csi56

I got back on my Trek 7100 hybrid about a month ago and have been able to manage 12-15 miles every couple of days (relatively flat) with some energy left and not too sore. That's a lot better than the first week when 7 miles gave me rubber legs. Hills are still giving me agita, though - heart rate goes way up, breathing gets heavy, and I must pause for a minute or two.

Long ago when registration opened I signed up for the 5-boro Bike Tour on May 2, which is now a week away. I figure I have 2 or 3 more rides before the event. At my typical 10mph I'll be riding for at least 4 hours. So I would rather have taken more time to get in better shape, but I'm going to do it even if I have to take the subway back to the start! If anyone else has done this little tour, please tell me what you think: can I make it on determination alone?

billydonn

Detrmination without enough training is just a recipe for misery, IMO. But I have no idea what the ride is like or the distance, so maybe it is easy. Have you ever ridden 3-4 hours before? Are there hills?

zacster

Its an easy ride. 42 miles with hills being overpasses and bridges. On the bridges things slow down a lot as there are a lot of people that have even less training than yourself. If you can do 15 miles, you can do this easily. It is just a long day, even for experienced riders, as only a few parts of the ride are open enough to go faster anyway.

BluesDawg

Go for it. Spin those low gears on the hills. Have fun.

The Weak Link

Keep gearing low.

Take the first half slower than you think you need to.

Eat some munchies and drink non-alcoholic beverages of choice.

Carry a cellphone just in case the above doesn't work.

csi56

There are actually a couple of people where I work (college, with faculty/staff of about 1000) who have done 5BBT in previous years and they say the same as Zacster. In fact, their main complaint is that it's so crowded you can't help going slowly. Plenty of munchies available at all the rest stops. I haven't done 4 hours yet, probably should have tried that this past Saturday, oh well.

capejohn

This is a lot easier than you are imagining it. Lots of bikes come out of mothballs for this ride. The whole key is not to ge stuck too far back in the "family" section. It will add at least three hours to the ride because there will be so much walking and standing around.

It's not a fast or hard ride at all, but is is 40 miles. Even the Varranzano Bridge is not bad with all the gears we have. It's a really different way to see NY. This is my 5th time doing this and it's always been a hoot.

Enjoy yourself, and keep in mind that you can bail out anywhere, anytime.

NOS88

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Go for it. As I read what you wrote a second time it seems to me that if you make it, you'll have a better idea of what longer rides are like and the training needed to do them comfortably. If you don't make it, you'll have a better idea of what longer rides are like and the training needed to do them comfortably. Win-win in my book.

csi56

@capejohn: Overthinking, that's me. Staying out of the family section means (1) getting up REALLY early to make sure I'm nearer the front, (2) not following Weak Link's suggestion to take it slow in the first half.

@NOS88: +1 for creative use of cut-and-paste.

They posted elevations on the tour site. Doesn't look higher than what I've been doing, just steeper in some places, and longer overall. I'll be there, real early.

stapfam

This ride does not sound that hard on terrain or speed requirements. Milage may be higher than you have done before but unless you give this one a try- I doubt that there would be an easier ride till next year. Saying easy- I mean for you and not the speed merchants on this forum.

42 miles with no severe hills and a lot of help on the way. The other riders will give you an impetus that is similar to increasing your speed or halving the milage. I shall be doing a 40 miler shortly and this is a ride across the marshes- so you can guess how flat it will be. This will be the first sensible ride of the year and I will be aiming for 2 1/2 hours to do the ride in. My legs are probably about the same state as yours so providing you take it steady- Drink plenty of water and have a good breakfast- you can do it. But don't forget the most important bit- Take the camera- Find the Pie and get in training for September the 18th.

Wildwood 

Nothing more satisfying than completing a ride you weren't sure you could finish.

thomamueller

47 miles and flat. Check it out.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37077

This new site is way too cool.

RonH

Have you asked the folks in the Northeast Regional subforum? You might find a riding partner.

groth

It's really not a tough ride. The main challenge is keeping aware of all the other cyclists around you!

It's very crowded. You will spend a lot of time in "scooter mode" - one leg over the bike with a foot on the ground inching along, hoping it opens up enough that you can actually get both feet on the pedals and go!

I did it 10 years in a row, 1998-2007, and enjoyed it, but in the 2007 ride, the scooter mode left me with a sore knee. I decided that was the last time.

