geofitz13

Is anyone on the 50+ forum planning on doing the Five Boro Bike Tour in NYC in May?

It'll be my first organized ride with my 50+ jersey!

zacster

I'm usually there. I'll probably be with my kids, 14yo son and twin 11yo daughters. And if I'm really crazy I'll convince my wife to do it as well.

It's an easy ride, 42 miles, with only the bridges as hills. The worst part is getting from Staten Island back to Manhattan on the ferry. It's a long wait. Since my kids will be with me they'll want to go over the Verrazano, even though we live in Brooklyn and I could just as easily skip that part.

Jet Travis

I did it back in 2000. It's an amazing ride. 35,000 cyclists taking over the streets of NY. Watch out for errant riders. I thought waiting and riding the Ferry was all part of the fun, but I'm from way out of town.

geofitz13

I did it last year with my daughter. Don't know yet if she will be riding again this year. I thought it was a fun ride. The only thing I didn't like was the bottleneck going up the Avenue of the Americas when you enter Central Park. That took a long time to get through. I had heard that the delay with the ferry leaving Staten Island for the return to Manhattan was due to two ferries getting pulled out of service unexpectedly.

HenryL

Has become a father son event the past 3 years. This year some of the folks from the boy scout troop will join in. This is the perfect event for non cyclists to get out there. Slow easy ride unless you can get up front. Agree with Staten Island being the worst part, impossible to escape from the end or ride fair.

Park on Staten Island and take the ferry in the morning to avoid the end of ride blues.

FrankieV

This will be my third year.
I park my car at the ferry in staten island and ferry across to the start.
The ride ends in staten island near the ferry.
It's nice to be able to get in a car and drive home rather than stand around waiting to get on a crowded ferry.

The beginning of the ride is more of a stop and go every few feet until you get to central park.
Once you hit the park it opens up and is a great ride.
To avoid that, I may splurge and register VIP this year.
It gets you to the front of the pack, just behind the marshalls and the police.

If we can do a reorder of the 50+ jerseys before the event, I'll be wearing mine.

zacster

Maybe I should try the ferry in the morning so I can avoid the subway. I'll consider this. How is the parking there?

FrankieV

There is plenty of parking in the staten island ferry parking lot.
There's a fee but I don't think it was very expensive.
I've seen people park in the street but the lot is more convenient.
The ride, by bike, from the festival at the finish to the ferry is about 5 or 10 minutes.

alentric

I was thinking of doing it too-when you complain about the wait for the Staten Island Ferry, can you be more specific? How long did you wait?

rcams

Like others here have suggested, it's much nicer to park on Staten Island in the morning and catch a ferry to the start line early. Then at the end when your ride is over with a short hop to the car and drive back over the VN Bridge. It really ruins the day waiting to get on the ferry and then riding from lower Manhatten to your ride home.

Plenty of parking on Staten Island even in the streets around the ferry and remember.....you have your bike to ride to the car!

zacster

I recall waiting an hour+ for the ferry. Even though there was room on the one in the dock, they limited the number of bikes they'd allow on, even with thousands of people waiting. I had to wait for the next one.

alentric

I live on LI and I was thinking of taking the Long Island railroad into the city-
I may have to re-think my plans and drive in

cc_rider

I've ridden the last several years and plan to ride again this year.
I used to take the ferry from Jersey City until they closed the Harborside terminal. The last two years I've driven across the GW and parked on Riverside Drive around 122nd St (at Grant's Tomb). Plenty of street parking, easy to get in and out of the city, and I get an easy 10 mile warm-up ride to the start. I also put in another 10 to 25 miles after BNY, depending on how I feel. Don't know the parking situation in lower Manhattan, but it doesn't seem too bad on Sunday morning.

I always get to the form-up early (well before 7am) and usually end up starting around Thomas St or Duane St. If you have to start too far south of Chambers you'll be stuck in the main pack, so expect to go slow.

The bottle neck on 6th around 56th is so they can control the flow into Central Park. I've found that being on the outer edges of the pack tends to move much faster then being in the middle of the road. I've even seen riders bail out to take 5th or 7th and rejoin in the park. Gotta say, CP at that time of morning is beautiful (if the weather cooperates)

cc_rider

The big SI ferry wait at the end of the ride. Three years ago one of the boats broke down and I had a 2 hour wait. Two years ago they had extra boats and my arrival time was perfect, only 10 min wait. Last year's wait was less than an hour. If you want to avoid the crush, park in LI and do the ferry in the morning.
Last year there was a group that had picked up pizzas and were eating them while waiting for the boat.

Tip - riding the cabin instead of the car bay is more pleasant, but you have to carry your bike up (and down) some steps.

(added) Tip - if you hang around the festival too long, you'll get stuck in the bigger afternoon crowds. The food at the festival is not worth getting, but you might want to walk by the merchandise tent. My goal is to be at the festival by noon and stay less than 15 minutes.