Northeast - Gran Fondo NY

With the party in Weehawken but the start on the GW Bridge I was wondering what people were doing as far as getting to this Fondo. Especially people from Long Island

Park midtown?
Park uptown?
Park in NJ?
Take Train?
Stay in hotel?

I'm in Manhattan, but if you can get an early enough train and are on a line without weekend bike restrictions I would take the LIRR. You will need an MTA bike permit which is $5 for a lifetime permit http://www.mta.info/lirr/about/Bicycles/. From Penn station take an A train or 1 train to 168th St, take the elevator up to the street and then ride to the start. If you want to ride to the start its probably around 8 miles. When you return on the ferry you'll be less than a mile from Penn station. The Gran Fondo just put out their riders guide, you can download it from their website. In it they say the cutoff time for entering the start area on the bridge is 6:15 AM, which means you'll be standing in the cold on the bridge for at least 45 minutes before- arghh. Subway service at that hour of the morning on a weekend is not too frequent either.

I'm hoping to park in Weehawken and ride to the GWB.

how easy it to ride to start from NJ?
I have reservation at hotel 4 miles from start and 2 miles from finish
But not sure if worth the extra hour sleep since don't know how to get to start from there and trying to meet up 10 guys i am riding with coming from Long Island

If its a hotel on Rt 4, then I'd say very difficult as Rt4 is not at all bike friendly. They say the bike path on the bridge which is normally closed from 12am-6am will be open all night for the event. If it is one of those hotels maybe they could drop you and your bike at the bridge with their courtesy van.

It is off River Road
Seems hard to get there and harder with more traffic on way back

River road lacks a shoulder, and there is a steep uphill just before you get to the bike path entrance. The route comes back down river road to the finish in Weehawken. Not sure how well lit it is for pre daylight travel. At least when you get to the entrance to the park in Edgwater you can get up the last bit of hill using the bike path. Once across the bridge you'll need to travel down to 165th St, and go to riverside and head back north to get on the lower level of the bridge for the start.

Thanks for the information
Not worth one hour more sleep and logistic nightmare to stay in hotel
will just drive from Long Island

How did it go? Took me 10 1/2 hours with stops. My butt and neck are still hurting though not as bad as last year.

How did it go? Took me 10 1/2 hours with stops. My butt and neck are still hurting though not as bad as last year.

It looks like I was 20 minutes behind you. I don't know about you, but I thought their rest stops were pitiful this year. At rest stop 1, they only had pita chips, water, and sports drink. At rest stop 2, they had no food- only drinks. At stop 6, they only had water and had run out of everything else.

The lines for porta potty and/or water were also really long.

For a century with "limited" number of participants, understocking and running out of food is pretty much inexcusable.

The worst part about the whole endeavour for me was that at not one, but three, rest stops, there was a line for water that took a 1/2 hour or more to get through. It was impossible to keep going to maintain any "warmth" in your legs. There was also one point on the ride that there was no sign indicating which road to take at a fork, and probably 50 of us ended up taking to wrong road (at least I think it was the wrong road, becaue the end of that road had a gate across it and we had to dismount and carry our bikes over rocks to get to the road). What made them think that not having a cue sheet was a good idea? If you are going to do that you need to be VERY careful about the road markings.

6000 participants is not very limited. :-). The port-a-potties were much better than last year where they had maybe 5 per rest area. I wasted 25 minutes waiting for one in Piermont last year. Personally most of my stops were road side in the woods. Agree about the food. At least the party was still happening when I arrived at the finish. Last year by the time I got back from the finish in NJ to Roseland in NYC they were packing up and nothing was left. And they could have made getting water easier. The urns were a pain in the ass, as they filled slowly and were near impossible to fill my hydration pack from.

(5000 per their announcements) The issue is not that the participation was limited, but that the number of people is knowable. You know how many people you have and can extrapolate the amount of food you need. Other large events manage to do it well.

As for the "party still going on" that's a common problem for these events. Particularly where you have multiple distances. Those who ride the century, and do it on the slower side, tend to miss out on all of the post-ride "fun". Nice to know people were still there for you.

I sent them an e-mail with a few "issues" I'll be curious to see if I hear back.

