streetstomper

So who's doing the 5BBT this year? Looks to me like registration is slower than other years. Five days in and they're still not full. Big difference from recent years when they would fill up after just one or two days.

Based on the videos I've seen, it does look like fun, but I wonder how this girl managed to sneak onto the course:

5BBT 2014

About 1:15 in, she not only doesn't have the bib and helmet cover, she's not even wearing a helmet, which is mandatory for the tour.

zacster

Maybe its the $92 fee? I've done it many times, but last year my college age kids wanted to join me and was going to cost close to $400 for everyone. I can think of better things to do with that money.

bigredkevbot

+1 My girlfriend and I were considering it, but the fee kinda stopped us dead. Boston has a similar Bike Tour (though not as cleared out) and it's about 1/2 the price.

headloss 

It's on my to-do list, but not within my budget.

DosWheelsBtr

6 of 6 people of whom I cycle with have signed up. I just don't have the avail. funds to do it. Looks like a nice ride. I enjoy the Escape New York ride in September.

streetstomper

Yeah, I thought the exorbitant fee could be a cause but forgot to mention it. But since I've never ridden it before and many say you should do it at least once in your life, I may bite the bullet this time.

Sasquatch16

Did it once and would not do it again. More time spent not riding than riding. To many people with no experience riding in a group

zacster

It is worth doing at least once, even for the $92. It was the fact that my kids had already done it that really stopped me from spending the money to do it again, although all 3 never did it together. I never had more than one at a time with me. They'll all be away in college for this one, and unless someone else asks, like one of my overseas co-workers, I'm not doing it this year.

As an alternative ride, the NYC Century sees more of the city and is not a crowded ride, at least not when you do the full 100 miles. The one spot where it slows is at the Triborough RFK bridge when all of the different groups converge at the stairs after the big rest stop in Astoria. Some parts of Queens get to be boring, but you ride on bike trails like the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway (no motors anymore), the waterfront in Bayside, around to LaGuardia, Rockaway, Forest Park, Belt Parkway (part of the 5bbt), even in the Bronx, but I find the Bronx section winds its way through a little too much and just isn't great riding (not because of the 'hoods, but just from a riding standpoint.) I start in Prospect Park, not Central Park, and that gives you a jump on the crowds too.

GuyDebord

When is the NYC Century?

FIVE ONE SIX

+1

it's always later in the season, this year it's September 13th...

Event Info | NYC Century

velofinds

As someone who has done the NYC Century (okay, not the full century, but part of it) but not the Five Boro, I'm really looking forward to the Five Boro because all the roads along the route are closed to vehicular traffic. Not so with the Century. The Century was fun but, notwithstanding seeing new-to-me sights and riding new-to-me roads, not too dissimilar from the experience of riding everyday. I expect that to not be the case with the Five Boro.

streetstomper

Exactly the reason I want to do it. There's just an incomparable feeling one gets from being able to ride (or walk) down the middle of the street without having to worry about being run over by two or more tons of steel. Summer Streets gives a similar feeling with Park Avenue closed to traffic.

Now I just have to decide whether I want to do it this year or wait for next year, which is the 40th anniversary of the tour. I'm not exactly young anymore and not getting any younger.

loonykathy

I decided not to pay the $92 this year. I've ridden it a few times before. My husband and I alternate who rides for charity (Team Athletes to End Alzheimer's), and it's his year to fund-raise. So, I decided to volunteer this year. Don't know if I'll be able to be a ride marshal or if I'll end up handing out bananas at a rest stop, but it'll be interesting to see the Tour from a different perspective.

Cyclerock

I've done both the 5 Boro & full Century numerous times. The Century is on roads you can ride any day. The 5 Boro allows you to ride on highways that you only get to be on that day. The 5 Boro entry fee has discouraged me from doing it and the Century is a bit more serious, ( = fun). Since the 5B is online registration, and you have to pick up the reg packet. The organizers save in mailing, as compared to the old days, yet the fee goes up and up. You may notice they promote the ride as a 'charity' ride this year because they never did so before and the police dept wanted to charge them for blocking traffic since they did not call it a charity ride. The Century is not traffic free, but your route is laid out for you, and you see iconic spots, Central & Prospect Parks, BK Bridge, Coney Island, Kissena Velodrome, etc.

streetstomper

Bike New York has been a charitable non-profit since it was created 15 years ago and the website always said it was a charity. The big stink with NYPD was they wanted to be reimbursed for security and crowd control and said BikeNY wasn't a charity. The judge disagreed and said NYPD couldn't pick and choose what they wanted to be charities. Bike New York did not suddenly start calling itself a charity this year.

yankeefan

I've never done it before, but from all the youtube vids and online posts I've seen, the pace of it seems way too pedestrian (literally) for my liking. At multiple points I've seen people dismounting and walking their bike due to congestion and the nature of the ride seems to attract a lot of amateurs. My understanding is that the ride is supposed to be a family friendly event, not the sort of thing that you show up to with clipless pedals and a power meter.

yankeefan

That's what I've heard as well, which is really off-putting. I'd rather an event where the only time my foot touches the ground is for refreshments or fixing a flat.

