Northeast - NYC: 2009 Tour de Queens - riders and Marshals needed!

Hey folks... especially you folks in Queens.

Mark your calendars - This year's Tour de Queens (http://www.tourdequeens.org/) will be held Sunday, July 12th.

More importantly, registration starts May 26th - act fast or you could get shut out. This ride was totally filled when it debuted last year and despite increased spots you just know it will max out again in '09.

They have increased the mileage from 12 to 20 miles; it should be mostly flat and great fun for the whole family. There are rest stop areas with food and some mechanical help provided.

If you are an experienced cyclist who is competent at changing flats, who enjoys helping others enjoy the ride and so forth, your help is always welcome as a Marshal - please let me know if you are interested. I'll be orange vesting it again this year.:)

Look for postcard ads in your neighborhood shops soon!

Website states "The Tour de Queens first annual ride is limited to 500 riders and due to its popularity it is now full." Maybe somebody edited without proofing?

Good catch - yeah, that is confusing; I am pretty sure that refers to the '08 ride. I think this year they;re shooting for 1000 entries:thumb:

I just went through the same thing looking at the Covered Bridge ride in PA - they still have last year's ride webpage up, which is confusing.

Likewise. Also with the covered bridge one as well.

*bump*

Registration is coming up, folks - so mark your calendars

I should also mention - we're anticipating the 1000 slots filling very quickly - you can save your spot by pre-registering at one of the many great events the TA Queens committee will be at during Bike Month. Please PM me if you are interested, or check out a few of them here (http://bikemonthnyc.org/)

pgoat, I'm interested in riding Queens, what do you need from me?

Thanks for the heads up. I did the Tour de Bronx last year and it (while slow at first) was a blast.

pgoat, I'm interested in riding Queens, what do you need from me?

PM replied - pls let me know if any questions:thumb:

Thanks for the heads up. I did the Tour de Bronx last year and it (while slow at first) was a blast.

Yeah, these are mostly slow rides (also the Td Brooklyn - I'll be doing that one again this year as well) but still a lot of fun.:). They are smaller than the big 5 boro rides so the compression points are smaller and there is less waiting around and more riding:thumb:

Bump ! The Tour de Queens was such an exciting event last year! Can't wait for it.

I made it in! I'm so excited, my first tour!

In record time, the Tour de Queens is officially full! If you missed your chance to register, don't worry, we will have 500 spots open on July 12th – first come, first served (8 am). We have two more awesome tours this year, the NYC Century Bike Tour and the Tour de Bronx.

Is this for real?

In record time, the Tour de Queens is officially full! If you missed your chance to register, don't worry, we will have 500 spots open on July 12th – first come, first served (8 am). We have two more awesome tours this year, the NYC Century Bike Tour and the Tour de Bronx.

Is this for real?

probably - it was up to 800 sign ups as of 6 PM last night!

If they add 500 on day-of - that's 1500 riders!:eek:

where did u read that Stacy?

That's fast! Luckily I registered on the 1st day. That's a lot of people wanting to ride! And casual riders too, not the racers :)

So I guess I get to sleep ....

That's fast! Luckily I registered on the 1st day. That's a lot of people wanting to ride! And casual riders too, not the racers :)


correctamundo:)

So I guess I get to sleep ....

Crap- you got shut out?:(

Maybe you can do day-of? Or there's always Marshaling;)

Speaking of, what are my chances to getting a spot for Tour De Brooklyn on the day of the ride? 500 spaces open, but not sure how popular it's going to be. I didn't find out about this until after the fact.

It probably depends on how early you arrive. The Tour De Brooklyn starts in Coney Island this year so if you live in Manhattan or the Bronx, you'll have to get up early. Then if you arrive by 8 am there's likely to be some slots available. But if you arrive minutes before the start, those slots may be filled by friends of people who pre-registered.

Of course there'll probably be cancellations especially if the weather is less than ideal. I wonder if they'll have standbys too:p

That's a very good point - I am sure that not only will people bail at the last minute for whatever reason(s) but I can't believe there haven't been multiple registrations for some riders.

