FYI, some of you might be interested in this:

The Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society (AABTS) and the Washtenaw Biking and Walking Coalition (WBWC) are holding a bicycle ride on May 1 at 4:00 pm called “The Worst (and Best) Streets of Ann Arbor”.  The ride will include interested participants from both groups, the AA biking community at large, and Eli Cooper and other members of the Ann Arbor Transportation Program.

The idea for the ride came from a meeting then-council member Joan Lowenstein and AABTS member Craig Stephan had with Transportation Coordinator Eli Cooper and others last fall regarding the condition of AA streets for bicyclists.  We had a good exchange of information and Eli suggested the idea of a bike ride in the spring.  The objective of the ride is primarily educational – to help the AA transportation people better understand the needs of bicyclists and to help bicyclists understand the priorities and ability of Ann Arbor to maintain and upgrade streets to benefit bicyclists.

Members of both bicycle groups are nominating specific sections of streets in both “worst” and “best” categories, and AABTS will attempt to put together a ~1 1/2 hour slow-paced ride covering as many of the nominated streets as possible, with a gathering for those interested at a local restaurant afterwards for further discussion.  Starting point will be the City Hall Ann Street parking lot.

Craig Stephan
AABTS Board Member

Here’s another great Ambassador post from Al McWillams over at Quack! Media.

It’s almost lunchtime on Friday, and it’s Spring. There’s also some kind of holiday today, but like a lot of you I’m at the office. Unlike many of you, I walked here, and that means my Friday is going to be full of unbridled awesome. Specifically, my Friday will not be “bridled” by a car.

Again, the theme of my posts supporting sustainable transportation is one of selfish, instant gratification. So, why should you bus/walk to work? Why should you join the the Commuter Challenge? I think the best reason is that while the drivers are spending lunch moving to another 2-hr-parking zone or paying the meter, I’m going to be enjoying a pint on a terrace. Do we have terraces in Ann Arbor? If not, we should definitely get a terrace or two. I would like to have a pint on them.

After work on a Friday, life is great when you’re not tethered to an auto. Imagine clicking send on that last email, zipping up your pants, and realizing you can do whatever you want. Do you ever watch prime-time TV and think, “wow, who are these people? They are constantly meeting up with their attractive friends and laughing heartily over elegant cocktails while wearing stage makeup.” Do you ever blow it off like that life can only exist in San Francisco or NYC? Well, that is my life here in downtown Ann Arbor, and it’s owed to not having to worry about driving or parking. Okay, so my friends aren’t really that attractive, and we drink PBR instead of elegant cocktails, and the “laughing heartily” is more like “gentle sobbing,” … but the stage makeup; that’s right on!

The point is, pretend for a second that you could step out of your office, grab some dinner with friends and/or secret lovers, hit a rock show at the Blind Pig, get publicly intoxicated, and jump in a cheap cab home.

That’s life!