I rode my bike to Keyspan and arrived by 8:30 AM. I was already registered so I headed over to the table marked with the letter of my last name only to have them tell me that my name "wasn't on the list"! WTF? I had registered EARLY, gotten the confirmation email, even got an UPDATE email the other day reminding me where to go and what to bring and yet my name wasn't on the list!!
I had to run over to the "non-registered" tent. I got there as they handed a guy the last registration form. That was it. Done. I got screwed and hard! But luckily one of the guys behind the table kept asking his co-workers if any of them had just one extra form. He even yelled out into the crowd to ask for one extra form. I was about to cry with upset and frustration... When he snagged a form for me and called me over. Other people behind me were told that registration was closed and that they were out of luck. I literally got the LAST registration form.
For the ride, I was near the front. It was really slow going. The hostility and nastiness of the cagers as rampant at almost every corner. I was so happy to enter Greenwood Cemetery because I thought we would make up some ground and have a pleasant time without the angry cagers trying to run us over... Wrong! Instead I got stuck behind about 150 adults on full-sized bikes that couldn't seem to mount a kiddie hill. Talk about a slow, cramped, uphill cluster-***k.
I blew past several dozen on my vertically-challenged brethren, going uphill on my 16" wheeled folder, the second I saw an opening. I just couldn't take it anymore...
It was really dangerous most of the time going through intersection. The cars were actually honking, yelling, I saw several "fights"/arguments taking place or about to erupt... Boro Park was the worst of it. Mini-van after mini-van with bearded occupant yelled at us, tried to plow into us, left-hook us, right-hook us and just otherwise completely disregard our lives.
The poor Marshals had their hands full. I think they did a great job considering the circumstances. I tip my hat to all the Marshals that were there. Thank you because if it wasn't for them, I'm sure some cyclists would have landed in the hosptial or worse. Seriously. I saw Marshals putting their own lives in danger, throwing their bodies in front of cars and holding up their bikes between us and cars that refused to stop, inches from being under the wheel of a car to keep them from running us over. Thank you Marshals!!!
Police presence was almost non-existant. I think there were two motorcycle cops, one cop in a white, non-descript car and towards the very end, about to go back into Keyspan Park(ing Lot), I saw ONE cop on a NYPD/Trek bike. That's it for "police *******" that I saw towards the front... But of the little police presence we had, the cops were friendly and did try to help us. Thanks NYPD.
After the stop in Prospect Park, things sped up a little bit... I was in the first group to finish. 12:49 PM. I had a great time even considering the serious hostility from drivers, disorganization, lack of police presence and snail-like pace.
I'm sorry I missed, Pgoat & Co but hopefully I'll be seeing you guys at another ride soon.
Oh, I'll be posting some pictures tomorrow. G'night all!