Avatar

You're a champ for going through it all.

At mile 72, it was all pain management. Glad I didn't have my cyclocomputer working and am thinking of foregoing it like henria. With some treatment, it (ITBS) doesn't hurt much today.

Air, missed you bro. How was Mermaid?

I overhead some newbies on the train complaining that the route mileage measurements weren't exact. Newbies.

cparekh

Oh my goodness! That is awful. I am officially going to stop complaining now. They never got to ride at all?

I won't do another ride with Glen where I have to give up my bike, but, honestly, he is a really nice guy, and outside of this situation, I think most people would think so. I am angry too though. I spent a very frustrating day telling all my friends that last year, it wasn't this bad. (although I did the 100, so I really wouldn't know).

/cp

mattyknacks

Some thoughts the morning after:

My first century.

What a long day!!

I wanted to quit a few times, but I am glad I didn't.

My new bike (TREK 520) worked well and I was pretty comfortable on it. My arms are a little sore though. I assumed that the tiny seat was gonna give me trouble, but it wasn't so bad. I am used to sitting more upright (hybrid style) so the hunching over (roadie style) took some getting used to. Also, this is the first time using toe clips to keep my feet in one place on the petals. In the past, I have always moved my feet around on my gigantic platform pedals. I will stay with the toe clips for awhile and eventually upgrade to clipless pedals.

It was my first time using a Camelbak and it was awesome. I drank the whole contents of the Camelbak and the two water bottles on my bike in between each rest stop.

The handlebar mounted GPS worked great. I had the route preloaded into the unit and was able to tell the people around me which way to turn well in advance. And the maps in the unit were perfect.

Thanks to Air (George) for lending me the Camelbak, and giving me the route for the GPS, and the registration. You were there with me (and for me) the whole way.

Thanks to Stevesurf (Steve) for sticking with me from end to end. I needed a partner, and you proved to be the perfect one. Thanks for pushing me and pulling me.

Thanks to Avatar, Noteon, Henria86, Jyossarian and others for the support and encouragement (and the laughs) to get me through my first long ride.

Thanks to Glen for putting together a great ride and for the FREE BEER! and food and even free socks!

I feel pretty good this morning as I type this, not too achey.

Thanks to Anna (my G/F) for the rubdown and the six pack that was in the fridge when I finally got home.

noteon 

Charlie, I did a century with ITBS last year. This year, most of my pace was set by paying very close attention to the state of my knee. I'm wincing just reading your posts. Congratulations on getting through it.

Into the last thirty miles or so, Eddie and I started measuring things in Glen miles.

"How far to the end are we now?"

"I think about eight miles."

"Real miles, or Glen miles?"

"Glen miles."

"Crap."

Avatar

This year you did it in sandals and pulled ahead of me in those final 8 miles. I was too focused on pain management to wave you as you passed by.

Lucky07

Heh. Don't think so, but they did have $$$ bikes & personal coaches. Nice guys, all of them, but total animals on the bike. Not a bad thing when you're trying to pedal 145 miles in some kind of reasonable time.

I skipped the 145 for the 100 this year. Lack of fitness, ride time & a running injury put the damper on my 145 plans. I ran into Air, Matty, Henri, Jyo, Steve & noteon outside MSG. We chatted on the train on the way out. One older gentleman speculated that Glen must make alot of money on these rides. Steve chuckled at the thought. Between the rentals, insurance, food, showers, set up, trucking, transport, etc I'm SURE there isn't much $ in it.

I met up with an NYCC group once I got to Montauk. We planned to kick off at 6:30 but after getting everyone together, bathroom trips, food, etc we didn't get going until closer to 7:30.

We kept a 16-17 pace to warm up and then worked up 18-19 after 10 miles or so. We had a group of 8. 3 or 4 of the riders were newbies and not comfortable leading so 4 of us took turns taking pulls. The pulls were loooong. I didn't mind at all in the first half of the ride, but I started paying for it later on.

The weather was perfect, the route was great & the food was very good. Everything was well stocked at every rest stop, friendly volunteers.

We ramped up our speed to 19-20 in the 2nd half. 2 of our riders dropped off at the 75 stop to rest & take the it easy on the last section. Our speed crept up a bit, but we kept it steady. I took some really long pulls in the last section and it really took it out of me.

