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Five Borough Bicycle Tour
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Five Borough Bicycle Tour - CycleTour
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Comments: I didn't know what to expect from this ride. There were about 10-15 times the marshels had to stop the race at various cross streets to allow traffic and pedestrians cross the course. In the first hour we had only travled 6 miles. Lots of stopping for traffic! The other aspect of this ride I wasn't prepared for was the number of people who fell down. I witnessed 10-15 people just completly loose it and drop like a stone. There are a huge number of people who ride there bike 3-4 times a year and maybe take a spinning class or two who think they know all there is to good biking skills. Most of the people who fell did so because they didn't ride defencively. Lots of people were looking straight ahead and not looking down at the road infront and around them. Lots of riders who were swerving all over the road cutting people off. Lots of dropped watter bottles and other bike parts (pumps, watter bottle cages, CHAINS!). If you ride defencively you will have a good time. There is a manditory rest stop at about the half way point, and I know it saved a bunch of people. There was a huge range of riding skills. Very rarely would you have more then 50-100 feet of open road in front of you. Riding through the streets of NYC was very cool. The race kicks off right near ground zero and heads north from there. We had perfect weather for the ride, if it had been rainy I would reccomend blowing of the ride and spend some time enjoying what NYC has to offer. What would you do differently?: I as a litte cold at the start, and the first 30-45 minutes of the ride you are walking your bike. I would reccomend wearing a few extra layers that are easy to take off and pack out. I would blow off the "festival" at the end of the race. Bring a lunch/food and leave it at your car. The rest stops keep you topped off with snacks but not food. There is some food at the festival (one vendor) but it is hardly worth waiting in line for it. Don't plan on eating after the ride anywhere downtown. There are 30,000 riders who are looking for a place to eat after the ride. I would be self sufficient when it comes to post ride fule.  Post race
Last updated: 2006-05-05 12:00 AM
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 2006-05-08 10:47 AM |
Member  47  Elmira, NY |  Subject: Five Borough Bicycle Tour |
| General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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Sunny
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My buddy and I made it down to the ride at around 6:45am for the 8:00 start. While we were waiting in the start lineup we relized that we probabily should both have are cell phones with us. With 30,000 riders there wasn't any need to hury to the starting line. So we headed back to the car and picked up phones. The phones were a lifesaver. We were able to coordenate where we were when we got seperated.
Not much in the way of warmup for this event. The organizers had the masses do some arm stretches to loosen up our upper bodies. It was chilly at the start of the race (~50) and I was dressed for the temps in the afternoon. Standing on the line we ended up getting pretty tight.