Northeast - Tour De Brooklyn, Sunday, May 25th

Anyone else riding TA's Tour De Brooklyn?

My wife and I will be riding. She's nervous but we practiced today in Prospect Park getting her comfy. She's a stock newbie and not quite comfortable with turning, stopping and starting, but the Tour De Brooklyn should get her on the fast lane to basic competency.

She'll be on a Blue Ross Eurotour 3-speed with chrome fenders and a basket. I will be next to her on a pink-purple Specialized Rockhopper with one left-sdie Pannier and a Rack trunk.

Anyhoo, if anyone is riding this as well, PM me and we can swap cell numbers and maybe meet.

http://www.tourdebrooklyn.org/

Check in is at 8am. Ride lines up at 9 and starts at 930. 18 miles. Ends around 1. Very slow pace with police escort.

BrooklynRider


Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge looking North
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/BumbleFish/Bridges.jpg

Looking forward to riding my first Tour De Brooklyn tomorrow. Saw last year's video and it looked like fun. Rode the length of the bike path on the West Side of Manhattan starting from Park Slope Brooklyn today going over the Manhattan Bridge up Canal Street...not too smart and coming back on the Brooklyn Bridge, Round trip was about 30 miles. I should be ready. Will be on an '07 Felt Z70.

Sounds like a fun ride.
I'll either be doing it on a comfort Specialized with my granddaughter on the back
or solo on a gray Specialized Sequoia Elite with blue tires.
Looks like the weather will be perfect too.

Looks like registration is closed. I would have loved to participate.

Wish I could join y'all. I moved from Brooklyn to Austin last year, and the TdB is one of the things I miss most. Have a great ride!

We had a great ride! Almost perfect riding weather. Too SUNNY to be perfect. My wife rode her blue Eurotour 3 Speed the longest she has ever gone before! Her 2nd time on a bike in 20 years!

We both enjoyed the irate and honking car drivers! We had names for them; Irrate, Sullen, Pissed-off, Resigned, Amused, Seething, Freaking-the-f-out and my personal enemy, "Hope You F'ing Fall!"!

Lot's of cheering folks from the Fire escapes and big-haired ladies saying "It's a bike-a-thawn! They do it evy yeeah!" in that Brooklyn accent!

This is the route as best we can guess. Will certainly being doing some beach rides this summer and maybe the 5bbt on a tandem if I can rent one, next year!

Revised route?
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=3787426826707568169,40.703320,-73.992560%3B5039738358122141066,40.689700,-73.992390%3B1328133424577402586,40.678904,-73.954287%3B9602551584461396998,40.670040,-73.953660%3B11826373892727797308,40.670640,-73.917030%3B5469046173554778787,40.682190,-73.902330%3B13485558322483613992,40.690986,-73.900720%3B18310596381538183696,40.694270,-73.910360%3B14063131431114174773,40.700680,-73.921630%3B14734908827935151213,40.701950,-73.923890%3B9706495688227636401,40.704157,-73.924072%3B15516458615371050481,40.705710,-73.926170%3B1834864237616100007,40.711827,-73.940622%3B12458804774686061460,40.712380,-73.951350%3B6547638634830540629,40.717143,-73.964079%3B13445672677908714451,40.704340,-73.984580%3B17804189040397721565,40.697104,-73.989999&saddr=Water+St+%4040.703320,+-73.992560&daddr=Atlantic+Ave+%4040.689700,+-73.992390+to:Atlantic+Ave+%4040.678904,+-73.954287+to:Eastern+Pkwy+%4040.670040,+-73.953660+to:Eastern+Pkwy+%4040.670640,+-73.917030+to:Unknown+road+%4040.682190,+-73.902330+to:Unknown+road+%4040.690986,+-73.900720+to:Knickerbocker+Ave+%4040.694270,+-73.910360+to:Knickerbocker+Ave+%4040.700680,+-73.921630+to:Starr+St+%4040.704157,+-73.924072+to:Flushing+Ave+%4040.705710,+-73.926170+to:Bushwick+Ave+%4040.711827,+-73.940622+to:Union+Ave+%4040.712380,+-73.951350+to:Metropolitan+Ave+%4040.717143,+-73.964079+to:John+St+%4040.704340,+-73.984580+to:Cadman+Plaza+E+%4040.697104,+-73.989999&mra=mr&mrcr=0&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14&sll=40.706799,-73.947258&sspn=0.027197,0.06772&ie=UTF8&z=14

Thanks for the map; it seems about right though we went down Knickerbocker Avenue from the cemetery and stopped in Maria Hernandez Park. 2500 riders today, and while the weather was damn near perfect, it took three hours to go about 18 miles. A slow leisurely pace is fine, but I was thinking 10 mph, not six. There were way too many and too-long stops for car traffic. (I also would've preferred to go south than east, but I understand the desire to give repeat riders a new path.)

I love Transportation Alternatives' (http://transalt.org/) goals but this event has gotten too big for them to handle. The in-and-out at the Navy Yard was just comically bad planning.

hey
brooklynrider did you take any pics of the ride?

