nycbianchi

I'm going to make the final call tonight, but my little group of five is probably going to bail. 15mph headwinds with gusts up to whatever (30mph? 40mph?) does not sound fun, especially in a constant, driving rain.

Not the Slowest

A Safety Message from a fellow cyclist.
In May I was one of two marshalls sweeping the 145 5BBC ride to Montauck. we ran into some very strong rain and winds. This resulted in potentials of hyperthermia and many riders who were ill prepared.

Suggestions:
a) Scout the roads for flooding (Dune Rd) and plan alternatives.
b) Warn riders how to deal with Lightning, doubtful but can happen in the open
roads.
c) Riders should keep valuables, cell phones in zip lock bags. Nothing worse than dead phones.
d) Take along extra dry socks, sweat shirt for train home, change of shoes, sneakers. These will prevent foot and ummm butt issues.
e) Try to get riders to drink more, especially warm drinks if they feel chilly.
Riders tend to forget to drink in the rain, thus dehydration issues.
f) Remind riders to bring MORE than 2 tubes. Wet roads equal more flats. We saw one guy flatted 3 times. Oyster shells are not a cyclists friend.
g) You can send people on Old Montauck rd if needed for longer distances.
h) Road markings may not be visible. I suggest some Road sign markings on Waterproof Plastic.
I) Cue sheet holders of waterproof plastic or at least give out some Zip Locks bags.
J) Bike ID for transport should be waterproof. Paper tags WILL fall off.
K) USe your front and rear flashers
L) Extra batteries

Good Luck to everyone and remember to go a bit slower.
Large Puddles can be hiding flooded pot holes.

Robert

ichitz

^ great tips. Thanks.

Rogue Leader

Not in the event but I am a local. Everything we have been hearing here indicates Saturday afternoon into evening will be the worst of it. Sunday should be clear. Heavy flooding is not expected, that said weather will be worse further east and if this ride does end up on Dune road it will likely be flooded well into Sunday afternoon after the weather stops. ALSO the water that floods is salt water (in case that wasn't completely obvious) so make sure when you get home or wherever you wash that stuff off every last inch of your bike!

henria86

hey dave, ju8st a plug in 1 ear.. is good..

VeloBarbieri

OK...after all this discussion the ride has come and gone. And WE DID IT!

I rode with Dave (jeebusaurousrex). We started from Penn at about 5:40 am. Finished in just over 8 hours. It was a rainy and windy ride. The route coming out of NYC, through to Babylon was tough, but after that we flew. Our average was just over 17 mph.

The organization of the ride was great. The check-in was smooth, the rest stops were AWESOME, and the staffing was very friendly.

Nice job to all who braved the elements!

There was no better feeling than coming down that hill on Montauk Hwy into town. What a sense of accomplishment.

woodpusherghd

Yes, the ride was wet and windy! I did the 100 miles out of Babylon. Everything was ok until I arrived back in Babylon at 5:30 pm on the LIRR. One box truck was there and I thought, "Great my bike is here, now I can grab some dinner with my family and go!" No bike on that truck. The next truck, a large tractor trailer pulled in after 9 pm! After waiting for the truck to be unloaded (my luck, my bike was one of the last to be taken out) almost 4 hours had passed!

Unless they change this procedure, I doubt I'll ride in this event next year. I understand that the truck can't leave Montauk until filled, but there was no communication about when the truck(s) would arrive. It would have been nice if we were told that there would be a 3-4 hour wait, so go have dinner, but no one there unloading bikes had a clue.

I rode in the 5BBC century in May. They used smaller box trucks that arrived at reasonable intervals. In my opinion this is the way to go. Glen, are you listening?

jeebusaurousrex

Started off the day on the wrong foot. Supposed to get to Penn Station by 5AM, woke up at 4:45! Pulled on my bibs, jersey, jacket and decided to sprint it from Brooklyn. Totally forgot to pack my sneakers in the process (which came to bite me in the ass later).

On the way to Penn, I noticed my rear derailleur was acting up even though I inspected everything the night before. Shook it off and got to Penn in about 30 minutes. Checked in, tried to figure out the RD situation before heading off. About 10 miles after the Wburg bridge, I had make a pit stop because the shifting was becoming too erratic. Turned out to be a broken spoke (first time ever, go figure) screwing up the RD. I bent and tucked it into a few spokes around it. The wheel was true enough so it worked out. Shifting was still screwed up when in the 42 cog in front, but since the ride was mostly flat, it wasn't really noticeable, cross chained a few times, but the bike didn't explode . Close to a 155 miles on a broken spoke, not bad!

