Press Release: June 17, 2003

BikeSummer 2003 In NYC P.O. Box 249 New York, NY 10002-0249 tel. 212-330-7083

BikeSummer 2003 Kicks Off Month-Long Celebration With Festive Weekend of Events

Release Date: June 17, 2003
www.bikesummer.org
Contact: Hannah Borgeson, Publicity Volunteer, gasiorcj@att.net

The fifth annual BikeSummer, a month-long celebration of bicycling and bike culture, will begin next Friday, June 27, with a 7:00 p.m. Critical Mass ride from Union Square North in Manhattan expected to draw hundreds of cyclists who will transform the streets into a rolling festival, followed by an opening party on Pier 63 (Hudson River at 23rd Street) at 8:30. There will be a dozen different events throughout the weekend, and festivities continue daily until Saturday, July 26. Altogether, BikeSummer includes more than 130 bike-related happenings featuring arts, performance, literary interest, food, adventure, advocacy, competition, tours, films, education, and more. Complete listings are at www.bikesummer.org/2003/calendar/calendar.php.

Media are invited to all events, and the opening party in particular. Loaner bikes and pedicabs may be available for selected events by advance reservation.

An international festival that began in San Francisco in 1999, BikeSummer has traveled to Vancouver, Chicago, and Portland, OR, leaving behind expanded, energized, and more effective cycling communities. Its goals include celebrating and promoting the bicycle as an efficient, sociable, healthy way to get around; exploring the city and place beyond; connecting with new people and communities; and working toward a more bicycle-friendly world. BikeSummer also seeks to bring people to neighborhoods and attractions in need of visitors, whether areas such as Chinatown and Lower Manhattan, or new or refurbished waterfront paths and bike facilities such as the Kissena velodrome.

Fifty thousand free copies of the printed BikeSummer calendar are being distributed to bike shops, bookstores, cafés, and arts venues throughout the metro area. Calendars are also available by request at www.bikesummer.org/2003/calendar/mail.php. Almost all events will be free. Highlights include:

• Rides: beach rides, waterfront tours, food runs, trips to city attractions such as Coney Island and Wave Hill, after-dark tours of landmark bridges and parks, eco-rides in New York City, and camping trips beyond
• Bike films
• Bike art appreciation and practice
• Readings from bike publications and "honku" poetry
• Beyond BikeSummer series showing the state of bicycling and bike advocacy worldwide
• A Fourth of July messenger convergence
• Repair classes
• Road and track races
• "Chunkathalon" competition of skill and daring on homemade chopper bikes

The "YbikeNY" exhibit at the Municipal Art Society, July 9-August 10, a capstone of sorts, will evocatively showcase cycling success stories and make suggestions for improvements in the local infrastructure.

BikeSummer 2003 is being produced entirely by volunteers from a broad coalition of local groups, with events hosted by more than 50 cycling, arts, cultural, and environmental organizations and businesses. The BikeSummer Web site, www.bikesummer.org, is packed with information and graphics, including travel advice, BikeSummer history, and ways to get involved. People interested in volunteering or making a financial contribution area encouraged to call the BikeSummer hotline 212-330-7083 for more information.

New York City, with more than 110,000 daily bicycle riders, has the largest bicycling population in the country as well as the lowest rate of car ownership. Each year, the Big Apple also plays host to the country's largest one-day bike ride: Bike New York. Highlights of city biking that will be featured during BikeSummer include designated crossings and stunning vistas on most major bridges; a growing network of on- and off-street pathways and popular waterfront greenways; some of the most spectacular urban parks in the world; and a vibrant bicycling scene full of races, day trips, charity rides, messengers, delivery riders, youth job-training programs, and more. This diverse bike culture matched with the city's vibrant arts scene promises the most colorful BikeSummer ever.

BikeSummer 2003's fiscal sponsor is TIME'S UP! (www.times-up.org), a 501c(3) New York-based non-profit environmental group focused on promoting a more sustainable, healthier, less toxic city.

Note: A high-resolution image is available at www.bikesummer.org/2003/images/bkbrbikebyCarterCraft.jpg. If used, please credit Carter Craft/BikeSummer and send two copies of the publication to the address above.