bettybl

Sadly, rain is expected this Sunday for the 5 boro bike tour. It's the first time I've ever joined a tour. And I usually only go bike riding when it's sunny out.

My question is, if it rains in the morning and then clears out in the afternoon, will the streets still be closed so that I can join the tour then? Or is there a certain time the streets will reopen again? Does anyone know what time that is?

The tour will run through Broadway in Manhattan? Can I cut in mid-way? Thanks.

jyossarian

I don't know the timing of the street closures, but the ride starts in lower Manhattan and goes up Church St. to 6th Ave. and into Central Park. It doesn't go along Broadway. You can usually cut in at any point.

songfta

The street closures are timed and locked in well ahead of the ride date, and are fairly inflexible (especially the closures in Queens leading to Astoria Park, which is why it's often the case that half of the ride participants never made it there - they're detoured when exiting the 59th Street Bridge).

If it does rain, the ride goes. I've done it, and it can be a slog. The most dicey part of such conditions are metal surfaces, and the grate bridge leading back from the Bronx is the most hazardous place in rainy conditions. Otherwise, it should be fine, if wet.

brooklyncyclist

There is no bad weather, only bad clothing choices.--I think I read this in a magazine ad.

Invest in some quality rain gear--Gore-Tex is pretty reliable--and you'll never have to decide whether to ride, only what to wear.

prathmann

Yes, there's a rolling closure with the times pretty strictly enforced since agreements have been made ahead of time with the city. I remember one year when it was both wet and cold there were a few cases of hypothermia in that park in Queens since they wouldn't let us leave ahead of the schedule. It wasn't bad when riding but just standing in the rain in the park was rather chilling.

Stacy

Riding in the rain dressed in Gore-Tex is one thing. Riding in the rain with 29,999 people who've made bad clothing choices is entirely different.

brooklyncyclist

Touche, Stacy, so true.

Stacy

According to John Davitt's on NY1
"Looking forward to Sunday with the 5 Boro Bike Tour. Watch for some rain in the afternoon"

Of course not all boroughs get the same weather at the same time. According to their website right now it's raining in only three boroughs. It may have to do with where you are at what time.

zacster

I'm riding with my daughter, who has already told me she doesn't want to go in the rain. I went with my son a few years ago when it was cold and very lightly misting at the start. By the time they let us go he'd already had enough so we rode up to Union Square to get on the subway. Then the sun came out but he still didn't want to go.

Stacy

Now that the forecast is less than ideal more and more tour packets are showing up on Craigslist.
https://newyork.craigslist.org/search...min&maxAsk=max

lukasz

I'm quite tempted to snag a packet, but I'm finishing up my semester and don't need another distraction Couldn't this be two weeks later?!

jag6780

Rain. Thats all it did today. Rain. But it was a good time...

bettybl

So disappointed about the rain It didn't even stop once. I keep checking my window every 15 minutes beginning 5:30am until 12pm when I gave up.

doheir

I rode the 5 Boro Tour yesterday, and as mentioned, it poured the entire time. I had a slightly different approach - actually it was unique amongst the thousands of cyclists that I saw.

1. I had a bike with fenders. Why urban cyclists like to ride with a black stripe of road grit up their back escapes me, and it seemed like only about 5% of the bikes had them.

2. I wore a rain cape ($29.95 from Campmor). You basically have a tent around you that is reasonably shaped to shield you from most of the rain. We had a SW headwind for most of the ride, so my wind resistance was increased a bit, but I would still take that over being pelted by a cold rain. There are elastic attachments for holding onto the handlebars and seat so the cape doesn't blow up in the back or come loose in the front.

I was still gradually wet underneath the cape, but it wasn't the shivering hypothermia that was fairly evident on the Staten Island Ferry amongst many riders. Once we got off the ferry, I felt good enough to ride back uptown 10 miles rather than wrestling my bike on the subway.

Doug

J.Lockdown

Riding in the rain is basically like if it was dry, you just have to be a little more careful. I had a race yesterday in the rain, no crash's and the pace as basically as if it was dry.

noteon 

I'm guessing you didn't have much metal plating at that race, didn't brake much, used clipless, and didn't care if your buddy got muddy road grit in his face.

Riding in the rain isn't a whole new science or anything, but I think "basically like if it was dry" is an overstatement. Yeah, you have to pedal and balance, but everything else changes.

Stacy

As I mentioned in another thread, I would up buying a Showers Pass rain jacket at Paragon. It was 30% off their regular price of $219 and I figured, according to Murphy's Law, that should've been enough to stop the rain. Obviously it wasn't.

The jacket worked so well that I'm now thinking about ordering the optional hood that fits under a helmet, and maybe some Gore rain shorts. I'm not currently running fenders but my heavy canvas Carradice rack top bag deflected a lot of wheelspray. It also held some paper towels, a spare pair of shoes, socks, my little Canon G10 when the weather got too wet to shoot, handwipes, food, etc.

cpf_carrot

I just wore coldgear Underarmour. It kept me warm, but not dry. Like a wetsuit.

noteon 

I have that and like it. The only negative is the crinkly plastic noise in my ears. Besides that, it's great.

jyossarian

I bought the jacket at Paragon also. Did you notice if they have the Showerspass pants at Paragon?

pgoat

I bought the Showers Pass Jacket in Portland a few years ago - I love it.

I did get the hood but haven't tried it yet. I looks kind of bulky for fitting under a bike helmet to me. I should try it this week - we'll certainly get the rain

bettybl

Is this Showers Pass Jacket also wind proof?

Stacy

Yes the jacket is windproof too. I didn't notice any Showers Pass pants at Paragon but I wasn't really looking. I did notice that Paragon seems to have more items in the store than they show on their website.

You can order pants from the Showers Pass website, and they only seem to come in one size, but the Showers Pass website isn't having a 30% off sale.

Paragon does have Gore pants and shorts on sale. Georgina Terry says on her website that the shorts are 90% as effective as full pants.

jyossarian

Thanks Stacy! Gore shorts and neoprene booties/wool socks + sandals might be my warm weather rain outfit.

noteon 

Socks and booties...why?