cc_rider

I rode it for 8 years, and they made changes to the route every year. Some parts were just the same, or mostly the same. Some parts were very different (like when they added the Rockaways)

Jarrettsin

Good to know,thank you.

zacster

Certain parts of the ride are constants, some parts change. The most constant one seems to be the large loop for the 100 milers in Queens, since there isn't much else to do but to make that big loop. The waterfront part in Queens is nice enough, but some of it gets really tedious.

Solidjake

Two more weeks. Registration closes on the 10th.

Sy Reene

Do they ever end up (before the ride) posting say a .gpx file to load into a GPS device?

Solidjake

^ I didn't see anything like that last year.


Looks like rain for Sunday but I will still go. I just hope it won't be too bad

1nterceptor

I had a minor injury on my knee a few months ago. Not sure if I could do any charity rides this year.
But have been riding a bit the last couple of weeks and decided to volunteer again as a marshal. The
organizers have already emailed the route sheets to the volunteers (please don't ask me to forward).

If you folks see a marshal on a green Brompton; don't forget to say "Hi".
Mar 2015, NYC by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

Solidjake

Awesome, I'll be on the lookout. Any changes to the route this year?

Sy Reene

Will do! Also, we'd never ask you to forward the route sheets. But, if you'd feel so inclined as to recreate the routes in Strava or some other app, and provide a link.. that would be awesome! Seriously though.. why are the routes such a secret?

zacster

They were already marked on the streets about 2 weeks ago, so you could follow the route with Strava turned on!

It is 5:51am, its a good thing I only live 2 minutes from the Prospect Park start.

Papa Tom

This year's NYC Century marked what I think will be the end of an era for my wife and I, who have volunteered together and separately at the Astoria park rest stop for several years. We woke up at 5am to get there from eastern Nassau County by 7 and arrived to a mob of very young, very fit FBI/DEA Explorer Post volunteers who were enthusiastically unloading trucks and carrying boxes up the hills. The wife and I looked at each other and realized the days of slapping together sandwiches with a bunch of middle-aged, past-their-biking-prime men and women are probably over for us. We got back in our car and drove 30 minutes home without even signing in.

I ran a youth group for many years and I think it's awesome when young people volunteer. However, I do realize that bringing a group like this into an event with their matching t-shirts and all the bells and whistles can intimidate other volunteers and chase them away. I hope the 2015 ride went well for everyone and that there were enough "other" volunteers to make the rest stops pleasant for everyone.

zacster

There were all kinds of volunteers at the stations. I had a great time riding with my partner. We kept each other going when we begin to sag. My biggest complaint is that the ride begins in Central Park and goes down empty streets in Manhattan at 6am, but if you start in Brooklyn those same streets are really busy when you go through at 3pm, and you're really tired to boot. Next year I'll listen to myself and just take the West Side bikeway, my partner wanted to follow the route but realized that she made a mistake. We both know all the various ways and it wouldn't have mattered to either of us to not be on the exact route.

1nterceptor

Sorry wasn't able to reply in time. I signed up lat as a volunteer, last Monday.
It was only around Thur./Fri. that I got confirmation that they needed me. So
Between moving to a new place and getting my stuff ready; it was a very hectic
weekend for me.

1nterceptor

Sorry, I don't use Strava, Map My Ride, etc. Plus if the organizers only sent out the route to the volunteers;
I wouldn't be comfortable spreading that info. I know some rides give out the routes before the event.

1nterceptor

I've been volunteering for various charity rides over the years and it was kinda funny for me to see people in all black clothing;
black DEA t-shirts, military type pants and boots serving riders bananas and oranges. No PB&J sandwiches this year. There was
a table serving pita bread with either hummus or tabouli salad topping(they were delicious); the volunteers by that table were a
bit more "mature"

I'm recovering from a few injuries(knee inflammation, bruised ribs, etc.); but I still showed up knowing these type of charity events
can't make it with out volunteers. Please reconsider @Papa Tom and hope to see you and the wife next year.

2015 New York City Century by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

Solidjake

Here is my strava on the century.

https://www.strava.com/activities/391656528

I had a great time and what an accomplishment it was for me. Up to Forest Park I was doing good (halfway point) and I kept a pretty good pace in Brooklyn on the flats. Moving more into my Queens I started to get a bit tired even thought I was eating enough/energy gels/etc. I got the first flat which ended up being a thorn making its way through the tire in the park that had a gradual incline. My quads were killing me on the northern part of Queens going towards Laguardia Airport but I got some spike of energy by the Astoria stop. The Bronx was good except a few of us ended up climbing the cut up street on the hill instead of bearing to the left. Regardless we found our way back on track. Once we made it into the city (around 140th st) I ended up getting another flat. I was able to put air in it twice until I got to the finish line.

Sy Reene

1nterceptor
That's just it. This ride gives out the route details too. They just do this by xeroxing off thousands of 3page stapled sets to hand out at the ride itself. Seems it would be quite easy to make available gps route available thru a simple app/link. And their handouts BTW don't show cues for the 55 or 75 routes. Only the full century.

davlafont

I did the 55 and they had cues sheets for it.

I'm not a veteran tour rider so I'm not so used to following a cue sheet. A digital option would have been very helpful. In the end, my ride partner (a total non-New Yorker) and I simply followed the crowd or looked for road markings. The only time that hurt us was in Borough Park on 12th Ave. while passing a group of kids who peppered us with questions. We were so distracted by their enthusiasm and curiosity that we didn't understand them yelling, "right! right! right!" Within a block or so we realized they were telling us to turn (another rider did too) and we circled back to see the road markings.

Steve B.

Having done this century twice, including one year where I did 4 other centuries the same year, I can state that NYC is the possibly the hardest I've done due to the continual and relentless stop and go at countless red lights and stop signs. About the time you get going up the hill into Queens, you lose any sense of tempo and momentum.

Even though the organizers develop a masterful route that finds every scrap of bike path in seemingly every city park, the on-street sections in the Bronx and Queens really tired my a _ _.

velofinds

I didn't do the full century, but I also agree that this was a huge drag.

zacster

That's the point of this century. It is an URBAN century. I've done a century in 4 1/4 hours in my life, but I feel good if I'm done by 4pm (10hrs) on this one. It is just too hard to make time. And now that I think about it 10 hours for 100 miles is 10mph average, and that's my average on my commute, as it takes an hour to go the 10 miles door to door no matter how I do it, on a road bike or mtb, on street or path. It doesn't matter how fast you can go, only how lucky you are with lights and other obstacles.

NYSteve

I am going to do the 35 next year, but I need a lot of work between now and then.

kaos joe

To each his or her own, but this sounds to me like an unpleasant way to spend a day on a bike. Like wearing a hair shirt (jersey?). Plus there are the scary fit volunteers.
I think I'll continue to pass on this one.

velofinds

Don't get me wrong, it's still a great day - things like the camaraderie of riding with lots of other people shouldn't be overlooked - but stop-and-go is never fun, no matter how one tries to spin it.

carlylespicks

CAn anybody recommend some good NJ or NYC rides for me to go to? I've never done these before. Thanks.