Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 44,199
Likes: 6,435
From: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
A friend just invited me to ride the NYC Century ride on Sept 21. I've done it a few times and had a lot of fun. The organization that runs that ride stopped running it, and they just revived it thanks to a grant. They have shorter distances than 100 miles, and that sounds wise for me. Hmm, decisions!
It's a good time of year for this sort of thing, giving time to build up one's condition and to focus on a goal.
If you've ever been curious about the Five Borough Bike Tour (5BBT) which is held in May, I feel that the Century ride is much better for folks like me anyway. The 5BBT is shorter but it has tens of thousands of participants. Too many for my taste, and there are too many inexperienced cyclists. Then again, it gives you vistas you can't get any other time of year as they close the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge just for the ride.