As others have said, the biggest hills are the bridges. Many people slow down there and you may have to get off and walk simply because the crowd keeps you from going fast enough to maintain balance. The biggest hill is the Verrazano Narrows bridge which I believe rises 200-250 ft in about 2 miles or about 4-5% grade.

Here are photo albums of my Five Boro tours (along with many others).

I believe there's a shortcut back to the start shortly after the half way point. In fact, for the tail end of the tour, this is a mandatory short cut (to get the roads cleared of bicycles by the end time). If you feel like you can't make the whole distance you can take the short cut.

I recommend doing the whole ride at least once!

- Ed

csi56

HAH! Never heard that one, very funny!

You've convinced me to do it, now I just need to figure out where to park. Friends parked for $25/day in lower Manhattan last year, reading suggests parking near the festival might work better. I'm coming from Suffolk County.

stapfam

Do like the hardcore riders and ride from HomeGood warmup for the ride.


Have to admit that over here the rides I do are normally starting in rural towns. The organisors take over a farmers field or get Free parking from the Local Town Council due to the Publicity they get.

But I do a few rides starting from Cities and they are expensive. You either get someone to drive you to the venue and drop you off- while she goes shopping- Or you pay a fortune to park for a ride that has cost a fortune to enter and you have raised a fair amount in sponsorship.

groth

Suffolk County is Long Island, right? I'm from Central Jersey, so I drove to Staten Island, parked near the ferry, took the ferry across before the ride (usually the 5:30 am), then when the festival (on Staten Island) was over it was a three mile ride back to the parking lot at the ferry.

Coming from Long Island, wouldn't it be easier for you to get to Manhattan than Staten Island? I have no experience with this, but you might be able to take the train in and then ride from the train station to the start of the ride. Certainly, some of my colleagues have taken NJ transit into Manhattan for the Five Boro tour.

In any case, if you start in Manhattan, you take the ferry back to Manhattan at the end of the ride (after you've been to the festival).

- Ed

capejohn

You don't have to get up that early. There are ways to get to the front.

Solomander

It's not a difficult ride. The start is a PITA, though. Crowded, and waiting. I would suggest starting the ride at at or just before Central Park. Will save you time and aggravation.

Joel

csi56

Hmmm... I could park in lower midtown and join up just after the start. I could even wake up an hour later. But I'd miss the opening ceremony. I'm still waffling, leaning towards parking at the Staten Island Ferry.

@groth: I really enjoyed your photos. Did anyone bug you about taking pix on the bridges? There's a line in the official guide saying that's not allowed, and I have visions of Men In Black accosting me. Somehow I doubt they'd enforce it very hard during an event like this.

groth

No, never had any grief for taking photos. After that line appeared, I made it a point to stop and take photos of the bridges! There are men in black, but they seem to be there to separate riders wearing the vest from those without a vest and preventing the vestless (and hence unregistered) ones from continuing the ride over the bridge that connects Manhattan and Queens and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

- Ed

csi56

None the worse for the wear.

Blogged at https://cihm.blogspot.com/

Thanks, folks, for the good advice and support.

groth

Glad you made it!

I didn't make the connection between the bomb scare in Times Square and the 5 boro tour until I read your blog. Must have been pretty frustrating to be held up for an extra hour .

- Ed

zacster

Without reading the entire blog, you have some of it wrong. The "late start" was mostly due to your place in the line. I started at 8:30, after watching the group just north of Chambers start just a little after 8. There must have been a 3rd group as you started at 9. Once they let us start, they stopped us again at the stand to listen to Cousin Brucie do his thing. Also, the group at Central Park was just congestion, there weren't that many riders joining late. They split the groups off at Central Park South, letting some go straight in, others were funneled through at 5th Ave. That was the big merge as the 2 groups got back together. That was easily the worst part of the trip.

csi56

I surely could be making some wrong assumptions. Did Cousin Brucie count-down more than once, or only around 9am? I was waiting that extra hour in front of Trinity Church. Anyway, that would mean that I didn't go to Astoria because I was just slow, not because it closed early - not a big surprise. And I totally missed that they split us only to re-merge us. Maybe the police should shutdown both east and west drives to get rid of us sooner?

I'll go back and edit the narrative so I don't permanently enshrine my errors. It doesn't take away from the fact that it was a fun ride despite the little logistical problems here and there. Everyone should do it at least once!