On the narrow roads in the last part of the ride, we keep seeing bikers riding 3 & 4 deep. Cars would try to pass & the bikers would be oblivious. Finally, there would be honking, then yelling, then the car would pass at speed. Not good. We saw this happen 2 or 3 times before we asked a meandering pack, 4 across to ride single file before they engendered more road rage. They begrudingly agreed and moved to the right. One thing you have to remember about these big rides is that most drivers, runners or walkers aren't used to seeing huge packs of riders on the road. You do have act with a least a small amount of responsibility on the road. For your own sake & for everyone else's.

We made it to the finish feeling pretty good. I dropped off my bike at the truck and got in the loooong shower line (2 trucks would have been better).

Finally showered, met up with various people, ate and in the process missed the 4:30 train. Finally got the 5:30. Slept like a baby on the train back. The ride, sun & heat took its toll.

Back in Manhattan, I found stacks & stacks of bikes with no one attending them or organizing. Finally found my bike across the street at one of the other trucks. It was lying on the street, under 5 other bikes. Not good. It's an aluminum frame, and a few years old, so I don't baby it, but geez. If it was 3k carbon frame, I'd be freaking. Lots of people were po'd over the state of their bikes & lack of organization.

A great ride overall, but the lack of security-organization over the bikes was terrible. I seem to remember it was much better last year. Bikes were unloaded and someone checked your tag # against your bike #. I enjoyed the ride itself, but seeing the lack of care given to the bikes was disturbing. I have to think Glen was underprepared for the number of riders registering this year. My guess is that Glen lost alot of money on last year's version & vowed to cut some corners on this one. So fewer trucks transporting bikes, 1 less shower truck (supposedly very $$$) and a higher rate on the ride. Obviously, it didn't work out at all for some people. Glen owes everyone an apology and some people a full refund.

Nice meeting everyone I ran into. That's always one of the best things about these rides...

noteon 

We passed you? Obviously I was too focused myself.

I love those sandals, but the new model has better toe protection.

Nice meeting you too, Mark. And all you guys. This was my first century riding with anybody.

