FrankieV

I didn't want to be a complainer but I see I have company.
Without going through a list of complaints I will say that this has been my least favorite ride this year.
It wasn't the location because i did the Gold Coast and the Harbor rides out there.
What made it bearable (bareable ?) were the other riders i met up with throughout the day.
Glen should take a lesson from Bike NY on how to organize a ride.

stevesurf

I really believe the food issue is relative. When he says "Best", I think he means that there will be plenty of food, and it will do the job, which IMHO Glen did.

For me, I just don't eat very much other than Gels or Shot Blocks or the Potassium/Calcium pills Henry's nice enough to give me. BTW, Shot Blocks are expensive, and I'm sure he had to do some serious negotiating to get those into the food program.

The food at the end is the most important to me, and I believe Glen did a good job. Yeah, the burgers were a little overdone, but the hot dogs were good and the corn was so sweet and good that you didn't even need butter.

I overhead a number of people talking about how the 5 boro sponsored Montauk ride actually ran out of food for most of the riders. I've now done two of Glen's rides this year and he had plenty of decent food, which I am quite thankful for. The pie looked so good, but I am not fast enough to carry that extra load!

henria86

[ I've now done two of Glen's rides this year and he had plenty of decent food, which I am quite thankful for. The pie looked so good, but I am not fast enough to carry that extra load![/QUOTE]

Steve.. ur fine just got to focus alil more on the cadance an more stamina... let's go again ...

mattyknacks

Hmmm.... I dunno what to say. The G/F and I did the 66 mile option and we had a blast! The route was great (and scenic), the food was great (and plentiful), and the other riders were great (and friendly). We stayed at a nice inn in Greenport on Saturday night, rolled out of bed and drove three miles to the tour start. We hooked up with Stevesurf and Henria86 at the start but we treated this ride as a "tour" and not a "race", so we were too slow for Henri. Stevesurf hung with us the whole day and we enjoyed the sights and sounds of nautical Long Island at our preferred "leisurely" rate of speed.

We were happy to be able to say hello to FrankieV at the start, and dissapointed that we did not see Noteon at all.

I wonder if the people who were dissapointed with the food selection were more "race" oriented riders? As a guy riding a "leisurely Long Island bike tour", I thought the food was not only adequate, but rather tasty as well. If I was in a racing mindset, I would have wanted a different menu. But for "tooling around" the north fork of L.I., the food was "appropriate" in my view.

I think Glen does an outstanding job overall and should be commended for all he does on these rides. Most ride dont have alot of the elements that Glen has with his rides. And he is there at the finish line to hear your comments (good or bad) instead of hiding somewhere in the background.

energetic

Just for clarification, nope, I'm not a racer. I don't race; never have, and never will. But I just like to have some food that isn't simply sugar, not only when I ride, but always. This was clearly known, and this is clearly why the sign was manufactured, explaining why we weren't going to be provided with food we had asked for in the past... My main complaint was about the smart-ass sign. Yes, the weather was beautiful and the views were spectacular. Thanks, everyone for coming and making it, in general, a nice outing.

noteon 

Yes, I had fun too. My only complaints were the food and the transportation logistics. And I don't think I'd have a food complaint if there weren't such a big deal made about how great it is.

Anybody else still feeling it? I'm fine...except...when...going...up...subway...steps...

FrankieV

A staple of any long ride is the peanut butter sandwich.
I've never been to a ride where you had to make your own from the bottom of almost empty jars using a plastic knife that wasn't long enough.
It's like he was saying.."here's your PB, if you can get it".
Sorry to be so petty but it's little things like that that drive me nuts.

I did have fun. The particpants really make the difference and this was no exception.
And yeah, I'm feeling it. Somehow 100 miles of flats was tougher on my body than the 78 miles of rolling hills at the Harlem Valley Ride.

Now that I know your real name (wasn't sure how pronounce noteon) I'll be sure to say "hi" next time we meet.

noteon 

Yeah!