That said, there were some really nice touches. For instance, I stopped at 2 stop intersections the entire time. Cops would hold traffic and waive bikes through. Very nice touch. The dedicated ferries were nice as well. They also did a great job with the weather....

(5000 per their announcements) The issue is not that the participation was limited, but that the number of people is knowable. You know how many people you have and can extrapolate the amount of food you need. Other large events manage to do it well.

As for the "party still going on" that's a common problem for these events. Particularly where you have multiple distances. Those who ride the century, and do it on the slower side, tend to miss out on all of the post-ride "fun". Nice to know people were still there for you.

I sent them an e-mail with a few "issues" I'll be curious to see if I hear back.

That said, there were some really nice touches. For instance, I stopped at 2 stop intersections the entire time. Cops would hold traffic and waive bikes through. Very nice touch. The dedicated ferries were nice as well. They also did a great job with the weather....

Yeah, food and water were a serious problem. Found the route to be fairly well marked though. Last year I found that some signs had been removed early but I ride that area often so I'm familiar with some of the roads. Police and closed intersections were also stayed closed a lot longer than last year. Last year I remember all roads being reopened to traffic after 1pm. They seemed to have learned a lot from the previous year, and hopefully next year will only be better.

Ride was well marked and police were helpful
That being said the rest stops were the worst i have ever encountered
No guidance on what was were
Waited on several long lines for crappy powerade when i wanted only water
Took way too long to use bathrooms and get water
food at rest stops had no real food and what they had you had to make yourself
needed more volunteers to keep water flowing and guide people at rest stops plus the gate at the end of the park was crazy (some guy crashed behind me because of that)
the ride down river road in last 4-5 miles was insane with traffic
Next year have to cut off ride with fewer cyclists as there were too many by far
I don't blame them for rough River Road but you have to check the course out before ride starts and get rid of the glass that caused a major delay

If they make improvements for next year i will participate again but if not forget it

Ride was well marked and police were helpful
That being said the rest stops were the worst i have ever encountered
No guidance on what was were
Waited on several long lines for crappy powerade when i wanted only water
Took way too long to use bathrooms and get water
food at rest stops had no real food and what they had you had to make yourself
needed more volunteers to keep water flowing and guide people at rest stops plus the gate at the end of the park was crazy (some guy crashed behind me because of that)
the ride down river road in last 4-5 miles was insane with traffic
Next year have to cut off ride with fewer cyclists as there were too many by far
I don't blame them for rough River Road but you have to check the course out before ride starts and get rid of the glass that caused a major delay

If they make improvements for next year i will participate again but if not forget it

Last year there were major complaints about the finish and they fixed that. I'd bet they'd fix this because part of the reason I signed up again was because the rest stops at last year's was so good-different kinds of fruits, bagels, sandwiches, different energy bars, etc. I'd bet they'd fix it if enough people complain. Last year, they sent emails asking for suggestions/complaints and I hope they do again.

BTW, I got cut off from the first climb b/c of a rumor of a major accident/crash. Anyone hear about it? Bummer because some folks (not me) put up some serious times for the remaining three and am sure would like to see where they stood overall.

They posted a new list of those who missed the first climb. I got the wrong packet (a medio instead of a gran) so i had no chip and didnt get timed - bummer. I didnt expect to win anything. If I do it again next year I may just save $30 and sign up for the medio and then ride the longer course.

BTW, I got cut off from the first climb b/c of a rumor of a major accident/crash. Anyone hear about it? Bummer because some folks (not me) put up some serious times for the remaining three and am sure would like to see where they stood overall.
Hmm. When I was coming off of Buckberg (the first timed climb) near the end somebody behind me blew a tire. There were GF staff at the bottom and I yelling to them about the issue and yelling back up to the rider to see if he was OK. It's not clear if he crashed but I heard stuff scattering.

I wonder if that was the accident you are talking about.

The entrance to the bridge on the Manhattan side should have been marked better.

The wait on the bridge was long and cold. Even if people availed themselves of the toilets before entering the corrals on the bridge, it was likely that many people were going to have to pee afterwards (but there were no bathrooms, just trees).