They should keep tabs of how many show up and do day-of regs. accordingly....I hate to think of people getting shut out needlessly.....:notamused:

Holy Baby Jeebus! Tour de Queens is full less than a day after opening registration. :notamused:

Well, at least I made it in for the Tour de Brooklyn coming up in less than 2 weeks. :D

probably - it was up to 800 sign ups as of 6 PM last night!

If they add 500 on day-of - that's 1500 riders!:eek:

where did u read that Stacy?

http://tourdequeens.org/register

I actually looked at the main page last night and thought registration hadn't started yet.

Well, at least I made it in for the Tour de Brooklyn coming up in less than 2 weeks. :D

cool! Hope to see you there, KitN:thumb:

That's a very good point - I am sure that not only will people bail at the last minute for whatever reason(s) but I can't believe there haven't been multiple registrations for some riders.

They should keep tabs of how many show up and do day-of regs. accordingly....I hate to think of people getting shut out needlessly.....:notamused:

I usually get multiple email reminding me to register for TA rides so sometimes I forget if I've registered. But I always do a mailbox search, just in case, to avoid registering twice :o

That's smart, Stacy

I was worried about all those server error messages people were getting (Forcing them to try again) - but you bring up a good point; if your submission was successful, you'd probably (hopefully:eek:) get a confirmation email....I got one yesterday (I'd already told people I was marshaling but did it officially anyway)

I got an error message when I signed up... so did my dad. We both tried again, but then got another e-mail so I didn't want to keep clicking and keep taking spaces.. or worse have someone see multiple entries and think we were trying to fill up spots or something. But we both got e-mails definitely... so that's all we need, right?

confirmations? Yes I believe that's it and you just sign in the morning of.

I'm marshaling this one. After yesterday in Brooklyn I am considering a catcher's mask and a bullwhip to compliment the orange vest:twitchy:

any1 know where are the routes are like for this tour? like which neighborhood is it heading to? and how many miles for this tour?

The route is still being hammered out and it is kept under wraps mostly so riders can experience it as we go. I can say it will probably take you through a wider eastern swath of queens than the 2008 edition, and the distance should be about 20-23 miles.

I'm marshaling this one. After yesterday in Brooklyn I am considering a catcher's mask and a bullwhip to compliment the orange vest:twitchy:

Let me look in my closet. I might have a bullwhip for ya! :roflmao2:

Seriously, I'm still trying to decide if I should try to show up at 8AM for late registration, marshal it or just tap out and not go. If I decide to marshal I don't see holding up my tiny folder dissuading any motorist from running right through. :o

The Tour should include a ride to Fort Totten and a ride along the Cross Island service road past the Marina.

so any words on the route yet? looks like it is gonna rain again this weekend...oh crap.

Does anyone have directions on how I can get to starting area by subway? Thanks.

Does anyone have directions on how I can get to starting area by subway? Thanks.

http://www.tourdequeens.org/about_the_ride

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=110367&stc=1&d=1246976755


Looks like the "7" train to the Flushing Meadows Park is the closest by subway.

.

Does anyone have directions on how I can get to starting area by subway? Thanks.

Last year I took the 7 train from Grand Central to Willets Point, which was Shea Stadium and is now Citi Field. There were plenty of other cyclists on the train so I just followed them into Flushing Meadows, past the Unisphere, and to the Queens Museum of Art.

Woah!!! After getting off the subway, there's still such a long ride to get to starting point. I'm getting really iffy about riding on the streets with cars :P

Since the tourdequeens website says by Queens Museum of Art, I went to Queens Museum of Art's website, which gives the directions:

http://www.queensmuseum.org/information/directions.htm

Subway: Via #7 Flushing IRT. Exit Willets Point/Shea Stadium and follow the yellow signs on a ten-minute walk through the park to the museum, which is located next to the Unisphere. Alternatively, exit at 111th Street Station. Walk south on 111th Street past the New York Hall of Science. Left on 49th Avenue into the Park. Continue past fountain over the Grand Central Parkway bridge. Museum is on right, next to Unisphere.
Please Note: If you plan on taking the subway to the museum during the weekend, check the MTA Service Advisory Postings (http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/subsrvno.htm) before leaving home.

Last year I took the 7 train from Grand Central to Willets Point, which was Shea Stadium and is now Citi Field. There were plenty of other cyclists on the train so I just followed them into Flushing Meadows, past the Unisphere, and to the Queens Museum of Art.