Paulie11377

Sorry for the long post - But my bike never made it home. Here's my tale of woe.
Well I'm one of those who did the 30 miles, and must consider myself half fortunate, at least I got to ride. Sitting around at the finish having a beer and some food I heard some talk of some bikes being dropped off late or not at all. Little did I know this was the start of a my nightmare. The day started sweet. I checked in (no line) at 6:10 a.m., I was told which truck to bring my bike to. The driver (Joe) told me to make sure I was on the 7:15 train to Babylon and I'd have to switch to the Montauk train getting off at Southhamton. Great! As I went downstairs to get the train around 6:50 a.m., there were still a few hundred people trying to check in. Riding out to Babylon I spoke with a few people who were doing the 66 and they told me they were hoping that their bikes would be at Shirley when the train pulled in. They said they were told by the check-in crew, to leave their bikes up against the walls (piled on top of each other) and run to make the train ...their bikes would be waiting for them at Shirley. When I got to Southhampton my bike was already unloaded waiting for me. I spoke with the driver and he said he was lucky to leave Penn Sta. first and had no traffic on the way out. He didn't know about the other trucks. He took my clothing bag and put it in the truck and said it will be at the finish. So if your bike was not on this first truck, you were stuck waiting. For me the ride was very nice, no physical or mechanical problems, plenty of food/drink at the rest area, and of course the great scenery. The only thing that did concern me while I was riding was lack of riders on the rode. At times I thought I might have missed a turn or something. (Not knowing some 30-66'ers had no bikes) Here's were MY NIGHTMARE started.... I pulled into the finish area and am immediatley told to bring my bike to the loading area for return to Penn Sta. I watch as a volunteer places an orange tag marked Penn Sta. NYC to the handle bars. Great it's 1:30 p.m., I had a nice ride my bike will be on an early truck home. I hit the showers , no hot water or water pressure. No big deal. I grab a nice cold beer and chow down some very tasty food. I check the transportation tent (out of curiosity) and see that for a ride back to Babylon/ Penn Sta. by either train, bus (?) commuter van (?) you need to get a ticket. What? I have this yellow bracelet on and didn't need a ticket on the way out. But they now say you need a ticket, which they would happily give you. Except the train tickets, you have to go over to the station for those. Ok, since I was planning on going back on the 3:30 p.m. train, let me get a ticket. I walk over to the station , no one giving out tickets. I come back to the transportation tent to inform them..."Well someone should be there". But their not. The young lady says she will try and contact Glen. I return a few minutes later and nothing is resolved they are still sending people over to get tickets at the station. I witnessed a few people coming back to tell them that no one is there. They are now suggesting we ride back in the commuter van (one actually had a bike rack on it - OH HOW I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THIS) or bus. I ask when is the next bus leaving...she says 10 minutes. Ok, sold give me a ticket. I figure what the hell, I can't get a train ticket I might as well leave an hour earlier to get home an hour earlier. In my mind I'm thinking...my bike is on a truck ready to go or soon will be , I'm on a bus or soon will be, 4 hours I'll be home. Wishful thinking. To the fairness of these ladies at the transportation tent, they did the best they could politley, with the (lack of) info they had. They make an announcement for the 2:30 p.m. bus, and lead us over to the bus area. I asked if any of them have heard back from Glen, they say NO. As we board the bus, the same lady that gave me the ticket, takes the ticket. I politely ask what this was all about since everyone had the yellow bracelet on? We want to make sure that anyone not involved in the ride , does not ride for free. Hmmmm, I didn't think fare beating was on the rise in Montauk. Let's see...the JAG is in the shop, Muffy has the ROLLS I think I'll hang out down at the station and sneak a ride back to Manhattan. The bus stops at Babylon then on to Penn Sta., we arrive at 5:30 p.m.. Across the street is the first truck back from Montauk. There are about ten of us left, the others all got off at Babylon. There is NO ONE, NO one , no one there from Glen's staff to help with unloading and securing the bikes. The driver (Lenny) did the only thing he could do to get people their bikes, and that was ask us to give him a hand. Which some of us did. But there was no place to put the bikes. We had to line them up under some scaffolding on the south/west corner of 8th ave. About three people got their bikes, the rest did not. Lenny tried his best to keep us up to date with the truck situation, but no one was answering or if they did, had no idea where trucks were. About an hour or so later, another truck pulls up, a double decker filled to the brim. Again, a few of us help unload it. A few lucky ones get their bikes. But now we have a few hundred bikes lined up under the scaffolding and NO STAFF to watch them. Lenny tries his best to get info, but no one is answering even on their private cell #'s. The second driver that showed up was a driver for the trucking company F & I, who told me that they had their own set of radios and had nothing to do with Glen's group. "We pick up bikes and drop them off, that's it". But I can tell you this... it's really messed up he says. And for the first time (3 hours later) I realize I'm not getting my bike! The driver tells us that we'll have to go to their warehouse in Brooklyn to claim our bikes if they don't show up. DON"T SHOW UP, (watchu talkin' bout Willis?) I ask how they can not show up? He says again, "I told you it's really messed up". He does tell us that a two tractor trailers are on their way. The tractor trailers arrive and the drivers refuse to help with the unloading, and NO STAFF are there to help out. Now we are outside Penn Sta. unloading these tractor trailer. The first driver Lenny takes the lead, since the other drivers won't, and we start unloding the bikes. After the first few are off we begin to have trouble with others... pedals stuck in spokes, handlebars caught on frames etc.. Lenny tries to call Glen letting him know how badly these bikes have been loaded, and to expect alot of complaints of damaged bikes. The bikes that I saw that had damage to them had broken spokes, several flats, chains off, lights broken. I'm sure there is more to be found once the bikes are put to use. When the trailers were empty, you could see alot of "pieces" of broken parts laying on the floor. A few lucky ones did get the bikes, and many like myself did not. There also were alot of unclaimed bikes. With no security/staff to assist, all bikes were put up against the wall at Penn Sta. with really no one watching them. Lenny did his best, but he was the only one. Rumor had it that there were also alot of unclaimed bikes at Babylon. At 10:00 p.m. Lenny hears that three more trucks are "leaving" Montauk. At this time there are 30 or so of us who have still not gotten our bikes. A good number of people went home without their bikes. So at 11:00 p.m. after leaving my bike with the STAFF at 1:30 p.m. and arriving at Penn Sta at 5:30 p.m. and helping unload six trucks of bikes...I go home without mine. I will be calling/emailing Glen to find out how to end "The Montauk Nightmare". And they say the 5BBC Montauk Ride was a disaster.