The turns in Fort Lee where a bit sharp for all the riders bunched together. River Road (entering south of the GWB) in the park, was narrow and bumpy (and tricky with all the riders). There was a large spot of broken glass that held riders up (it covered 3/4 of the road).

The riders were spread-out enough later on. I passed the first stop in Piermont (I didn't recognize that it was a stop at first and it was too soon for me anyway).

When I hit them, all of the stops had food and water and power-aid (etc). The lines were not too bad (some of this is luck). When the line for something was too long, I got something else.

The food was pretty boring: all of the stops had the same food. Bagels, PB+J, Banannas, power bars/energy gel, chocolate chip cookies.

I'd say the signs and directions were good. A cue sheet wasn't necessary. There were (generally) enough riders around to follow. (In one place, I wasn't quite directed properly and figured out that I went the wrong way: hmm, 5000+ riders and I don't see one of them.) The cops were generally very good about stopping traffic and pretty good about directing riders.

Returning through the park (at Alpine) onto River Road, the potholes on the decent were pretty awful. It looks like that road is scheduled to be repaved in two weeks!

The park road south of the Ross dock circle was closed for the GF but they closed the gates there and at the exit. It looks like that was the result of some miscommunication.

Riding down River Road in Edgewater (after exiting the park below the GWB) wasn't too great. It's a major road in the area and has lots of traffic. The traffic was made worse by the GF riders.

8 hours (about) total runtime for me (unremarkable hill times).

It was expensive but I liked it overall. For someone who doesn't live in the area, it gives a very good taste of the riding that is available.

The ride fee includes a jersey but it appears that the jersey is the same year-to-year. That could deter some repeat customers who might be irritated to have to pay for a closet full of the same jersey.

There should have been people on the course to fix the glass and gate issue
The food should be much better at rest stops
Lines were way too long
Needed people to direct you better and more water stations
Rest stops should never take more than 10-15 minutes (unless you want to make them longer)

Plus I have written 2 e-mails trying to figure out how to get my gold medal for finishing in top 25% of my age group with no responses

I'd say the signs and directions were good. A cue sheet wasn't necessary. There were (generally) enough riders around to follow. (In one place, I wasn't quite directed properly and figured out that I went the wrong way: hmm, 5000+ riders and I don't see one of them.) The park road south of the Ross dock circle was closed for the GF but they closed the gates there and at the exit. It looks like that was the result of some miscommunication.

You say the signs and directions were good, but you got lost at one point. That's my point. At one point on 9w coming back we were supposed to go up the road at the fork instead of down (I believe, but still can't be sure), there was nobody ahead of us so the group I was with took a guess and ended up down by a beach-like park on the river with no indication of where to go next. Luckily a GFNY van happened along and directed us back up and onto park road south. That's the cue sheet point. With no signs or markings you were stuck if there was a road fork and there were no people in front of you, or the people in front of you had no idea what they were doing. With a cue sheet you could take it out of your pocket and look at it.


Plus I have written 2 e-mails trying to figure out how to get my gold medal for finishing in top 25% of my age group with no responses

I'm betting you are out of luck on that. I was handed a gold one when I finished. There would have been no way for them to know at that point whether I had finished in the top anything of any age group unless they had looked at my number and cross referenced the results list as I as coming in.

I have a feeling that they reached into boxes of medals and handed out what they pulled out.

I almost took a wrong turn myself heading to nyack and I know of another group that ended up in NJ on their way to the last rest stop. Agree signs were not as clear as they should have been.

Last year, the medio course was just a shorter route of the century course meaning that there were a lot of riders for 70 out of 100 miles. In retrospect, I think I prefer that- you KNEW something was wrong if you didn't see any other riders. Also, there were more people to talk to and more bikes to admire.

I literally saw 5 SEVEN's before I even reached the second rest stop. One had one of the coolest paint jobs (a lady's pink and mint green) I had ever seen.

I also saw a madone at the bottom of Bear mountain whose chainstay looked like somebody took a hacksaw right through it. He's VERY lucky he didn't start his climb :o.

I almost took a wrong turn myself heading to nyack and I know of another group that ended up in NJ on their way to the last rest stop. Agree signs were not as clear as they should have been.

