Originally Posted by
Divtos
I've done that ride a few times and the idea of taking my kids would honestly kinda scare me. There are many many inexperienced riders that do it and lots of mishaps (crashes). Although its not hilly per se I'm sure the hills would be very challenging to kids especially without gears. One more thing that I tell everyone that does the 5 borough though: If you do go, don't start with he pack at the ferry. Its a huge crowd and you wind up walking a long way if you're in the back. Instead plan to start up where the ride comes into central park. Just wait for the police to pass (stay out of their way) and then go behind them. You will have plenty of room from the crowd and can hit all the rest stops while they still have food :-)
I agree about starting as far forward as you can. If you do not start within the first 5 blocks of start line, you will likely be fighting crowds all day. We have finished towards the end of the pack at the finish of the ride and have never had a food shortage issue. The only time I think they do start to run out of food is when you start hitting the cut off time for the rest stop. They stop supplying the stop and start packing things up. Central Park is not a bad place to join the ride. That and a couple blocks before it are the usual choke points. Central Park because they typically divide the riders into two entrances which rejoin shortly in the park, and the blocks before because they have a recurring hard stop to let cross traffic go. The next jam can occur around the Queensboro bridge (IIRC). People slow way down going up the hill to get to the bridge and the grade of the bridge itself. The final rest stop can be a nightmare to get out of (right off the Verranzano). The ferry wait can be very long also. All reasons not to dawdle during the ride. I'd shoot for a 2-3 arrival at the Verranzano. The earlier the better.