Papa Tom

I am really bummed that my wife and I got called away to a funeral this year and could not volunteer at the Astoria Park rest stop. I'm also really surprised not to see any comments posted about the ride on this forum. So how did it go?

Trek800Antelope

I didn't do the full century but only did 55 miles. It was fun plus excellent weather!

zacster

I did the full century. Since I started at Prospect Park I was in the lead group of the 100 milers and didn't get a sense that it was a big ride until I hit Astoria. There was one point when we were still in Brooklyn where I actually slowed down my pace because I was riding alone, and what's the point of a group ride if you're riding alone. I stopped at the first rest area for that same reason. From that point on it was always the same group of people, riding at approximately the same pace, and at each rest area we all came together again.

At no point during the ride did I feel tired, weak, achy or anything else. In fact, this was one of those days when I got on the bike and could just take off, and those days are rare. When I finally got to Manhattan there was a large group that hit Dyckman street together, and a bunch of us got stuck at a long light. Some old guy yells out "are you going to catch them", so I took that as a challenge and sprinted down the Harlem River Greenway, and I did catch them. So even 80+ miles into the ride I still had legs, and even at 100 miles.

The weather was great, we had a tail wind the first 40 miles or so to eastern Queens, but the headwind didn't really impact us once we started heading back the other way. It took 9 hours to complete even though I was riding fast, at points over 25mph on long stretches, and keeping to a 18-22 pace. I didn't linger at the rest areas either. I've done a double century in 10.5, but that was on open roads (Seattle to Portland), and 30 years ago.

I was wearing the Ommegang Brewery jersey. I had at least 10 people comment about it.

FrankieV

I marshaled the 55 from Prospect Park.
The weather was great for riding and the riders were pretty well stretched out.
Someone I know started the 55 at Central Park and said that there was a 1/2 wait at the Brooklyn Bridge.
I didn't have to help anyone change a flat or fix a dropped chain this year.
It's one of the nicer urban rides. I prefer it to the 5 Boro.

Trek800Antelope

I started the tour at prospect.

I rode to jones beach today from queens and saw the century markings at kissena park. The 55 didn't go to kissena. Prob the 75 did and obviously the century did.

Thats an interesting park.

Needs

On the BB, because they were doing work on the road surface, there was only auto traffic from Manhattan to Brooklyn, and it was occurring on the "wrong" side of the roadway. Because of that, there was a cop directing traffic at the base of the bridge who seemed to be holding the light for cars open longer than the signal (it may have just felt that way, though, since there were few cars and a lot of bikes).

Anyway, when I (riding the century but getting a 630ish start b/c of slowpoke companions) hit the bridge at 700ish, it was backed up from Tillary halfway to the staircase into Dumbo.

noglider 

I've done this ride twice. Papa Tom, have you ever done it? I did it in 2004 and 2005. I might do it again, but I ought to build up my endurance first. I get pretty ragged after being on a bike for so many hours. After the last century I rode (elsewhere), TimmyT pointed out that I'm a drag to the people I'm riding with.

Anyway, this route is fantastic. It shows many places in the city you wouldn't otherwise know about. Some of the parks in Queens are very pretty. The vistas in Brooklyn are special. And the people in the South Bronx are amazingly welcoming.

I took the 5 boro bike tour once, and I'll never do that again. There are too many inexperienced cyclists there. There are also too many experienced cyclists with unrealistic expectations of how people will ride. It's just not worth it.

trooper2899

Where did you get that Jersey ? I live near their plant outside Cooperstown, do they have them there ?

trooper2899

Where did you get that Jersey ? I live near their plant outside Cooperstown, do they have them there ? The Ommegang Brewery jersey

trooper2899

I didn't have any wait at the brooklyn bridge but when we got to prospect Park the goodies were about half gone - no hummus no bananas.....way less than previous years ?

zacster

Yes, they have them in the shop at the brewery, or at least they did last summer.

Papa Tom

>>>>I've done this ride twice. Papa Tom, have you ever done it?<<<<<

I've never done the ride, but I've volunteered a few times. I'm not one for these group events, myself. I just enjoy watching other people discover cycling.