Monday, May 5th, 8:00 am at Junior's in Brooklyn
8:30 am at the Columbus Circle entrance to Central Park

This morning, Sarah Oakes won the Bike Week NYC 2003 Commuter Race by making it from Junior's Restaurant on Flatbush & DeKalb in Brooklyn to Columbus Circle in 29 minutes--on bicycle. Oakes beat the straphanger, Nathan Ellingson by five minutes. And, though she was able to hail a yellow cab without trouble in Brooklyn, taxi rider Tracy Pesin came in last place at 39 minutes.

Oakes, a regular bike commuter, reported that she was happy that her "victory proves to would-be bike commuters how fast and easy it is to get to work on bike." She encouraged others to "take advantage of the good summer weather and give bike commuting a spin."

According to 2000 Census figures, New Yorkers have longest average commute in the country, about 45 minutes. However, the average bicycle commute in New York City only takes 30 minutes.

"Biking is booming in the Big Apple," says Transportation Alternatives' Projects Director, Noah Budnick. "Everyday, 105,000 New Yorkers ride bikes to commute or run errands; that's up from 75,000 daily riders just ten years ago."

In the past year, cycling in New York City has benefited from Mayor Bloomberg's commitment to complete a bicycle path around Manhattan's waterfront, a new bicycle and pedestrian path on the Williamsburg Bridge, more car-free hours in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, fifteen new bike lanes in all five boroughs and a new, stronger bike rack design.

Bike Week NYC, presented by Transportation Alternatives and the NYC Department of Transportation, is the twelfth annual celebration of cycling in NYC. The week-long celebration honors the bicycle as a convenient, quick, quiet, clean and community-friendly form of transportation. See www.bikeweeknyc.org for more information.