I know, it's a totally dumb little thing. But MAN, I hate peanut butter on my knuckles.

pgoat

I understand that frustration. I brought my own food for most of the NF in previous years, tho I did eat veggie burgers at the end. In all honesty, the food did look pdg to me at the rest stops I recall. Maybe things have gone downhill? And it's not a cheap ride.

But here's another angle - my wife, who is a very good egg, indeed, once volunteered with me at a rest stop for a less expensive century (not the NF).

We made about 5 gajillion half-pita sandwiches that day; some with hummus, some peanut butter, some with jelly. Once the spread was on the bread, we laid them on flat pans and riders could just grab them as they passed.

When the stacks of pre-made snacks were depleted during rush periods, we had to slather on at rapid fire pace to meet the demand. One thing that shocked - and annoyed - the heck out of both of us were the surprising number of people who kept saying "I see you have half a Peanut butter sandwich, and half a jelly....don't you have any peanut butter and jelly?" We politely explained several thousand times - no , we don't; there's the half with PB on it, there's the Jelly half, please help yourself. My wife actually was making 'custom' pbjs for some very insistent people, interrupting her part of the assembly line (she was jelly, I was PB).

Finally, the guy running the rest stop came over, grabbed one of each half, slapped them together and thrust it at a particularly obnoxious rider - "There! Peanut butter AND Jelly!! Really difficult, huh?"

who knew feed zones could be so violent

nycwtorres

soo true! When I do a long unsupported ride I always throw one of these in my jersey pocket. They are sold frozen and all you do is thaw them out and eat. So by the time you reach mile 40 you have an awesome contained PB sandwich right in your pocket. The individual package has just enough air in it to prevent you from smashing it and just small enough to fit in a jersey packet. YUM!

stevesurf

And you let her be jelly? Risky business; everyone wants jelly

Yes, you could tell the happy riders just kept eating, enjoying and riding. I think all the rest stops had multiple spreads, like cashew spread that was awesome...

pgoat

I remember the tables at the NF rest stops being very well stocked with good stuff. Btw, for those not familiar with LI, the pies are a staple out there (you go out east, pick fruit, taste wine, gorge on Briermere pies). Not sure if that's the best fuel for riders.

That's a shame that you guys got the "tough s***" attitude; you pay a decent fee for what is a nice ride, but one that could use improving (they always can). Your feedback should be taken seriously. I know a lot of people have problems with Glen - I've found him to be very good about returning emails and answering questions, fwtw.

Good to read this honest feedback from this year's ride; we'll still look to next year's but am keeping ears open for all your comments.

pgoat

the worst part of our experience that day (besides not being able to even think about having a PBJ for several months afterwards - we had nightmares about not being able to clean the stickiness of our hands, plastic gloves notwithstanding) was that we made about 2/3 of our 30 billion pb or j half sandwiches using those dinky little plastic knives - talk about sticky goo on your knuckles (we went through several cases, let alone jars of PB & J in the course of the day), before someone saw us and said - oh, hey - did you know we have these big spatulas for you?

Going from the knives to spatulas was like being given a shovel after trying to dig a ditch with a screwdriver.

dlk

could any of you kind folks please spare a copy of your cue sheet? I'd love to do this ride sometime in the coming month. please PM me. thanks!

pgoat

If anyone is interested in a North Fork jersey from three years ago, I am selling a medium, only worn once or twice:

https://www.bikeforums.net/sale/463552-two-jerseys-north-fork-century-5bbc-coffee-cup.html

I bought one of these yellow ones too (larger size); I really wanted one fo the older multi colored ones but they only had tiny sizes left in '05 and none in '06.....

noteon 

The contest photos are up (including mine):

https://www.nycbicycleshow.com/North%...08%20Ride.html

FrankieV

Thanks for the link.
Never thought of submitting.
I had at least one that might have made the cut.
Which pics are yours?

noteon 

I don't think the cut has happened yet. He may still be accepting submissions.

Mine's the orange bike centered in front of the pole.

nycwtorres

Here are my GPS tracks, I did the full century.