Last year, the medio course was just a shorter route of the century course meaning that there were a lot of riders for 70 out of 100 miles. In retrospect, I think I prefer that- you KNEW something was wrong if you didn't see any other riders. Also, there were more people to talk to and more bikes to admire.

I literally saw 5 SEVEN's before I even reached the second rest stop. One had one of the coolest paint jobs (a lady's pink and mint green) I had ever seen.

I also saw a madone at the bottom of Bear mountain whose chainstay looked like somebody took a hacksaw right through it. He's VERY lucky he didn't start his climb :o.

There was some seriously nice hardware out there. I was generally surrounded by top end-machines.

When you say that the chainstay looked like somone had taken a hacksaw through it, was he riding it? I'm guessing not, must have been a catasrophic failure due to hitting something, right?

There should have been people on the course to fix the glass and gate issue
It's not clear when the glass happened.

The gates were interesting: it appears that the park staff locked them and there wasn't an easy way to get them unlocked.

Note that the gates weren't locked in the morning.

I came upon them just as they added a vehicle with flashing lights to warn riders.

You say the signs and directions were good, but you got lost at one point. That's my point.
As I said, I was misdirected (I pointed that out as a failure to some degree). Anyway, it's almost certain that, with 5000+ riders, that some of them are going to go the wrong way even with "perfect" signs and directions.


At one point on 9w coming back we were supposed to go up the road at the fork instead of down (I believe, but still can't be sure), there was nobody ahead of us so the group I was with took a guess and ended up down by a beach-like park on the river with no indication of where to go next. Luckily a GFNY van happened along and directed us back up and onto park road south. That's the cue sheet point. With no signs or markings you were stuck if there was a road fork and there were no people in front of you, or the people in front of you had no idea what they were doing. With a cue sheet you could take it out of your pocket and look at it.

It seems that the route was originally supposed to go down 9W past the park at Alpine. The route was changed "at the last minute" to turn into the park at Alpine. It was near the end of the ride. You were supposed to continue south. You apparently made a left turn (to the east). A cue sheet would not have helped you.


I'm betting you are out of luck on that. I was handed a gold one when I finished. There would have been no way for them to know at that point whether I had finished in the top anything of any age group unless they had looked at my number and cross referenced the results list as I as coming in. I think they looked at your number and cross-referenced the results.

I have a feeling that they reached into boxes of medals and handed out what they pulled out.

They really can't have determined the top 25% until everybody had crossed the finish line.

The entrance to the bridge on the Manhattan side should have been marked better.

The wait on the bridge was long and cold. Even if people availed themselves of the toilets before entering the corrals on the bridge, it was likely that many people were going to have to pee afterwards (but there were no bathrooms, just trees).

You are spot-on. I was one of a few guys that let go off the bridge. They really needed an easy bathroom solution once on the bridge. We were toward the back and still was on the bridge for 45 minutes. We were also sitting and squatting down to get out of the wind. I am glad that I didn't bring arm/knee warmers or a wind vest though. Once we got going, things warmed up quickly.



The turns in Fort Lee where a bit sharp for all the riders bunched together. River Road (entering south of the GWB) in the park, was narrow and bumpy (and tricky with all the riders). There was a large spot of broken glass that held riders up (it covered 3/4 of the road).


That was a pain. Someone around me shouted that we should have had a pool as to when we were going to touch our large chainring. The glass was strange too. There was a start of ride van that should have dealt with that unless the bottle came from another rider. I almost thought I should have taken my cross bike the way people were carrying their bikes!



The riders were spread-out enough later on. I passed the first stop in Piermont (I didn't recognize that it was a stop at first and it was too soon for me anyway).

When I hit them, all of the stops had food and water and power-aid (etc). The lines were not too bad (some of this is luck). When the line for something was too long, I got something else.

The food was pretty boring: all of the stops had the same food. Bagels, PB+J, Banannas, power bars/energy gel, chocolate chip cookies.


I didn't mind the food provided. My wife made me some rice balls that went down really well when there wasn't other food I wanted. The gels that I grabbed tasted pretty awful, so I stayed away from them, but other stuff was fine for me and there seemed to be an adequate amount too.