This was my first and probably last Tour de Brooklyn. It was a beautiful day and the ride was fun although there were too many slow downs and dead stops making the pace very very slow. The ride was well organized and the snacks at the park were great. Too many narrow streets to navigated in crowded conditions wasn't pleasant...but all in all I am glad I did it. I agree that the ride through the Navy Yard was a waste of time. Going through the cemetery was also pointless. Thanks to the organizers, volunteers and the NYPD who got it going without too many problems. It couldn't have been a better day.

On the plus side: weather, most of the people, NYPD, the organizers, cheering neighborhood people.
On the minus side: stoppages, Navy Yard, some really bad streets not suited for road bikes.
Once I accepted it for what it was, a pleasant ride on a beautiful day, I had a great time.

Next up is the Long Island Harbors Ride:
http://www.bikenewyork.org/rides/lihr/index.html

Looks to be a nice ride.

I thought the cemetery was one of the nicest parts of the ride. The Navy Yard voyage to nowhere and getting back to DUMBO over cobblestones were IMHO the worst. And I'll second the salute to the NYPD guys who hustled ahead on both bikes and motorcycles like nobody's business to stop traffic. The problem was that there were just too few of them.

Today I was really happy to have pedals that clip only on one side. The only time I was clipped in was at 8 am on the West Side Greenway, riding down from the UWS to the Brooklyn Bridge to get to the start.

I agree that the cemetery was very pleasant and pretty (for a cemetery) but not really for a ride. Just a minor criticism though. It was a beautiful day and fun to be with fellow riders. Has anyone done the Long Island Harbors Ride? What are your thoughts. I am considering giving this one a try. It looks interesting. I hope it moves at a better pace than Brooklyn and not as congested.

Has anyone done the Long Island Harbors Ride? What are your thoughts. I am considering giving this one a try. It looks interesting. I hope it moves at a better pace than Brooklyn and not as congested.

The Harbors Ride is brand new.
It's sure to be nothing like Tour de Brooklyn.
From what I read there are lots of rolling hills and some climbing.
If you've ever done the Harlem Valley Ride, it's probably similiar to that.

The Tour de Brooklyn was a lot of fun, the weather was perfect! I took a lot of photos and I am downloading them right now. I was a marshal this day, on a black Brompton.

My girlfriend and I rode in our first and last Tour de Brooklyn. The pace was way beyond too slow. I've ridden in plenty of slow paced rides and enjoyed them, but the constant stopping was intollerable. TA should either have the streets closed for an appropriate period of time or not bother closing them at all (like the NYC Century Ride). Coasting for 10 minutes then stopping for 10 minutes is not a ride. We left the ride at Maria Hernandez and biked down to Manhattan Beach for the day.

I was especially looking forward to the Tour de Queens being a native to the oft-overlooked borough, but the TdeBklyn experience has given me serious reservations about it.

I agree that there were several long stops and I understand that the organizers did this in order to compress the group. There were several young kids biking and fathers/mothers towing trailers so the group naturally had to adjust to their pace, or allow them to keep up. A large group navigating through narrow streets surely will slow down, and that we did. It was just our luck that the group ran into a huge church procession just beyond Metropolitan and Bedford. That was interesting.

All things considered, this kind of group ride is simply not for the impatient who would like to ride at their own pace. It is a lot of fun though, and I hope that the young kids who experienced it would grow up to be true cyclists.

The Tour de Brooklyn was a lot of fun, the weather was perfect! I took a lot of photos and I am downloading them right now. I was a marshal this day, on a black Brompton.

Let's see those pics :)

Here's some pics. I should have taken more.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/BumbleFish/TourDeBrooklyn02small.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/BumbleFish/TourDeBrooklyn03small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/BumbleFish/TourDeBrooklyn05small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/BumbleFish/TourDeBrooklyn06small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/BumbleFish/TourDeBrooklyn08small.jpg

Heyyyy coool pics BR! You managed to capture me, I am the guy in the orange vest at the lower right corner of pic #2. I might have taken a photo of you!

Frankie, here are some of my pics, will be posting more later. Sorry for the delay, I have been a bit busy. Better late than never!

1. DUMBO Start
http://piofort.zenfolio.com/img/v0/p803823963-4.jpg

2. Young Riders
http://piofort.zenfolio.com/img/v0/p1020616779-4.jpg

3. Under Brooklyn Bridge
http://piofort.zenfolio.com/img/v0/p929242471-4.jpg

4. We Are Off!
http://piofort.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p759016618-4.jpg

5. Massed Riders
http://piofort.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p688821730-4.jpg

6. Well, It Was Fleet Week Too
http://piofort.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p703551430-4.jpg

More photos later!

Nice pics..........thanks.

Great shots of the Bklyn Bridge!

This picture is excellent. Great op ed. The B&W was a nice retro touch a week after mem day.


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http://piofort.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p703551430-4.jpg

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I did this last year with my kids and even they thought it was too slow. Why bother doing this if you can't at least keep a reasonable pace going. The Tour de Bronx is one of my favorites because you really do get to ride, they only hold you up at the first rest area (maybe the second too, but I was waiting for someone anyway.) The only thing is you don't want to start the Bronx ride anywhere other than at the county building, the feeder rides are slow (the person I waited for was caught on the feeder ride.)