slowpete

i did the 100, it was my first century, and it was awesome. my rear derailer stopped working about 5 miles in, so i basically rode it as a single speed for the rest of it. everyone was really friendly and the food and the stops were awesome. will definitely do this next year, hopefully with a lighter bike.

i think i may have saw you matty. was your trek 520 black? i was on a blue schwinn

think i averaged like 12-13mph through the whole thing. that climb at the end sucked!

KonradNYC

If I ever do this ride again (and I probably won't unless it's free), it will be the 145 mile ride, because you hold onto your bicycle the entire time (except for the return trip home). I WILL NOT let my bicycle out of my sight.

My wife and I signed up for the 66 and arrived at Penn Station on time at 6:20 AM. The line was so long that we didn't register until after 7:00 and were told to leave our bikes "against the wall" and rushed to catch the train. There were no trucks for our bikes.

We got to the Mastic-Shirley stop and our bikes were not there. Despite the "free food" (included in our registration fee) waiting for us at the rest stops if we were able to ride there, we couldn't wait and had to buy breakfast. Eventually we got bussed to the Westhampton Church rest stop where we were told our bikes were going to be directly delivered. Instead the bike truck went to Mastic-Shirley (were we just came from) and THEN came to the Westhampton. At 2:00 PM I got my bike. My wife's bike still wasn't there. She started to get really worried, since its her only bike.

So, my bike goes back on the truck and my wife & I got bussed to the Green Thumb rest stop, where we eventually got her bike around 4:15 PM. We were still 30 miles from Montauk, but it was too late in the day for us to ride to Montauk since we really just wanted to catch the earliest train back home. So, the bikes go back on the truck and we get back on the bus to Montauk, where we should be able to get our bikes on a truck home and pick up our luggage.

Our bus driver got lost and we made it to Montauk at 5:19 (train leaves at 5:30). Luckily our bikes were lying on the ground by the NYC-bound trucks and since we didn't ride all day, the staff put it right on the truck. We quickly found our luggage and made a dash for the train (no time for food or beer) and actually caught it.

It was about 9:00 PM when we got to Penn Station and we found our bikes lying unattended on the sidewalk around 9:30. I think I was more tired (due to the stress) than I would have been if I rode the 66 miles, plus I didn't have any lights, so we took the train home.

I got home at 11:30 without riding my bike so much as 10 feet, nevermind 66 miles, although I did spend 15 hours travelling to and from Montauk while trying to track down our bicycles. On top of that, I was supposed to get a T-shirt and a blanket to protect my bike (I had a free promotion for these items at registration). I never received these items (and I don't even want the T-shirt anymore) and my brand new bike sustained some minor scratches as a result of not being protected during transportation.

I expect a full refund.
Sorry for the long post.

Air

Gotta say it again - man I'm sorry a bunch of 66 & 30 milers had such a horrific time

For everyone really pissed off, I totally understand but let Glen respond before passing final judgment. Of anyone I know that runs large events he is the most fair and I'm sure he'll do what's right and take the necessary steps to lessen the chance of it happening again. There are a ton of details in rides like these - it could have been a number of issues that were out of his control (traffic for one). He'll probably take a huge hit out of pocket to make a lot of people happy who may never give the ride another chance anyway.

HarmonicD

I did the 100 mile ride and had a pretty good time. This was my first time doing any ride to Montauk, and it was definitely a unique experience!

I decided to drive my car into Babylon rather than going to Penn Station at 3:45AM. Started my ride around 7:45AM and finished it around 4:00PM. (Spent a lot of time at the rest stops, and had a flat around mile 53).

Overall, the route was pretty clear except for one section where a lot of riders got lost. There was a section near mile 73 where I think a turn marker got paved over. Anyone recall this? So I wound up following a group of lost riders and riding up Montauk Highway to rejoin the ride.

