Northeast - Anyone doing tour de brooklyn?

Yesterday, I got an email update for the Tour de Brooklyn -- just a reminder of what to bring, what time to show up, etc. In the email they stated that there will be $5 parking in Keyspan Park if you print out the email and had it to the attendant when parking your car. Did you get the email update?




i'm unregistered, i'm hoping to get one of the spots available the morning of the ride.


so yeah i dont have that e-mail with the parking coupon.


BTW what time does the email state that people shoud show up?

here's the mssg:


Be ready to ride THIS SUNDAY (Rain or Shine) by reading the quick info below!

Where to Go: Tour de Brooklyn

Start: check-in and registration is at KeySpan Stadium, 1904 Surf Avenue and W. 19th Street, Coney Island -- in the KeySpan Stadium parking lot. Look for signs that say "Tour de Brooklyn -- THIS WAY".
Getting there by bike: See BikingRules.org/ridethecity

to plan a route
Getting there by subway: Take the F, N, Q, D train to Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue Station Bikes are allowed on the subway 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We recommend taking your bike in the first or last car as they tend to be less crowded. Please check MTA.Info

for weekend service advisories.
Parking: KeySpan Stadium parking lot has plenty of room for you ($5 parking fee). Please print this email out and present it to the parking attendant before paying.

When to go
8:00 am: Check-in opens at KeySpan Stadium parking lot
9:00 am: Line up
9:30 am: Ride begins!
After 9:30 am: Because we have a police escort we will not be able to accommodate late riders. If you arrive after 9:30 am you will be riding on your own.
1:30 pm: Finish at KeySpan Stadium.

ALL RIDERS MUST CHECK IN. We will have a list of all pre-registered riders (please bring identification) and will check you off and give you your ticket to ride.

Please note that due to the enormous popularity of this event we have closed pre--registration. We will have limited event registration available on Sunday morning.

Don't Forget

* Helmet -- make sure it fits snugly (required for children under 14, strongly encouraged for everyone)
* Sunblock
* Water bottle filled with water
* Patch kit, spare tube and pump
* A small bag for some end-of-the-ride goodies
* Camera (We want to see your best shots after the tour. Send them to info@transalt.org)
* A Metrocard in case you have mechanical (or physical) breakdowns
* A bike lock, if you want to stay and eat in the neighborhood.
* Money for end-of-ride purchases or emergencies (Tour de Brooklyn tees are $10)

How the Tour Works

* We ride rain or shine
* The tour is 21 miles of Brooklyn's finest biking
* This year's ride features a tour through historic Green-wood Cemetery and a rest stop in beautiful Prospect Park!
* You'll have a police escort and safety marshals.
* The ride will have a family-friendly pace, and there will be occasional stops while the police secure intersections and gather the mass of riders at crucial intersections.
* You'll enjoy light snacks* and water at one rest stop approximately half-way through the tour.
* There is no SAG vehicle for the tour. If you have serious mechanical troubles or become exhausted on the tour, marshals will help you reach the nearest subway or direct you to bike shops.

* if you have dietary restrictions, dislike peanut butter and jelly or have allergies to peanuts we highly recommend you bring your own snack.

The Finish

We will finish at KeySpan Stadium in Coney Island. We encourage you to explore Coney Island for treats and entertainment.

We hope you have a great time on the tour, and in case we don't see you at the finish, thank you in advance for riding with us!

thanks for posting that pgoat

i wish i knew about this before they closed pre-reg. i really hope i get there in time to get a spot.

And here's a web link (http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001aqj1QInodGSDJd1gaLMDdNFLgczP3hi8I_-ymQeKKbCdLKbTFR1V_IJCjCKXaErUat0_G6V1G41CKhTfGXO03KgKflPpKOCNWdlnrgVIWGiahSVUdjSxzljl-2wKOGON0o3WgctNDHtaFKgEuTQ1-Jm__i2_hjWgt3E_wS3f1XdKaAEdonG0hvtWS2pXuFC_ZdQJ2yL_GQjWAGeRJV7msciXRscz9P3C-clTnbG5EMyqK39hYCm5lDxV6PhLLAXH-Y3kDZdOWuYkihXkCVZeQvMHzQJAYnCSPx4PYrQcLtU9dIs8ciD9onGtGX5z1DMNsEt5n1WWlsBPQ6p_3FNTUMohj1-xIGgM-ka4bJfftns%3D) for anyone who wants to print out a parking coupon

i wish i knew about this before they closed pre-reg. i really hope i get there in time to get a spot.


same here. i'm wondering what time i should show up...




BTW the weather is looking good for the ride

is anyone from here gonna say hello at the start?

i'll be on silver trek mountain bike. wearing black basketball type shorts.

I'll try to meet with y'all. Silver mtb, blue helmet.

