Sharing the road with 30,000 other bicycles but no cars is an experience!

I had been warned that it was good to get there early and get a place near the front for the start. Also, advance intelligence said it was a good idea to drive to the Staten Island Ferry, and ride the ferry to Battery Park. This was actually for coming home at the end of the day - the ferry would be extremely crowded, so it would be better to return from Staten Island.

So, I set my alarm for 3:30 and actually was on the road from Lawrenceville, NJ (between Trenton and Princeton) by 4:15. It was a foggy morning! Got to the parking lot near the ferry by about 5:30. This lot wanted 12 quarters or a "muni-card" for parking all day. There was no one around to make change at 5:30, so I figured what the heck and just parked, expecting I would get one of those hefty NY parking tickets. (Actually I lucked out - unless it comes in the mail.) From there it was about 0.5 miles to the ferry. We all lined up in the car lanes and waited for the ferry. There are always some people who just won't wait at the end of the line!

Anyway, the ferry came and we got on and after more waiting, it left about on time near 6am. It was a 15 or 20 minute ride across to Battery Park. After disembarking there were signs directing riders to the start of the ride. Just after getting off the ferry, I spotted a row of porta-potties - they must have been put there just for the people coming by ferry - and I thought these folks know what they're doing (the coffee I had before I left, plus the coffee I had in the car on the way...), so I stopped. Now, there was the street, the sidewalk, and the row of potties. Lots of riders. Some riders can't wait and are riding on the sidewalk. You really shouldn't ride too close to a porta-pottie because you never know when the door might open. I got some poor lady! Well, she didn't crash, but it sure gave everyone a scare.

On to the start. I wound up about two blocks from the big Bike New York banner that hangs across the street. This was about 6:40 or so. It was still very foggy, but light out. As more riders arrived the end of the pack grew south on Church street until I couldn't see the end anymore. I think it must have been at least seven blocks from where I was (remember I was two blocks from the start). It was incredible. There was a row of police cruisers with their lights flashing that marked the end of the pack - they just receded out of sight. Once again, there are always some people who just won't wait at the end of the line!

While waiting for the start, I talked to some of the other riders (I was by myself), and looked at some of the bikes. There were all kinds - including many styles of recumbents and at least one of the folding bikes. I noticed that I seemed to be the only one with fenders. The fellow I was talking to found another bike (of perhaps 300-500 within view) with fenders. I was feeling pretty smug about my fenders because it sure seemed like it was going to rain, and in any case, everything was wet because of the fog.

Sure enough, shortly after the welcoming speech by Cousin Brucie Morrow (I gather, a local DJ) started at about 7:40, it began to rain. I guess I would call it a moderate rain. Many people had brought rain gear and put it on at this point. I brought a plastic poncho and put that on. When you register for the ride you're given a Bike New York vest which is your ticket, so putting on rain gear involves some rearranging. During the welcoming speech it was mentioned that there were more than 30,000 riders. I assume this was the registration. I have no idea how many no-shows there were on account of weather or other problems. After Cousin Brucie, Mayor Rudy Giuliani gave a welcome and a send-off but I couldn't really hear what he had to say because of all the people yelling to get started - it wasn't clear to me how getting started was going to make the rain stop!

After the speeches, we got underway just about on time, very close to 8am. But the first couple of blocks were "scooter mode" until the pack thinned out enough that one could actually ride. Eventually, we started to roll and the density dropped enough that one could relax and enjoy it a bit. Even in this part of the ride, right at the beginning, I noticed there seemed to be a lot of people on the side of the road, repairing their bikes!

We went North through Manhattan, into and through Central Park, and across the Madison Avenue bridge into the Bronx. After a short stay in the Bronx, we came back to Manhattan on the 3rd Avenue bridge. The Bike New York volunteers made us dismount and walk across the bridge which had a metal grating for a road surface. Had I been by myself, I probably would have tried to ride across it, but I suppose it was a sensible precaution as the grating spacing made it very bumpy and the rain made it very slippery. Back in Manhattan, we came down the FDR drive, there was a rest stop there at about mile 11. Seemed like we just started, so I didn't stop.

I made the interesting observation that riding in the rain, behind someone without fenders, is worse than not having fenders yourself!

We crossed into Queens on the Queensboro Bridge and the route entered the Astoria Park rest stop at about mile 18. There seemed to be no choice, so I enjoyed a power bar and a banana. Also, it appeared that rain had stopped and it had warmed up a bit, so I used the occasion to remove my poncho and sweatshirt and re-install my glasses. I had my bike resting against a tree about ten feet from the road leading out of the park. I looked up and saw the tail end of a crash. I have no idea how it started - as far as I know the road was not crowded and no-one was going fast. It was a single rider and she scraped herself up a bit and got her front wheel 180 degrees turned around. We had to work a little to get the brake arms by the downtube to get the wheel back in its proper orientation. Then she went off to a first aid station for bandages for her scrapes.

