This year I'm planning to do the Five Borough Bike Tour. I just assumed that I would be fine doing this on my road bike, but the other day I was talking to a friend of mine who has done the tour a few times, and he advised me strongly against this.

He said that there were a few spots where a road bike would get me in trouble. First he said there were some bridges that were like grooved steel or something and that my tires would slip down in the cracks. He also said some portions were on very broken pavement that would not agree with my roadie. Now I've been riding in NYC for a while, so I know some streets are bad, that's just a fact. But it sounded like from him, that some spots are worse than just normal bad New York streets.

So my question is, comfort issues aside (this is not a problem), would I regret doing the 5BBT on my road bike? Unfortunately, my road bike is my only bike, so if it's going to be a problem, the solution is not an easy "ride my other bike." And I really don't like the idea of renting.

Thanks.