I had a good time today!

didnt spot anyone in the masses, lol

I thought it was pretty bad. I met up with pgoat, his wife and v370cat, and we were towards the back.

It was slow, disorganized and more like a battle between the drivers and us. Took about two hours and change to get to Prospect Park from Coney Island.

As soon as we got to that rest stop, we ditched it. Had a much more fulfilling ride later on.

yes indeed....we had a relaxing ride down from Queens this morning and a got a little easy spinning in going back home through Wiliamsburg after the rest stop.

too bad; I usually really like this ride. But there was a lot of hostility at intersections, and the marshals were working really hard (there was just not enough of them to cork all the intersections, and when they did, they were getting all sorts of heat from cars and pedestrians.)

Anyway, we took it in stride and had a nice morning anyway. I posted a few pics here (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=326380&page=59). Sorry we missed you, KitN!:)

it was very slow going. Alot of drivers cursing at the parade of bikes, lol.


about halfway through the way back to coney island the group/parade got seperated badly. The section i was with didnt even have any marshals or cops. We were pretty much were flying through intersections on our own, we had picked up the speed big time.


We also saw a three car accident(airbags deployed,etc..) at one of the intersections. At first i thought the car accident had something to do with the bikers, but another rider told me it didnt


Overall i'd still do the tour de brooklyn again

I went too. It was fun. The speed really picked up after Prospect Park rest stop. No stopping points at all flying through Bedford Avenue (I was around the front).

My favorite points were going through the Hasidic neighborhood (they were amused at us; we were also amused at them and their identical too warm for the weather clothing), Prospect Park, and then Bedford and Rugby Avenue (gorgeous houses & fast riding).

I was around the front middle of the tour and the drivers were also pissed at waiting for us to pass. I can't imagine how steaming mad they were by the time the last of the tour finally passed. LOL. Not a good day to be driving in Brooklyn today.

I really enjoyed myself and now look forward to Tour de Queens! I did not have any watch with me, but I got completed the tour and got home in Manhattan by 1:45pm. I was shocked as I read the tour would end at 1:30pm.

I rode my bike to Keyspan and arrived by 8:30 AM. I was already registered so I headed over to the table marked with the letter of my last name only to have them tell me that my name "wasn't on the list"! WTF? I had registered EARLY, gotten the confirmation email, even got an UPDATE email the other day reminding me where to go and what to bring and yet my name wasn't on the list!!

I had to run over to the "non-registered" tent. I got there as they handed a guy the last registration form. That was it. Done. I got screwed and hard! But luckily one of the guys behind the table kept asking his co-workers if any of them had just one extra form. He even yelled out into the crowd to ask for one extra form. I was about to cry with upset and frustration... When he snagged a form for me and called me over. Other people behind me were told that registration was closed and that they were out of luck. I literally got the LAST registration form.

For the ride, I was near the front. It was really slow going. The hostility and nastiness of the cagers as rampant at almost every corner. I was so happy to enter Greenwood Cemetery because I thought we would make up some ground and have a pleasant time without the angry cagers trying to run us over... Wrong! Instead I got stuck behind about 150 adults on full-sized bikes that couldn't seem to mount a kiddie hill. Talk about a slow, cramped, uphill cluster-***k. :eek: I blew past several dozen on my vertically-challenged brethren, going uphill on my 16" wheeled folder, the second I saw an opening. I just couldn't take it anymore...

It was really dangerous most of the time going through intersection. The cars were actually honking, yelling, I saw several "fights"/arguments taking place or about to erupt... Boro Park was the worst of it. Mini-van after mini-van with bearded occupant yelled at us, tried to plow into us, left-hook us, right-hook us and just otherwise completely disregard our lives.

The poor Marshals had their hands full. I think they did a great job considering the circumstances. I tip my hat to all the Marshals that were there. Thank you because if it wasn't for them, I'm sure some cyclists would have landed in the hosptial or worse. Seriously. I saw Marshals putting their own lives in danger, throwing their bodies in front of cars and holding up their bikes between us and cars that refused to stop, inches from being under the wheel of a car to keep them from running us over. Thank you Marshals!!! :thumb:

Police presence was almost non-existant. I think there were two motorcycle cops, one cop in a white, non-descript car and towards the very end, about to go back into Keyspan Park(ing Lot), I saw ONE cop on a NYPD/Trek bike. That's it for "police escorts" that I saw towards the front... But of the little police presence we had, the cops were friendly and did try to help us. Thanks NYPD.

After the stop in Prospect Park, things sped up a little bit... I was in the first group to finish. 12:49 PM. I had a great time even considering the serious hostility from drivers, disorganization, lack of police presence and snail-like pace.

