A Magnificent Ride #Sept15 #RideTogether

 Thursday, I rode up to 59^th and 5^th to join Transportation Alternatives’ We Ride Together: Mass Bike Ride to Demand Safe Passage for Cyclists & Pedestrians.  Friends from all over the cycling world were there.  Riding up to the action, cyrens were blaring.  Whats going on I asked a policeman.  That’s a good question.  Later, I heard someone stabbed someone in Penn Station.  It’s a dangerous city.  That’s why we were meeting for this group ride.

Arriving at 59^th Street, peops from Cargo Bike Collective, Public Space Party, and countless others from Critical Mass rides a decade ago were there to demand safe streets.  As the sun set, we rode down 5^th Ave, corking the streets, making our way to demand safe passage, a thousand riders joining us. That many more cheering us as we rode together.  It was just like Critical Mass. No one stopped for lights.  We just rode together, owning the streets for a moment in time.  People applauded.  Police escorted us and cars had to look out.  Streets are for sharing.  We all have to take part in this.  Riding together, this was the New York Jane Jacobs envisioned, shared by all, created by everybody.

Transportation Alternatives put out the call for the ride.

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New Yorkers are being killed or injured every day, just walking to school or riding their bike home from work.

If it’s not safe for us to ride alone, then we ride together. On September 15, we ride to demand safe passage for all New Yorkers.

#Sept15 #RideTogether

Please join Transportation Alternatives, Families For Safe Streets, Right of Way, Black Girls Do Bike, Kidical Mass BK, WE Bike NYC, Recycle-A-Bicycle, 5BBC, Bike New York, Time's Up, NYC Mechanical Gardens Bike Coop, Get Women Cycling, and Century Road Club Association (CRCA) on September 15 when we ride together to demand streets safe for biking and walking.

We ride for 17 people killed biking; 74 people killed walking; 29 people killed by cowardly hit-and-run drivers so far in 2016. More cyclists have been killed in the first 8 months of 2016 than in all of last year. Hit and run drivers have killed more people so far this year than in all of 2015.

This is a bike ride, but whether you ride a bike or not, all New Yorkers who care about Vision Zero are welcome to join us at the start and finish.

IMPORTANT DETAILS:
- Wear yellow. Bring lights and a bell for your bike.
- This is a peaceful and non-violent protest ride.
- We will obey all traffic laws at all times and stop at all red signal lights, unless directed otherwise by an NYPD officer.

Please be advised that riding a bicycle in NYC has risks and unforeseen dangers that may result in serious physical injury and death. Before, after and during this ride participants may be in close proximity to dangerous vehicles and other road users which may cause injury. We will do our best to ensure the safety of all.

After the ride, i received the following letter with follow up instructions from Trans Alternatives.

From: "Paul Steely White, Transportation Alternativ" <... [Add to Address Book]

To: Ben Shepard <benshepard@mindspring.com>

Subject: Thank you.

Date: Sep 16, 2016 8:47 AM

Dear Ben, Please, take a minute to get your friends involved, too. Post this action to Facebook or Twitter. Or you can share this URL: transalt.org/cyclistkilled. Mayor de Blasio needs to see how many of us are at risk every time we ride our bikes. -- Paul Send a follow up letter to the mayor Mayor de Blasio,  Please Protect Us Too many cyclists and pedestrians are being killed on New York City streets. Mayor Bill de Blasio, we need your help and protection. Statistics show that bike lanes and enforcement directly reduce the number of crashes that kill and injure so many of us. You have the power to protect New York City's biking, walking families — don’t delay. Mayor de Blasio, please prioritize these two simple steps, proven to save lives: (1) Follow the City Council's directive — expedite traffic safety projects and increase funding to fix dangerous streets. (2) Tell the NYPD to get on board — enforce Vision Zero and stop blaming the innocent victims of traffic crashes.