I would take the 7 to Shea as well. You then ride in the park with little or no cars, very easy ride.

Woah!!! After getting off the subway, there's still such a long ride to get to starting point. I'm getting really iffy about riding on the streets with cars :P

yeah, don't sweat it - as Stacy said, you will not be alone that morning; if anything you are very close and the 7 lets off right by the park; you can always walk a short ways till you are into the park and a safer riding zone.

Offhand I'd guess there were at least 30 cyclists on that train and we arrived just minutes before the ride left. We took a ramp that runs over the train yards. I don't remember any on-street riding to the start, but if we did happen to ride a block or two in the street, it was so early in the morning that it wasn't an issue.

Bump



don't forget to show up early if you are doing a day-of registration!!

see you there.:thumb:

Hope everyone has fun!

I'm I'm the queens tour right now and we are just outside of jfk. Seem like the route is south and east of flushing park.

We just stop at york college for some food and rest. Hopefully we will head out west from here.

I had a full day yesterday (in Queens) Then I got to sleep late and didn't get up in time for day-of registration. So all of you who did the ride will have to tell me all about it.

well i was going to do the day registration also cuz when i first tried to register online in the morning of the day of internet registration, i couldn't...the site didn't allow me. then when i came back later that nite, the registration was already full!!! so i was going to do early registration today, but couldn't bring myself to wake up that early in the morning.

so i got to the queens tour like 10 minutes before the ride start. snuck behind all the ppl and didn't bother with registration cuz i know it would probably be full. anyway, we head south to jamaica, ozone park and then rode on queens blvd aka blvd of death thru forest hill, flushing and back to the sphere in the park. overalll, it was 19 miles. kinda disappoint that we didn't get to explore other western part of queens like jackson height, woodside, astoria etc.

but had alot of fun and a great time.

Had some nice fun. The congestion wasn't bad at all and most of the time it was pretty quick moving. And I am thankful for the many stops we got to make due to traffic because gosh Queens sure has a lot of hills! The scenery was not too interesting nor pretty though. In Brooklyn, we got to see the Hasidic neighborhood and the greenwood cementary and Prospect Park and then the pretty houses from Avenues a to z. For Queens, the prettiest area was the Flushing Meadows Park itself and the Hall of Science.

I saw a lot of Marshalls and police. Thank you both for keeping the tour and its riders safe :)

I got there at 8:00am, though I was already pre-registered. After checking in, I biked over to the Dunkin' Donuts on 108th St to get some breakfast and coffee -- the cafe in the museum was open, but I wanted my DD coffee!

Came back around 9:15am and started the tour in the back third of the group. Average speed was like 7-8 mph, a little slow for my tastes. I noticed that in this part of the group, most of the riders were very recreational riders, very little signaling or calling out before position changes/passing and very shaky low speed riding skills. Bunch of people texting and riding at the same time and talking and wobbling at the same time. The group was stopped to allow the cops to ride ahead to block off the roads every 2 miles, which got pretty annoying as there was a hot sun beating down on us the entire ride. The terrain was very flat, with only one long, but shallow, incline. On the following decline the group spread out a bit more depending on rider comfort with the speed.

After the rest stop, I rode in the first third of the group. Average speed was like 12-13 mph. We had one long stretch of about 3-4 miles before a cop-related stop, then we more or less rode without stops, though there were some slowdowns for turns. Mostly flat again with one steep hill where I saw one lady fall off her bike as she was cranking up the hill, probably due to a gear change. This was the only stumble that I saw, excluding the couple of people with flats. She wasn't injured, cops and marshals were there to help her. Went back to the park... wondered if the ride was over... apparently it was. No finishing party or reception! The marshals directed me and most of the group to the Unisphere area to keep the Queens Museum area clear. We just continued to ride to the subway and go home.

I thought it was okay, but could have been better. Too short, boring scenery -- which I sort of expected once I knew where we were riding to. I thought there were too many stops for the road blocks, though again I sort of expected it having done the Bronx and Brooklyn tours. If the day was cooler or had some shade/clouds, I might not have cared for the stops, but the sun was really beating down on us when we were standing around.