Mike, I live a little south of midtown; happy to meet up and ride around the island while you are here. Happy yo tour guide... some GREAT rides in the area, short or long.
Ride itself: indeed a rite of passage. Pedaling up Avenue of the Americas with 32,000 other cyclists... nuthin' like it. But the bottlenecks created by 32,000 cyclists; oh the bottlenecks! Check out the crowd on the BQE in 2008: https://www.flickr.com/photos/millhiser/2468043524/in/datetaken-public/ And the backlog in midtown due to the bottleneck/funnel into Central Park: https://www.flickr.com/photos/millhiser/2467209897/in/datetaken-public/ Lately, I participate in NYC's advocacy organization Transportation Alternatives who host 50 and 100-mile rides. Same urban cycling, smaller crowds, better cause. Cheers. --Will PS My Ram on a rainy (!) 5-boro tour a few years back: https://www.flickr.com/photos/millhiser/3503640659 On Wednesday, January 10, 2024 at 5:17:42 AM UTC-5 ascpgh wrote: > My wife and I did it a number of years ago (still 30,000 riders). It is an > amazing roll through a city you never get to see in this way, even if > you've ridden there before because you are able to look around which I > couldn't when riding around NYC when I was there by myself with a bike. > > Our approach was to park on Staten Island, take the ferry over for the > start. We were in the back half of the start after securing the rental bike > my wife opted for. Rest and refreshment stops were packed with our 29,998 > friends each time we stopped. The Gowanus Expressway to Verrazano Park and > the bridge was hot and both of use were out of water. By the time we got > off the elevated highway and saw a food truck selling Gatorade we were > pretty needy and the baseball stadium price for the 12 oz bottles was worth > every penny. > > The Verrazano Narrows Bridge on a bike is worth any hardship you endure on > this ride. There will be refreshments, entertainment and food at the Staten > Island afterparty. Many riders will rest, recharge and socialize before > taking the ferries back over to Manhattan. I have no recs for whether to > enjoy the music food and community or get on the ferr quickly. We just rode > to the rent bike return site, loaded my bike in the car and faced > essentially no traffic as we left the island towards Newark, NJ and home. > > Fun ride, take pictures, report back. > [image: 0B26E98E-F3A4-4191-AF97-7C4A40824DE4_1_105_c.jpeg][image: > 2C0395CC-B633-4B93-A08A-3A5F91609ECF_1_105_c.jpeg][image: > 4B5A58FC-A919-480F-889A-7414E089FAE7_1_105_c.jpeg][image: > 282BD64D-6BD4-4A97-BAC3-C05153020A05_1_105_c.jpeg][image: > B6D93789-352B-4C47-A956-46287F639DE3_1_105_c.jpeg][image: > 8A3A12C3-0476-4C23-BA7F-FA59F5208F8E_1_105_c.jpeg] > > Andy Cheatham > Pittsburgh > > On Monday, January 8, 2024 at 10:05:33 PM UTC-5 velomann wrote: > >> The 5 Boro Bike Tour in NYC has been on my bucket list for years, and I >> decided this year is the year. First Sunday of May (5/5 this year). >> https://www.bike.nyc/events/td-five-boro-bike-tour/ >> Registration opened this week, and I signed up. >> I've got my lodging and flight booked as well. >> >> This will be my first trip to NYC since I was a kid, 50 years ago. I >> won't be bringing my Riv (Bringing the Ritchey Breakaway), but I'll be >> there for a week, staying in midtown not far from ride start. >> I'd love to meet up with others while I'm there, get recommendations on >> where to ride, cheap food, coffee, bike shops, etc. >> >> Anyone else here doing the ride? >> >> Mike M >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a323bcbd-4f79-4963-884e-ab76cb2c33c1n%40googlegroups.com.