I'm sorry I missed, Pgoat & Co but hopefully I'll be seeing you guys at another ride soon. :)

Oh, I'll be posting some pictures tomorrow. G'night all!

wow KitN - sorry to hear you experienced all that up front as well! I figured you guys had a better time up there. Yes to all of what you wrote - the cemetery hill was disappointing...and the same thing happened to v70cat - he got an email confirming his registration but he wasn't on the list...they just let him go anyway.

On a brighter note, it was a beautiful day. And I know TA did their very best to put on a great ride, as usual. It was just a huge field of riders.

Elizabeth from Streetfilms captured a lot of the better moments - she even got people to smile in Boro Park!:D


Video here (http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/tour-de-brooklyn-2009/)...Glad that pup made it okay...

Oh the pup in the backpack? I saw it! It was too adorable; it was really enjoying the ride.

Memorable things for me include the pup riding in the backpack, a man with a Bert & Ernie riding shirt, someone who attached a cd player on the back of his bike and blasting music, seeing identically dressed hasidic jewish girls in groups staring at us, police on motorcycle racing up the street to block the next street on time, and 3 or 4 guys going nuts towards the end of the ride and screaming/harassing stores & people they saw along the way. It was hilarious listening to them, but I'm sure the receiving end of the comments were not too pleased.

So, is anyone doing Tour de Queens?

The ride was a real mess I think the issue with the drivers was that they did not know what was happening and the police did not put up blockades on the the easterly streets. The net results was that the cars coming from the east were stuck were no where to go and no idea when they would be able to move. This resulted in road rage with horns blowing and drivers out of control.

A lot of drivers were out of control driving through intersection that were supposed to be closed. It was an unsafe condition that must be addressed. The police presence was very limited and this gave the drivers the ability to act irresponsibly.
It might be a consideration to do the ride on Saturday in the future, since a lot of the residents don't drive on Saturday.

It was great seeing all the families and riders of different levels. The difference is skill level is and other thing to consider, while the ride is not a race, it might be a good idea to run the slower riders 10 minutes in front or have the slower riders stay to the right. Once again the ride has so much potential we just need to adjust to the increased demand.

It was great fun meeting everyone and hopefully the ride will be better organized next year. The attendance was great and it seems we could do the Brooklyn ride a few times a year.

I saw a lot of volunteers working very hard and we they all deserve a lot of thanks!:thumb:












I rode my bike to Keyspan and arrived by 8:30 AM. I was already registered so I headed over to the table marked with the letter of my last name only to have them tell me that my name "wasn't on the list"! WTF? I had registered EARLY, gotten the confirmation email, even got an UPDATE email the other day reminding me where to go and what to bring and yet my name wasn't on the list!!

I had to run over to the "non-registered" tent. I got there as they handed a guy the last registration form. That was it. Done. I got screwed and hard! But luckily one of the guys behind the table kept asking his co-workers if any of them had just one extra form. He even yelled out into the crowd to ask for one extra form. I was about to cry with upset and frustration... When he snagged a form for me and called me over. Other people behind me were told that registration was closed and that they were out of luck. I literally got the LAST registration form.

For the ride, I was near the front. It was really slow going. The hostility and nastiness of the cagers as rampant at almost every corner. I was so happy to enter Greenwood Cemetery because I thought we would make up some ground and have a pleasant time without the angry cagers trying to run us over... Wrong! Instead I got stuck behind about 150 adults on full-sized bikes that couldn't seem to mount a kiddie hill. Talk about a slow, cramped, uphill cluster-***k. :eek: I blew past several dozen on my vertically-challenged brethren, going uphill on my 16" wheeled folder, the second I saw an opening. I just couldn't take it anymore...

It was really dangerous most of the time going through intersection. The cars were actually honking, yelling, I saw several "fights"/arguments taking place or about to erupt... Boro Park was the worst of it. Mini-van after mini-van with bearded occupant yelled at us, tried to plow into us, left-hook us, right-hook us and just otherwise completely disregard our lives.

The poor Marshals had their hands full. I think they did a great job considering the circumstances. I tip my hat to all the Marshals that were there. Thank you because if it wasn't for them, I'm sure some cyclists would have landed in the hosptial or worse. Seriously. I saw Marshals putting their own lives in danger, throwing their bodies in front of cars and holding up their bikes between us and cars that refused to stop, inches from being under the wheel of a car to keep them from running us over. Thank you Marshals!!! :thumb:

Police presence was almost non-existant. I think there were two motorcycle cops, one cop in a white, non-descript car and towards the very end, about to go back into Keyspan Park(ing Lot), I saw ONE cop on a NYPD/Trek bike. That's it for "police escorts" that I saw towards the front... But of the little police presence we had, the cops were friendly and did try to help us. Thanks NYPD.

After the stop in Prospect Park, things sped up a little bit... I was in the first group to finish. 12:49 PM. I had a great time even considering the serious hostility from drivers, disorganization, lack of police presence and snail-like pace.