I'd say the signs and directions were good. A cue sheet wasn't necessary. There were (generally) enough riders around to follow. (In one place, I wasn't quite directed properly and figured out that I went the wrong way: hmm, 5000+ riders and I don't see one of them.) The cops were generally very good about stopping traffic and pretty good about directing riders.


I had no troubles navigating the course, but there were usually several riders going through when I hit intersections. The cops were pretty cool. We only had one place that they stopped us to let cars go through. It would have been nice to have a cop at the top of the palisades park directing traffic but we didn't have any problems getting through.



Returning through the park (at Alpine) onto River Road, the potholes on the descent were pretty awful. It looks like that road is scheduled to be repaved in two weeks!


That road has been awful for a while. The first time I rode it I felt the same way. Now, I've ridden it enough that I could wind my way through the holes and ruts. That said, I do know a LOT of guys who hadn't been on the road before and didn't enjoy that hill much. It's really a shame that it couldn't have been paved for the Fondo.

River Road sucked, but once through the traffic, was fine. I was a little miffed about the gravel all over the final turn in the finishing chute. It's easy enough to get a broom and sweep that small area before riders arrive.

I enjoyed it overall too and if the organizers can improve a few things, the ride should be terrific. It was challenging at times but had many very fun areas.

BTW, I got cut off from the first climb b/c of a rumor of a major accident/crash. Anyone hear about it? Bummer because some folks (not me) put up some serious times for the remaining three and am sure would like to see where they stood overall.

The only major incident I saw or heard about was on the downhill after exiting the Palisades Park. Poor guy was on his back in the road bleeding, but being tended to by EMS. That was way before any of the timed climbs though.

There was some seriously nice hardware out there. I was generally surrounded by top end-machines.

When you say that the chainstay looked like somone had taken a hacksaw through it, was he riding it? I'm guessing not, must have been a catasrophic failure due to hitting something, right?

He rode it up to the rest stop at bottom of bear mountain. He said it wasn't shifting right and started to feel unstable so he took it to the mechanic stand. It was a straight vertical cut through the chainstay on the drivetrain side. It was an older madone- indigo blue. The owner was probably around 30y/o and wasn't aware that TREK had a lifetime frame warranty. The bike didn't look like it had any major scratches or anything like that.

I didn't mind the food provided. My wife made me some rice balls that went down really well when there wasn't other food I wanted. The gels that I grabbed tasted pretty awful, so I stayed away from them, but other stuff was fine for me and there seemed to be an adequate amount too.
The food was OK. My problem was that it was the same at every stop. I've been on rides that didn't cost as much but had better (more diverse/interesting) food choices.


That road has been awful for a while. The first time I rode it I felt the same way. Now, I've ridden it enough that I could wind my way through the holes and ruts. That said, I do know a LOT of guys who hadn't been on the road before and didn't enjoy that hill much. It's really a shame that it couldn't have been paved for the Fondo.
I'm pretty open-minded about road conditions. I'm familiar with that road too. The holes weren't much of a problem for ascending. For large numbers of riders descending, the problem they pose is significant.

For what is suppossed to be the premier cycling event in the area it was just ok
Roads and rest stops should have been better
Glass should have been swept
Gate should have have been open
Rest stops should have had more water
Ride should have had less people participating

I have been on local century rides that were better and less the cost

As I said, I was misdirected (I pointed that out as a failure to some degree). Anyway, it's almost certain that, with 5000+ riders, that some of them are going to go the wrong way even with "perfect" signs and directions.



It seems that the route was originally supposed to go down 9W past the park at Alpine. The route was changed "at the last minute" to turn into the park at Alpine. It was near the end of the ride. You were supposed to continue south. You apparently made a left turn (to the east). A cue sheet would not have helped you.



They really can't have determined the top 25% until everybody had crossed the finish line.

Depending on how "last minute" the change was, it could certainly have been reflected in a cue sheet at any time up until a few hours before the start. You may be right about what happened. The only thing I can tell you is that there were MANY people looking at each other trying to figure out where they were supposed to go and nobody knew. That's a failure, and one that is easily avoidable. Just station someone there or put up a sign.

