Northeast - NYC MS Ride '08

Here are a few pics from the ride: http://www.flickr.com/photos/92973111@N00/sets/72157602439638350

Spoke to my friend at work who did the ride. It was his first 100 miler. He got to the Kiku rest stop around 12:30 & said they told him at that point they were shutting down the support for that route. Like MasterShake, he did the route anyway. He was pissed, though. Said he had trained for weeks for the ride & wasn't about to abandon it. He finished up around 6:15 and said the only people there were folding up tables & packing up trucks.

I did find this note in the mound of info on the MS site: "Note: 100 milers must leave the Alpine rest stop by noon and must be able to complete the entire route by 6:00 p.m. or they will be picked up by the SAG bus and transported to the finish line."

So I guess they did have that info posted, but I don't recall it being broacasted anywhere. Obviously it took alot of people by surprise. I certainly wouldn't have known unless I scoured the site to find it. MS needs to make that fact very clear to people if they're going to shut down support at certain times.

I was one of 4 Huffy 100 Marshalls. Our job was to make sure than we left no one on the road by the rides end. I arrived at the Kiku Rest stop somewhere at 12:20 and I was aware that the 100 route was shutting down. I beleive that at 12:30 any rider that continued on the 100 had their ride number removed and were advised that there would be no SAG support for them and they have officially left the ride.

At about 1:00 we left KIKU and started our sweep.
The best reason I can come up with is the idea of everyone getting back before dark. As silly as that sounds, I finished my sweep at about 6:00pm which is pretty much near Sun Set.
Every Marshall station was still manned until we relieved them.
We did stop to help a crash at Tallman and awaited Ambulance to remove the rider with a knee injury from a fall. We closed Congers and found 4 riders leaving Congers as we arrived.
We closed Kiku and upon our departure heard that the 4 riders who had left Congers were just arriving at Kiku. In other words they left the Ride Route,got lost or went in a building for food because we never saw them again.

In anycase, we did find a rider in Englewood from the 60 and I am unsure HOW she took so long.
At the Pier as I left I saw a rider at the gate and asked what he was waiting for and he yold me. Yep, the 4 riders and it was now 6:40 pm.

I agree that it was an early cutoff, but when I passed so many people walking up the hill to the Police Station and others feeling the heat the decision may not have been wrong. The MASI group hit Palisades Park at 10:00 am and based on their speed and ability many of the faster riders would have reached KIKU between 10:30 and 11:30. That doesn't give the slower (NOT SLOWEST) riders a chance to do the 100 even though they may not have been clear of the closing time.

Solutions? Perhaps not stopping the ride Uptown and starting earlier. The Lincoln tunnel was closing by 11:00 am and that still would give a stronger rider time to do the entire 100 ride.

I did find the winds tough going the entire route after Kiku, never a Tail Wind.

Overall, a nice ride but I would drop the Lincoln Tunnel and Edgewater and go over the GWB and do some nice routes without River Road. Too many riders were unprepared for that part and I marshalled the climb to the Park and saw the problems of the riders and a very Narrow Roadway,

Not the Slowest, thanks for the report. I did manage to dig up the tiny note about the 12pm cutoff on the website, so I suppose I'm partially at fault. I just wish it had been advertised more clearly, maybe with something as simple as big signs at the first two rest stops with cutoff info and recommended departure times to keep people on track.

I definitely wouldn't drop the tunnel or Palisades Park. Those are two of the major draws for this ride. Although it would've been nice to have signs at the park entrances alerting people that there's a massive charity ride. We kept getting honked at, nearly t-boned a car that suddenly attempted a 3-point turn at the bottom of a hill, and then to ice the cake, we got berated by *******s trying to do hill repeats.

In the end though, my team (mostly 30 and 60 milers) was pretty happy with everything. The only complaint I've heard was about the food at Kiku -- I jumped the gun and tried to motivate people by telling them there'd be PB&J at the top of the hill. Oops.

I ride River road alot in the park and I really felt bad for the many riders who had no idea what they were in for regarding the climbing there.
In fact I broke off from My group and manned the entrace on the hill up to the park directing riders and traffic to keep the log jam moving. I was lectured by drivers and tried to smile. I understand the issue with the hill repeats, but there were a few racing teams who joined the ride so the word was out.

The park is a great ride any day. However on the weekends it is best to go there before 11:30 am when it gets busy with cars.
There was supposed to be a rest area in the Park, I never saw it.

Either they drop the tunnel or have the 100 riders start earlier and not hold them up at Inwood. By doing that, the pressure would be off.

If they take the GWB bridge out, there are so many great routes that are very very flat, you would have more people returning.

In anycase, time will tell.

Rob