I'm sorry I missed, Pgoat & Co but hopefully I'll be seeing you guys at another ride soon. :)

Oh, I'll be posting some pictures tomorrow. G'night all!

So, is anyone doing Tour de Queens?

yes (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=523268):)
Hope to see you all there!

I think this was my second time riding the Tour De Brooklyn - I'd have to check my t-shirts to be sure. Either way the ride has really evolved over the past few years. The first time I rode we gathered near Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Park and, essentially down Eastern Parkway to Coney Island and Seagate and then back up Eastern Parkway to Prospect Park. This year they added a few miles, there were probably twice as many riders and the route was much more scenic.

I boarded the F train around 7:15. There was already one cyclist waiting on the platform at Broadway Lafayette enroute to the ride and inside our car. Then, stop by stop, more and more cyclists boarded the train until it was a train full of, mainly, cyclists. We probably arrived around 8:15 am and got in line waiting for TA to open Registration and Check-In for Pre-registered Riders. I didn't have any problems with my pre-registration but I did see someone whose name wasn't on the list. Since it was still early I think they just directed him to the Day-Of Registration tables.

Ironically, somewhere between Keyspan Stadium and the Rest Stop I lost my Registered Rider sticker. I was wearing a Tour De Brooklyn 2009 T-Shirt and had the complementary water bottle, so nobody questioned whether or not I was actually registered.

I started off somewhat near the beginning, near the guy with the dog, and was next to the Bensonhurst Ambulance that rode shotgun for us through Bensonhurst and Borough Park. I remember hearing one frustrated driver say "forgeddaboutit" in Bensonhurst -- well this IS Brooklyn after all -- but I was really surprised by the reaction in Borough Park. Plenty of families, primarily women with children lined the sidewalk and just watched as we passed. I could hear lots of angry horns from the rear but one Hassidic man hoped on his hike and pedaled along with us for a few blocks. Those folks who decided to double park didn't help matters, and that three car fender bender was another obstacle to get around.

I'd never actually been inside Greenwood Cemetery so that was a treat. Isn't that the highest natural point in Brooklyn? I wasn't entirely sure what slowed us down on the cemetery hill. Maybe the ride was actually stopped? I certainly didn't mind pausing for a moment to take in the scenery. At some point everyone just got back on their bikes and I never actually saw any riders who couldn't make it up that hill.

Rest Stop at Prospect Park was good and there seemed to be enough food. I was a bit surprised by the number of people grabbing a half dozen PD&J sandwiches when volunteers asked people to only take one each. The waiting line for the women's room wasn't too long and there was plenty of water to refill my bottles.

I agree the ride back to Coney Island went much faster. I think I managed to hit a speedy 14mph on Surf Avenue. According my my Polar cyclocomputer my average speed was 7.7 but I actually saw my speed dip down to 2.5 several times. Who knew I could ride that slow without falling over? After the ride a lot of us went to Nathan's. I'm not sure anyone had ever seen so many bikes at Coney Island. I decided to add a few miles and pedal my way back to Manhattan.

Looking back, it's certainly not the distance that gets to you but standing on a sunny 85º street, pedaling at 2.5 mph, or scooting along with one foot on the pedal does take its toll. By the time I got home I was more wiped than I was after the Bloomin Metric. Even so, it does give me hope that if I show up early enough I might be able to wrangle a Day-Of Registration for the Tour De Queens.

I hope you can Stacy!:)

Yes, the slow rolling can be more wearing than moving along...we were pretty wiped out by the time we got to prospect park!

But glad to hear many of you really enjoyed the ride. While I was hoping for a better experience I didn't have a bad time at all.

Looking forward to the TdQns!:thumb:

i'm gonna do the tour de queens also.

Almost forgot to mention there seemed to be less road rage on the route back to Coney Island. I remember one marshall fiercely put down his bike to stop traffic at Kings Highway, much to the amazement of passing riders, but the chatter on the sidelines seemed a bit more upbeat. We passed one school on Bedford Avenue where the children cheered us on and yelled that we could all go faster.. and win? Oh and I also rode alongside a bike cop who used that special NYPD charm whenever motorists acted like they might go over the top.

Hey yeah - this was the first such ride where I saw a cop on a bicycle (not a motorized scooter or a horse, or a car or a Harley) alongside us. That was pretty neat!:)

Here are 3 pictures from the Tour. I took very very little; all of these were taken at stopping point. So, did I capture anyone from this forum?


Here is the starting point at KeySpan Stadium
http://i42.tinypic.com/2e1rk8w.jpg


I forgot where this was...
http://i42.tinypic.com/303iv52.jpg


Greenwood Cemetary. They stopped for a while either to let the back to the group catch up a bit or we were waiting for the roads to open up? I heard both things

http://i43.tinypic.com/2vj7c4h.jpg