Finish area was great. Showers were available, and free socks! Food line was kinda long depending on what time you got there. Oh, and free beer!

Only thing that troubled me was that upon arrival in Babylon, I just found all the bikes lined up with no one really watching them or checking wristbands. Anyone could have just walked off with someone else's bike.

Overall, nice ride (on the 100 mile anyway). Sorry to hear that the 66 and 30 milers had such a rough time.

skunkwade

I am one of CP's noob friends (except I rode this last year before he started drinking the biking Kool-Aid and went all obsessive-compulsive on the bike thing) and suffice it to say we blame CP (oh, and Glen too) for all the pain we endured. We made the best of a really really bad situation, and actually completed the 56.2 mile abbreviated course in time to not eat or rest at the finish line. It sucked that we had to rush the ride to the point where i was slightly concerned that my fitness level would not allow me to finish in time. Especially after sitting in a parking lot for 4 hours getting dehydrated and frustrated. Last year we did the 66-mile route and it was great, and we had zero problems. What changed this year? Glen at one point pointed to the number of 100 and 145 milers switching last-minute to the 66 as the culprit. Here's a suggestion, Glen, don't let them do that. Another suggestion, cap the number of registrants. Allowing people to show up and register last minute is just greedy and stupid, and screws everything up for people like me and CP who were all paid up way in advance.

Major issue: Glen had no idea what was going on. At one point he told everyone their bikes were on the way, and someone's boyfriend called her from Penn Station (around 10:30 or so), to tell her there were a ton of bikes still sitting there. When this was pointed out to Glen he looked visibly shaken. I think he realized the magnitude of his miscalculations, and realized that pretty much there was nothing he could do at that point to make it any better. He did do his best to make it worse though by giving everyone false hope that everything would be OK.

Instead of talking about what great weather we had and the beauty of the route, all we could do is talk about the innumerable frustrations we had.

One minor "victory" (as opposed to the many many defeats) was getting our bikes as soon as we got off the train at Penn around 11:30-12 ish as the truck pulled up. At that point we met a guy who had been there since 2 PM waiting for his bike. That possibly sucked more than our experience sucked, but at least he got to ride at his own pace. Had our bikes not been on that truck (and only because we put them as close to the truck as we could in Montauk), we probably would have headed home without ours. CP was going to wait because he loves his bike like, well, let's just say he really loves his bike.

mattyknacks

Yes, my bike is black and I had a rear rack with a black bag on it. If you saw me later in the tour, I had a bag of m&m's, raisins and nuts dangling on my chest.

Also, it was my first century and the last hill sucked!! But I refused to walk the bike and put it in the lowest gear I had and pedaled up it. People who were walking thier bikes were passing me.

derath

Paulie,

Dear god man. Try using some paragraphs and punctuation. I am sure your tale of woe is interesting but it is also impossible to read the big block of text.

-D

drainyoo

This was my first time doing the ride and I must say it was so disorganized. I did the 30 mil ride and I still don't understand why they have everyone go to Penn station or Babylon no matter where they're starting from. Doesn't make sense. Just have every start from where they are going to start their ride. No need for all this transportation of bikes and people. Doesn't make any sense.

Anyway, after reading some of these stories I feel like I was a lucky one. We arrived at Babylon at around 7:30. We check in but we can't get on a train until around 8:50. I dunno why. Get on the train for almost an hour and finally reach South Hampton (Why couldn't we just start it all here?) but out bikes aren't there. Have to wait another hour for our bikes to get there. Bikes get there and there's no one really there to tell us in which direction to go. There really isn't any kind of map of the full route, at least I didn't see one, all there are are these pink markings on the road that are hard to follow. The only rest stop on the 30 mile ride, which is actually a 35 mile ride, is 5 miles into the ride. That's it! Great! I wasn't even tired, thirsty or hungry after only riding 5 miles, the rest stop was pointless so we just keep riding. The scenery is amazing, and the ride was very nice but that all ended when we reached Montauk. I was expecting a nice park area, with a ton of food, plenty of seating and some real nice showers. Nope. It was basically a parking lot with some terrible food, and the showers were these awful portable ones. They couldn't pay me to take a shower in those things. We put our bikes back on the trucks headed for Babylon and jump on the train. We get into Babylon 2 hours later to find everyones bikes piled on top of each other in the parking lot of the station, with no one watching them. I saw some really expensive bikes just thrown on the floor. What a mess.

