Northeast - Tour de Queens

Anybody do the TdQ? How did it go? I fell asleep on it, realizing now that it was on 6/8. Seemed like a small short ride.

It passed right in front of my house in Forest Hills. It looked well organized.. lots of police support. Very leisurely pace and a big range of ages and fitness levels.

It was an extremely hot day, in the mid 90's. The route was a 20 mile loop that took us to Astoria, Long Island City, Middle Village, Forest Hills and then back to Flushing-Corona Park. We passed by a coupl of houses where they sprayed us with water from a garden hose. it felt so good! Pictures to follow.

Hot! Hot! Hot! I arrived at 8 a.m. to sign up and it was already scorching. Thankfully, the Queens Museum of Art let us take refuge in their air-conditioned sanctum with our bicycles while waiting for the kick-off. At 9 a.m., there was some speechifying, then we rode off. I wore lots of sunscreen and reapplied it frequently. I also took two reusable towelettes, wet them, and wrapped one around the back of my neck and the other across my forehead to protect from the sun. The event overall was well organized, and it was fun to meet so many different people and see the diversity of bicycles present. I really enjoyed getting to know Queens on bicycle--it has many fascinating neighborhoods (kind of a confederation of villages, really).

I wound up taking the #7 train to the start so I didn't get there until after 9am, just as the speeches were ending..... and just in time to start. Very very hot, very very sunny, and very very slow. I think we averaged less than 7 mph. Yeah I know it was a family friendly ride but by the end even parents with kids in tow were rushing to the finish.

All in all a good ride despite the heat. 500 riders this year. Hopefully 1000 next time around.