesdays ago, intrepid New York Times reporter Christine Haughney graciously spent the afternoon with one of our commuter outreach teams at the intersection of Prince and Lafayette. Her article, "Spreading Diplomacy on Two Wheels While Weathering Traffic and Shouts," conveys some of the challenges that we face every day as we try to provide a positive face for safe cycling in the city. We would like to thank Christine for putting herself in our shoes and for bringing attention to our efforts this summer.