Ride itself was great fun and miserable at the same time. We hooked up with two other guys somewhere after Babylon, which turned out great. Half the time I was riding blind either due to the rain, the crap flying up from the wheel in front (3 of 4 guys in the paceline had fenders...didn't help), or just the wind. Imagine thousands of hornets stinging your eyeballs...then leaving the stingers embedded under the eyelids...then multiply by 6 hours. On top of that misery was all the grit that flew into your mouth. I was spitting out sand and dirt the entire time. At each rest stop I dumped a water bottle onto my face to clear off some of the grit caked around my eyes. The mud and grit stuck on my cleats made it nearly impossible to clip out and I had some "oh *****!" moments. The float was gone on the right cleat too which was hell on my knee.

Rain pretty much stopped by the last 20 miles I'd say.

The rest stop food was nice. Each stop I choked down at least one banana with the fresh grapes (awwwwesome), hummus, and larabars (on top of the Cliff bars I brought). Pie was served at the last rest stop before Montauk. No fresh whipped cream as far as I could tell.

Going through the main drag in Montauk, I stopped to pick up some sandals at a shop so I didn't have to walk home in (wet, gritty) cleats.

Some notes about the finish:

1. Hot showers were amazing. Unbelievably grateful that these were available. This alone was worth the registration fee.

2. Turned my bike in as soon as I got to Montauk before 4PM. Caught the 5:30 train back. I waited an hour until 10PM then said screw it and picked up the bike yesterday evening at 7PM. Wish there was better communication between the trucks. New rack system seems to work great. No complaints about bikes being piled on top of each other and workers not being around. System is definitely a bit slower, but your ride is safe, which is all that really matters.

3. NOT ENOUGH FOOD AT THE FINISH. I was pretty annoyed with that actually. The buffet consisted of a mixed green salad, some penne pasta with watery red sauce, and your choice of veggie, chicken, OR beef burgers. Dude, after 8 hours of Gatorade, fruit, and Cliff bars, I want like 4 hamburgers and a dozen hot dogs - instead I got servers being stingy with the portions. Oh and no seconds.

4. Free beer is free beer. Loved it. Don't change a thing. I'll support Blue Point where available for at least the next few months.

All in all a positive experience. If I do the ride again I'll skip Manhattan to Babylon and hope for better weather.

GRVR6

Great job. I am very jealous. Next year I'll do it.

gearhead.ny

I was gonna do it but after the MC in May with all the rain and wind I decided to pass. One bad weather MC a year is enough for me.

fjohnj

did the ride from Babylon. This was my first Century ride and I was amazed at how unprepared a lot of the riders were. No pump, no tubes, no clue. The wet conditions caused a lot of flats. I myself had two along the way and I was trying hard to stay out of the far right shoulder and hugged the roadway. The two people I road with had major problems and when we stopped in the Westhampton bike shop we were given a ten minute harsh lecture about how stupid all of us were to be riding that day. I'll never stop by his shop again.

I did do the North Fork metric century and felt that the SAG and volunteer support was much better then. The Watermill rest stop seemed very short handed, no gatorade because of a water hose problem and I had to hunt down more bottled water since all the jugs were empty.

I agree that the food at the finish was a disappointment. One trip only, greasy burgers, not much at the end of a long ride. The ice cream truck was great but only one per customer I was told.

The bike transport was the biggest problem from what I saw. I hung around the finish and took the 6:30 bus back. The Trailer with the bikes was still there! Why hold up 98% of the riders for the last 2%? When we got to Babylon we waited until 9:15 for my bike. I know hind sight is 20/20 but trailers half the size, that could have left sooner would have been better. Transporting the last 20 or so straggler bikes back wrapped in blankets in a smaller truck would have made a lot of people happier back in Babylon. I do like the fact that my bike was handled securely and safely.

All in all I would do the ride again. In all honesty I do believe that the ride should have been postponed. It could have been a real cluster F*** if the wind was just a little stronger.

First Century under my belt now on to the Tour of the Hamptons on September 26th by MPBC

StalkerZERO

Hi.

What route did you take from Port Jefferson to Orient Point?

exRunner

This route, more or less...

https://www.bicyclelongisland.org/lib...esheetB002.pdf

The only difference is that we take a couple of additional turns so we can ride some additional (and very tough) hills.

Sorry for the delay, I have been in VB for Labor Day weekend running a race. I did not do so well, but my wife won her age group with a 1:37:53 for a half marathon.

rumrunn6

I heard Montauk was beautiful. Anyone have any pics?