Dahon.Steve

I'm glad I did the 5BBT when it was cheap! LOL. I will never do it again as the tour is going to hit $100.00 dollars in the next few years. A couple of years ago, the tour sold out in three days. Five days have passed and it's still not sold out! They can't control their costs and they are finally killing the goose. Greed has finally caught up to the Five Borough Bike Tour. I'm sure they will sell out but you can see where this is going. Eventually, it will take 20 days, then 30 days and then eventually you'll be able to buy you're packet on the day of the event.

You're not really missing much. It's really a 1 borough bike tour because you only ride though Manhattan. You can do the most interesting part (Manhattan portion) for free by getting up early on a Sunday at 6:00 am when there's very little traffic.

As for the Bronx, you never really see this borough at all and it's done and over with in 15 minutes or less. Let me tell you, it takes 3 - 4 hours to do a real tour of the Bronx and the 5BBC does a terrible job. As for Brooklyn, you're riding on highways for the most part. A real tour of Brooklyn takes a whole day and maybe more! The Staten Island portion goes through the most uninteresting section of that borough so you really see nothing.

Did I mention, you cannot escape the ferry anymore? The Bayonne Bridge is closed for the next 3 years (or more) so you can no longer take this alternate route and avoid the jam of bicycles at the ferry.

Dahon.Steve

Well, I received an email, the 5BBT sold out again! I guess those interested will have to wait for them to go on sale on Craigs list.

bloomrae

I did the ride twice; each was a very different experience. The first time I was in the first group and it was much more fun. The second time I was in the last group and it was not fun. Constant stopping, people that had no idea how to ride in a group (let alone that mess), tons of people that couldn't manage a slight incline (they called them hills/climbs��), no more food left at the rest areas (good thing it's a short ride and food isn't necessary) and a lot of standing around.
I did love the car free tour of the city! It's an experience I'm glad I had, but I won't do it again any time soon.

streetstomper

There was no doubt they would sell out. But it's simply not selling out in a day or two the way it used to.

If you want to avoid being stuck in the back, you can always sign up as a charity rider. They get guaranteed slots in the first group, not far behind the VIP riders, I think.

Ghefty

First timer doing the 5BBR, after checking out the vids online I will be leaving my road bike home and riding my slow cruiser.

Diablito

Many years ago my Dad was President of the Five Boro Bike Club. The price was never so high. We scouted out the ride and determined which paths were best to ride. It was definitely fun. I marshalled everytime i did the ride. I recently went to sign up as a plain rider to actually relax and ride but I'm living in NJ now so having to go to NY a day before the ride to pick up a packet was a no go. And the entry fee is definitely over the top.

While riding you definitely feel like you and the other thousands of riders are "Kings of the Road". Fun times.

streetstomper

That's one stupid thing. How hard would it be to station a couple of volunteers at a table near the start line overnight for last minute pickup? Even charge a $5 fee for those who want to pick up at that time. Stipulate that only out-of-town riders are allowed to pick up packages at the table. Most such riders will probably be in town anyway because they want to take in a bit of New York before the ride and will have picked up their packages at the expo. Others won't want to wake up that early. That doesn't leave many riders, maybe a few hundred to a thousand or two. But right now if you won't be in the city on Saturday and don't know anyone in town who can do a proxy pickup for you, you're screwed.

That, and the stupid bag rules, which are hardly enforced anyway, judging from pictures and videos available online. So many ways to get around this security theater if someone's really interested in causing mayhem. Crash a car through a barricade into the crowd. Fill some water bottles with some of that liquid explosive the TSA always tells us is so dangerous. Would they ban water bottles next? Stuff the frame full of explosives, something NYPD already uses as a rationale to cut through chains and remove all bicycles from the route of a presidential motorcade. What would they do then, ban bike frames from the ride? Overreaction and incompetence all around.

zacster

you'd regret it, not because you can't do it on a cruiser, but there will be times you'll want to ride faster. And then there is the Verrazano Bridge.