As for not knowing the top 25% until everyone crosses the finish line. That's not true. Assuming the "award" was for top 25% in climbing time, they would be able to know the top 25% as soon as the last person in the top 15% of each age group crossed the line of the last climb. Specifically, if you had 100 people in age group A, as soon as the 25th person in that gropup crossed the finish line of the last climb you have set your top 25% for agre group A. It's all a matter of computer tracking. They had the results posted well before everyone had finished the event. Same would go for overall time, but that would have to be done in a bit more real-time.

That said, there is no way they did that. They were handing out medals to everyone as they crossed the line paying no attention to whom they were handing them. I guarantee that the awarding of the medals was random. To do anything else would have been a logistical nightmare unless they mailed them later.

For what is suppossed to be the premier cycling event in the area it was just ok...

I have been on local century rides that were better and less the cost

+1

It seems that the route was originally supposed to go down 9W past the park at Alpine. The route was changed "at the last minute" to turn into the park at Alpine. It was near the end of the ride. You were supposed to continue south. You apparently made a left turn (to the east). A cue sheet would not have helped you.


The route had been published online on their website for at least 6 weeks. There was a link to the route on MapMyRide. It always came back through the park. The original finish and party was to have been at Ross Dock at 104 miles. About 3 0r 4 weeks before the ride it was changed to Weehawken at 110 miles. I don't know why. There was also a cutoff time for finishing, I'm not sure if it was 5 or 5:30 this year. I know when I arrived at the finish at 5:10pm (at Carpenters Circle above Ross Dock) in 2011 they had just taken down the finish line, and by the time I made my way back to Roseland around 7pm the party was over even though it was supposed to run to 8PM. Driving back to the bridge around 6:30pm I still saw stragglers coming down river road to Weehawken.

Depending on how "last minute" the change was, it could certainly have been reflected in a cue sheet at any time up until a few hours before the start.
It think it's possible that they changed the route after the ride started. Anyway, the logistics of editing, printing, delivering, distributing new cue sheets isn't that simple.


You may be right about what happened. The only thing I can tell you is that there were MANY people looking at each other trying to figure out where they were supposed to go and nobody knew. That's a failure, and one that is easily avoidable. Just station someone there or put up a sign.
Yes. I knew the route, so I didn't have a problem.


As for not knowing the top 25% until everyone crosses the finish line. That's not true. Assuming the "award" was for top 25% in climbing time, they would be able to know the top 25% as soon as the last person in the top 25% of each age group crossed the line of the last climb. Specifically, if you had 100 people in age group A, as soon as the 25th person in that gropup crossed the finish line of the last climb you have set your top 25% for age group A.
No, I don't think so. A fast hill climber could have gone slow outside of the timed sections and spent more time at the rest areas (or had mechanical issues). In your example, the fastest hill climber might have been rider 100 to cross the last hill finish.


It's all a matter of computer tracking. They had the results posted well before everyone had finished the event. Same would go for overall time, but that would have to be done in a bit more real-time.
Anybody who missed the cut-off times for either Buckberg or Perkins would have been pooled in the lower 75% pool. Thus, the rankings were known once the last non-rerouted rider in each age group finished the last hill.


That said, there is no way they did that. They were handing out medals to everyone as they crossed the line paying no attention to whom they were handing them. I guarantee that the awarding of the medals was random. To do anything else would have been a logistical nightmare unless they mailed them later.
They weren't going to mail them (it would appear). Thus, they would have had to work through the logistics of handing them out appropriately (or abandoned the idea altogether). I wonder what they did last year.

The route had been published online on their website for at least 6 weeks. There was a link to the route on MapMyRide. It always came back through the park. The original finish and party was to have been at Ross Dock at 104 miles. About 3 0r 4 weeks before the ride it was changed to Weehawken at 110 miles. I don't know why. There was also a cutoff time for finishing, I'm not sure if it was 5 or 5:30 this year. I know when I arrived at the finish at 5:10pm (at Carpenters Circle above Ross Dock) in 2011 they had just taken down the finish line, and by the time I made my way back to Roseland around 7pm the party was over even though it was supposed to run to 8PM. Driving back to the bridge around 6:30pm I still saw stragglers coming down river road to Weehawken.
Hmm. Maybe, they changed it because there was more parking at Weehawkin and because there were ferries people could use to get back into Manhattan. Weehawkin also was likely easier for non-riders to park and wait for riders finishing (Ross Dock has the problem for visitors of getting and leaving there).

