Bike new york

dirty bert

Banned
5 boro's carnage ride

Has anyone done this ride before, I hear its great. Im looking forward to it.

link:
http://www.bikenewyork.org/

It is great to see the all 5 boro's and ride wit thousands of people. the first 4 years i did it, we did a lot of walking and there was plenty of carnage. 1 guy took a massive heart attack and died, another year, some kid took a header into the concrete divider, saw a woman break her ankle and another her hip, heard and saw a guy slap his head into the ground in central park. It's a lot of people with bikes ranging from Huffys to $$$$ road and mtn bikes (saw sum kid riding a dh bike) and some have a hard time riding packs of people that are literally 3" away from your handlebars, they buzz yer rear tire or i seen people get rear-ended.

I think the tour ends in SI, park your car near there and take the ferry over to battery park for the start of the ride. For once your ride is over all you have to do is get back to your car and drive home instead of riding another 5 miles to the ferry terminal.

Don't be discouraged by my somewhat negative post, it's definetly was a fun ride but i got bored after 4 years of it and the walking that i did.

~Db
 

tonyride

Don't piss off the red guy
I've done the 5 boro bike tour before and it was very interesting. I've been to NYC many times but seeing it on a bike is totally different. I'm thinking about doing it again.
 

TonyC

Active Member
It is great to see the all 5 boro's and ride wit thousands of people.

What Dirty Bert said.
Lots of fun except for all the standing around waiting to get over the 59th street bridge and to get on the BQE under the Brooklyn bridge. Oh and the ferry ride back to Manhattan was horrible. I just wanted to get home already, but had to wait over an hour just to get on the boat.
I wanted to experience the whole thing so I started down in Battery park. The tour started and it was literally 40 or more minutes before we can even started to ride. I never got past the thousands of bikers. We even blew past 2 rest stops to hopefully get ahead. No Luck. To close for comfort at times with hundreds of bikes around me.
I would do again perhaps, but enter the tour behind the lead pack up in midtown somewhere.

Go for it. All in all it was fun. Just plan on waiting around alot.
 

elzoller

El Guac-Oh
Done it twice...Lots of fun, but pack your patience. Or get there extra extra early so you can start at the front of the pack.

And remember that once you get to battery park again (form the ferry) the streets are open to traffic again....DAMN!!
 
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DANSPANK

Guest
Did it last year and will probably do it again this year if I don't have football (soccer) training for our company's team again.

There is a bit of waiting around but I was with a group of 12 or so, so we just chatted and stuff. There are quite a few crashes because a hell of a lot of newish riders take part and don't really look around before they make their mad dash to the apex of the corner.

You also get bouncers along the route to literally yank-out people who don't have a race number on them. They're big buggers dressed in suits and strung-out across the road so they WILL get you!

But I enjoyed it. I got picked-up from Staten Island so didn't have to deal with the ferry fiasco.
 

ebineezer

Well-Known Member
thanks for all the feedback folks! although some of the things mentioned were somewhat negative i still think i want to give it a shot. overall, what is the ride like? mostly flat ground im assuming...
 
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DANSPANK

Guest
The steepest grades are the bridges. Seriously. Last year I saw a guy on a 6ft penny farthing (big wheel?) and if he did it then you'll be fine.
 

jbogner

NYCMTB: President
JORBA.ORG
If you treat it as a rolling party rather than a ride, it's much more enjoyable. If you're looking to keep a certain pace or enjoy the "ride" part of it, it can be frustrating. I've done it once and it's not something I'm compelled to do again, and given how much time I spend living and riding in the city, I'd much rather spend my weekend time out in the woods anyway.

Besides, I'll be out at Wawayanda that day for the kickoff race of the H2H series...
 
The first mile leading up to the park is awful b/c its literally a standstill. The best thing to do is to go up the next street over and then cut back in before the park. Other than that though, it was really fun and the only other bottlenecks i experienced were if there was a crash. Getting back to Manhattan took forever but I heard it was b/c a couple of the ferries broke down.
 

de00304

Well-Known Member
last year's route

this is the route from last year - pretty much the same every year:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2705365

I've done it a bunch of times, and agree it can be a parking lot, particularly getting into Central Park where they are metering the flow at the lights, and on the bridges where some people get off to walk and then everyone gets caught up. The last couple of years I did the "VIP" registration option, where you basically pay more to go off at the front. Definitely makes the ride more enjoyable, as you are ahead of the crowd so it doesn't bog down on the climbs up the bridges, etc, but kinda pricey...

Doing the VIP thing, last year we were right at the front at the start line. Yet as we began to ride we noticed that there were hundreds of riders ahead of us heading up towards central park, so I think some folks just avoid the whole start queue and pop in a little ways up the route to get to the front.
 

Spylab

New Member
Yet as we began to ride we noticed that there were hundreds of riders ahead of us heading up towards central park, so I think some folks just avoid the whole start queue and pop in a little ways up the route to get to the front.

Not to sound like a dick, but if I decide to do it this year this will probably be my idea. I'm a little pudgy but I know that I can hold a quick pace, and I think all the fun would be gone if half the trip I was riding toe-to-toe with family teamsters out for a stroll. I figured I'd probably register, get my vest, duck a couple avenues west, ride up 20 blocks or so, then cut back in. Surely the racers will blow by me, but at least it will be strung a little thinner for the duration of the ride.

Still have to see if my chums are up for it too...
 

Not So Fast

Member
It's Not a Race

I did it a few years ago and had a great time. A couple buddies of mine would meet up after a couple of rest stops. There was plenty fruit and water along the way. The bridges were the biggest altitude changes. The line for the ferry back to Manhattan blows. The ride openned up after Central Park. Up to there it was difficult to ride without having to stop.
 

NJ Jess

Active Member
Camera

Yea Tony,...spring is in the air,...when its not cold,...either way, keep warm.

As for bike NY,...please bring a camera. There were wedding parties biking the route. Strange, but they would stop on the hwy or the V bridge and take wedding photos. The back drop was marvelous and I don't think you could ever get photos like that any other way than to Bike NY.
 
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