I'm not sure who was at fault here or who to blame but this ride was very disorganized. I heard people talking about how some 66 milers didn't even get to ride. At one point in the ride I realized that we could have just driven to South Hampton ourselves and rode to Montauk. I'm not sure what was the point of paying for this ride. Maybe all the transportation? I dunno.

I don't know if I'll do this ride again.

mattyknacks

When did this become an english exam???

The guy had a bad experience and waited all day for his bike back, which didn't arrive, while helping unload trucks so that others could get thier bikes when they returned from thier rides.

Give the guy a break!

I read his post and I understood it.

Personally, I thought it was more appropriate to feel bad for his situation then to correct his grammar.

jeebusaurousrex

Holy cow, I'm supremely jealous of the 100-145 milers and supremely sympathetic to the 30-66 milers. You guys were on two completely different rides.

Instead of a nice long day of riding my band was at a playground performing for a bunch of annoying prepubescent kids messing with our amps and drums. I was *****ing all day about not riding to which my gf rolled her eyes at every time. At least met a hardcore cyclist at a party afterward. Not sure if I can hang with her posse, says they ride PP on Wed evenings. In fact I think they did a Westchester run today.

Hope everyone recovers in time to squeeze in some night rides this week...

slvoid

Holy crap, it seems like the 30 and 66'ers got screwed royally!
My gf drove out there in the morning to go to the beach so I got a ride back, half naked cause I forgot to pack some clothing with me... Anyway, she told me that there was some massive accident that all but shut down the LIE that morning. So that might've been the reason why some of the trucks were slow?

skunkwade

Not likely because then everyone would have been screwed. Trucks made it to Mastic-Shirley, just not enough of them. It wouldn't have prevented the bikes from being loaded at Penn Station.

4 extra hours to wait in a parking lot isn't slow traffic, it's negligent management and organization of the ride.

stevesurf

Wow, she rocks...its a good idea to do that.
I'd like to see if we could get a group of NYCers together and charter a bus + driver to pick us up at Montalk and take us back with our bikes. It'll be more money, but at least we can relax and hang out together for the way back.

slvoid

For those large chartered buses, I think it's about 1500/day. But it fits 50 people. So it's only $30 each, which isn't too bad. The only thing is that you'll have to store the bike underneath the bus, which will require some massive amounts of foam padding.

I gotta give my gf credit, she drove 4 hours to get out there and 3 hours back for me.

stevesurf

Hi drainyoo...I agree with you about the bike storage. It was really tough for the staff to handle all those bikes - I give them a lot of credit for getting through it all. I wound up with a broken spoke and some lost gears, but I can't definitively attribute this to the handling. I really don't care about this as long as my fork, frame or drivetrain doesn't get damaged.

As for your comments about the food and showers, I disagree totally. There was plenty of food, and it was immediately available. Even when they ran out of hamburgers, they served us delicious steak - nothing wrong with that!!! In fact it just tasted so good after that grueling ride. The pasta was very good, not overcooked. I was so hungry I ate two plates of pasta and two helpings of steak. Compare that to Air's experience on the other Montalk ride where they essentially had minimal food and those guys did 145 (I did 100 here).

Yeah, the men's shower had a long line, but that felt so good as well and it wasn't too bad inside for a portable shower. I guess you kind of have to think about being without the shower, and then just having there was awesome...

The real reason that I wrote a reply here is that IMHO Glen did take care of us on the food...

noteon 

Yeah, my wife, too, with my three-year-olds, just so they could see Daddy finish his ride. And then she got to put up with me sunburned and cranky.

Props to wives and girlfriends. (And husbands and boyfriends, if that's applicable to anybody in this thread.)

Air

She's a keeper!

I don't think there's anyway you could fit 50 bikes under one of those buses. When I bring my bike on the Chinatown bus (same sort of tour bus space underneath) there might be room for 2 or 3 in each compartment which is about 18 bikes and that's tight. Would hate to be the one on the bottom - imagine each bump when they all bounce!