5:30 was the official close of the course this year.

It's not surprising that there were people finishing later than that.

Aside from ride issues outlined here I am annoyed at them for not at least responding with what their plan is for awarding top 25% medals
They went off to advertise the 2013 ride
Seems like this is too much of a money maker without real detailed consideration of the ride components

Last year, there were no medals and the ride finished at one of the roundabouts in Palisades Park. That was a clusterf**k for two reasons: 1. they told us that there would be transportation back to Manhattan which there wasn't- most people rode back or 2. if you had your extremely understanding spouse come pick you up on Mother's Day, they yelled at you not to park in the roundabout. Since we're not from NJ, I couldn't even describe to my wife where I was. Like I said, there were a lot of complaints which resulted in Weehawkin and what I thought was an awesome ferry ride back to Manhattan- very cool.

The route had been published online on their website for at least 6 weeks. There was a link to the route on MapMyRide.

Really? I never saw that. Not that I was particularly paying attention. Given that information I would say that they could have better publicized the fact that the route was available, but I will chalk it up to my ignorance. Doesn't change the issue of no sign or person stationed there, but I take your point re cue sheets. Not necessary if the route was widely and publicly available.

No, I don't think so. A fast hill climber could have gone slow outside of the timed sections and spent more time at the rest areas (or had mechanical issues). In your example, the fastest hill climber might have been rider 100 to cross the last hill finish.


I think you mis-understand my example. I don't mean number 25 to cross the last climb finish line. I mean the person who represents the last in the top 25%. The timing chips are unique to every person and therefore if they are divided by age groups it would be easy to have a program figure out when the person who represented the top 25% of each age group had finished the last climb by constantly adding up the total times of each person crossing. (Easy is the wrong word. Possible with the proper programming is probably better.)

It's really irrelevant thought. I think we can all agree that they should not tell people that there will be a distinction and then not follow through on that. Personally, I don't care, but I can see it being important to people.

As for not knowing the top 25% until everyone crosses the finish line. That's not true. Assuming the "award" was for top 25% in climbing time, they would be able to know the top 25% as soon as the last person in the top 25% of each age group crossed the line of the last climb. Specifically, if you had 100 people in age group A, as soon as the 25th person in that gropup crossed the finish line of the last climb you have set your top 25% for age group A.
No, I don't think so. A fast hill climber could have gone slow outside of the timed sections and spent more time at the rest areas (or had mechanical issues). In your example, the fastest hill climber might have been rider 100 to cross the last hill finish.
I think you mis-understand my example. I don't mean number 25 to cross the last climb finish line.
??? You used 100 and 25 people as an example/illustration.


I mean the person who represents the last in the top 25%. The timing chips are unique to every person and therefore if they are divided by age groups it would be easy to have a program figure out when the person who represented the top 25% of each age group had finished the last climb by constantly adding up the total times of each person crossing. (Easy is the wrong word. Possible with the proper programming is probably better.)

The timed sections were only about 6-7 miles of 67 miles (roughly where the last time hill ended).

It's theoretically possible that the fastest person in a group did the other 60 miles the slowest. The ranking can only be determined after that person crosses the last line (this is an illustration: other people have to cross to determine the ranking)

It's quite possible that some people finished before the final ranking could be computed.

??? You used 100 and 25 people as an example/illustration.


Good point. So then I just think you are wrong. Either way I don't think it bears further discussion, I think we've beaten this horse way beyond death.

If you decide to do it next year I hope they pay attention to the hiccups and it gets better. I would expect they would, and it would, after all this is an ambitious project and this is only the second year.

Dopers at the GFNY (http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/two-amateurs-test-positive-for-epo-at-gran-fondo-new-york-34711/)

Dopers at the GFNY (http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/two-amateurs-test-positive-for-epo-at-gran-fondo-new-york-34711/)



LOL, what a loser (s).

I don't care about the dopers, I just don't want to have to wait 15 minutes to use the port a potty next year and for them to have some food for the riders at their rest stops. But thanks for posting. You made my day.