from the ‘cycle ops’ dept:
No, you weren’t hallucinating on Sunday, May 6th. If you woke up and saw 32,000 bicyclists rolling past you in Times Square, up a closed avenue … or if you saw a host of red-bibbed behelmeted nuts freezing in the late Spring chill on the Queensboro bridge … or if you wondered at the sea of self-propelled silliness cruising down the BQE in Brooklyn. What you saw was the 30th Annual Five Borough Bike Tour (brought to you by Bike New York and Commerce Bank).
New York City is becoming more bike-friendly every year. With each new Greenway, each new bike advocacy group, each new event that takes root and grows we get closer to the two-wheeled world we want to live in. It will never be perfect, but events like the 5BBT are a huge help towards raising the visibility of our favorite sport and mode of transport.
This was my first Five Borough Bike Tour, and it’s definitely an event not to be missed. When else will you legally ride your bicycle down the center lane of the FDR? Plus, in case you haven’t been here long, NYC has some amazing views. You really get to enjoy them from the heights of the Queensboro Bridge, from the center of Central Park, and the banks of the East River. The ride is an excellent introduction to each of the boroughs we call home.
We saw all shapes and sizes of rider. From the dedicated tourist mom who carted her two kids behind her in a trailer, to the uber-competitive yet underdressed racer, to the bike messenger (lock in hand). Riders who had never pedaled more than a mile or two without stopping before joined endurance athletes for the 42-mile course. My own motley crew was partially there to recruit riders for an upcoming charity event, Braking the Cycle.
Sure, we had some gripes about how the event was run. But the weather (which started out far too cold for late Spring) turned warm, the roads opened up as the pace differentials became more obvious, and we skipped every rest area to keep moving forward. We hammered up bridges and dodged wobbly riders, and when we got the BQE, where the pavement was smooth and the view was breathtaking … we were in bicyclists’ Nirvana.
Come out and join us next year! Some advice for those who want to participate next year (Sunday May 4, 2008):
– Sign up early, online. At least a month early. This year, the event sold out two weeks before the day of the ride.
– Be prepared to walk for large portions of the morning. It takes forever to get started when there are 15,000 people in front of you and 17,000 people pushing you from behind! Also, the marshals in the Times Square area were more interested in letting drivers and pedestrians by, than those of us who had paid for the privilege of riding closed roads.
– Bring plenty of food and beverages with you. They provide food and water at the rest stops, but there’s no guarantee you’ll like what they’ve got (there were some strange drinks handed out this year) … and the lines are horrendous. You could lose an hour, easily, waiting for some food at the lunch stop.
– Be prepared to lose your friends. If you get separated, everybody pull over, walk onto the sidewalk, and use those phones. Or, be like me and just continue to the finish line and meet everyone there!
– Bring plenty of spare tubes, a pump or CO2, and whatever tools you may need. I saw zero bike support out on the road. Yes, zero. There were mechanics at the finish line, and there may have been some at the rest stops, but I saw no sag vehicles or roving bike techs.
– Check the weather beforehand, and dress accordingly! It was 48 degrees when we left for the starting line.
– Find another way home besides the Staten Island Ferry. We waited two hours for our free trip back to Manhattan. Everyone was in a good mood, and it had finally warmed up, but there was only one ferry running and the wait was interminable.
– Bring money. There is no real food available for free at the over-commercialized festival at the end of the event. You’ll have to pay if you’re hungry.
And most importantly? Talk all your friends into going. I went with a crew of 7 (plus 2 children) and we had an amazing time. Perhaps the single most-fun day I’ve had in the city. I mean, what could be better than cruising across the Verrazano Narrows Bridge with 32,000 of your closest friends?
Once again, pics from the day are up here.
But, I did manage to train for the upcoming AIDS ride both Saturday and Sunday. Woo! And I’ve got the Five Boro Bike Tour coming up this weekend … Jeff is coming up from Philly to parteeeecipate. We’ll have the BtC crew from Tour de Bronx, and more. Sweet.