New York has bicycle police (police whose transportation is bicycles instead of cruisers or horses). There were several groups of bicycle police riding in the ride. I ran across a group at this rest area and asked if they were on duty or on recreation. They replied, "on recreational duty."

I continued on to the exit of the park only to find that I was in another pack! It seems that we were too early and the roads leading out of the park had not been closed to car traffic yet, so all the bike riders were held at the park. Finally we got going again, and again, several blocks were in "scooter mode."

From here, we went through residential neighborhoods in Queens and then crossed the Pulaski Bridge and went through residential neighborhoods in Brooklyn. I must say, I especially enjoyed this part of the ride. People were standing in front of their houses, or at intersections, or looking down at us from pedestrian overpasses, etc., and it seems that if you waved at them they would smile and wave back! Some people were even cheering as we went through! But as far as I could tell, I was the only rider that would wave - I'm sure there must have been others, but they were certainly in the minority.

I continued to be amazed by the number of bicycles being repaired along the side of the road.

Eventually we got on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway leading to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Several miles from the bridge, it almost got sunny, so I decided to pull off to the side and take some pictures. Somewhat after I pulled off to the right, there was a crash behind me and to the left (three lanes over, so I guarantee, I had nothing to do with it!). Just before the crash I heard "she's slowing down." So it seemed to be a slow speed single bike crash involving some scrapes but no major damage.

The place where I stopped to take pictures is next to the mouth of the Hudson River and between the river and the expressway was a multi-use trail along which people were walking, fishing, biking!, roller blading, etc. As I was taking my pictures a couple came along and wanted to know "what had happened?" so we had what turned out to be a nice conversation about the ride and New York City.

I guess by this point, I've left out a couple of rest stops that I passed (There are a lot of rest stops on this ride!) and I also passed the next one which was just before the Verrazano bridge. We went across to Staten Island on the lower level of the bridge. Now that's a "hill." At about the midpoint of the span, I stopped to take pictures again. Even though it was sunny, there was still enough left over fog that you couldn't see the Manhattan skyline. One of the reasons I wanted to do this ride was to be able to stop and stare at Manhattan from the bridge. I've been over the bridge several times in a car, but of course, you can't stop. So I guess I'll have to do the ride again!

On the Staten Island side of the bridge, at mile 39, is Fort Wadsworth where they hold the Bike New York Festival. It's like a super rest stop with concessions and entertainment. It seems to be the official end of the ride, although it's another three miles from there to the ferry if you want to take the ferry back to Manhattan. I got to Fort Wadsworth about 11:45. I bought a ride T-shirt and several sandwiches and an ice-cream bar for lunch. The entertainment was the "Sensational Soul Cruisers." They were good! They played songs from my youth (oldies for the rest of you!). I enjoyed the music and talked to some people and watched the younger folks trying to hit on each other.

All the time I was there at the festival, watching the "Cruisers" on the stage, the lower level of the bridge was filled with cyclists finishing the ride. You saw a never ending stream of cyclists coming down the ramp behind the stage! It was pretty amazing.

About 1:15 the "Cruisers" went on break and it looked like more rain was on the way, so I decided to call it a day, rode back to the parking lot, and made it home to Lawrenceville by about 2:30. I understand that the festivities at Fort Wadsworth were scheduled to go on until 4pm.

Observations:

Why is it that some people can't join a line at the end like almost every one else?

The organizers (The Five Boro Bike Club), sponsors (many), and New York City do an outstanding job on this ride.

This ride is a Big Deal. Cars are banned from the streets, expressways, and bridges used by this ride. Also from the Staten Island Ferry. At every intersection we passed, there were several policemen or policewomen closing the road to cross traffic. There were ambulances all over the place. The tour marshals were all around directing the riders to the next turn or warning them about road hazards.

This ride must have inconvenienced a lot of New Yorkers. Even people that just wanted to cross a street had a problem. As I drove home, I heard the traffic reports about heavy traffic (four mile backup) on the Belt Parkway due to the closing of the lower level of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

Given the above, I really can't understand why almost no one made the effort to wave to the New Yorkers as we rode through their city!

As I said earlier, there seemed to be a *lot* of bikes being repaired.

I went on the 5 B Bike Tour last weekend for the first time; I'll never do it again. Too many riders, too slow a pace, too many maniacs on bikes causing innumerable accidents and falls. The route was on some of the least scenic roads of NYC. It took 1 1/2 hrs to get to Central Park (mile 5 of 42) and 1 1/2 hrs to get the ferry home from Staten Island. The ride's a great idea but it doesn't work.

Your problem was you got up too late. I was within two blocks of the start line and made it to Central Park within 35 minutes (could have gotten there faster but I was riding with some slower riders). We had to wait only 20 minutes for the ferry. It works fine if you're willing to get up early and not get stuck way back in the pack at the start.

Bob Reardon

-- My e-mail address below is ROT13 encrypted to keep the e-mail spammers from filling my in-bin. If you don't understand that, use "Help" in your e-mail or newsreader program to learn how to decode it. pnire@pncvgny.arg (Bob)