Five Bourough Bike Tour

[Cat3roadracer]

Is this worth considering? For those that have done it, does the congestion ruin the ride?

[vav]

, does the congestion ruin the ride?

Pretty much.

[RedRider]

It's certainly a ride worth doing at least once. Roads and bridges you could never ride on in NYC are open to cyclists and closed to cars.
There can be "log-jams" when you have to stop and wait but usually you can ride at a steady pace. It's not a race nor a gran fondo and the marshals will even slow riders down to keep things flowing safely.

[Mr. Pink]

does the congestion ruin the ride?

Yes.

I used to work in midtown (50th and Sixth) for a publisher, and stumbled into the relative start more than once on Sunday morning on the way to work (magazine people work weird hours). At that point, most were walking their bikes, and the start was somewhere down in the village. Didn't look like fun.

[JLP]

I offer an alternative view.

I've ridden it, and i think it's fantastic. If you think of it as a bike ride, it's not so great, although there is plenty of great riding along the way. If you think of it as a party or a tourist event, it's fantastic.

[Lanterne Rouge]

Last year I worked it as a marshal and I enjoyed it. As JLP says if you're thinking a paceline at 20mph you'll hate it. If you want a chilled mosey around the five boroughs you'll like it.

[Ahneida Ride]

do not bring a good bike

Ride a bike you can afford to loose.

I almost rode my Legend. At the last moment I got a beater bike
from a friend. I got run into. Would have had serious injury if I
had no helmet.

Bring a warm jacket / (pants?) that you can remove later on.
Mornings can be cold. It can get hot later on.

I saw a few Ambulances. I am not the only one who had a
incident.

Ride with caution.

[christian]

Once, maybe. But probably not really.

(Have done it 2/3 times. I bailed.)

[christian]

I offer an alternative view.

I've ridden it, and i think it's fantastic. If you think of it as a bike ride, it's not so great, although there is plenty of great riding along the way. If you think of it as a party or a tourist event, it's fantastic.

This alternative view is the correct one.

[nybikejunkie]

I have done this a couple of years ago with the wifey and some friends. There are some spots where you have to get off your bike and walk due to congestions. I've heard from a buddy that did it last year that the route is much better now and letting people ride in "waves" made it so much better (less congestion and bottlenecks)

Would I do it again? If they lower down the fee - yes, I would.

[Mr. Pink]

do not bring a good bike

Ride a bike you can afford to loose.

I almost rode my Legend. At the last moment I got a beater bike
from a friend. I got run into. Would have had serious injury if I
had no helmet.

Bring a warm jacket / (pants?) that you can remove later on.
Mornings can be cold. It can get hot later on.

I saw a few Ambulances. I am not the only one who had a
incident.

Ride with caution.


Sorta like skiing Hunter mountain on a holiday weekend Saturday.

[YoKev]

The last time I did it, a girl in front of me had actual tire tracks on her and was bleeding from road rash.

But, everyone should do it at least once. Jump in ahead of the pack a few blocks and you'll be fine.

[BumbleBeeDave]

If you are trying to get done as quickly as possible, or treat it as a race, then no you won't have a good time. If you treat it as a party it's great. Ride easy, enjoy the sights, stop at every rest stop--and at a coffee shop along the way to watch the endless parade pass by. Yes, there are a fair number of idiots on the road, but certainly no worse than the last crit you rode for CBRC, Dave.

The first two years I did it (2007-08) everybody started at once and yes, it was a mess. Last year they had four staggered start times and it went very smoothly. We were not held up once on the entire route and had a great time.

Keep in mind that you must have a vest to ride and the organizers require you to pick up your vest on Saturday at the expo and you must present ID and pick up your own vest. I was told this prevents vest scalping. So an overnight stay in the area is pretty much required.

But if you're ready for a whole weekend in the city and a giant rolling party, then yes it's very much worth it.

BBD

[dumbod]

I did 2/3 of a FBBT. (The ride goes past my apartment and I had had enough.)

I have never experienced as much fear on a bicycle as I did on this ride. It is full of people who (i) ride once or twice a year and (ii) want to ride as fast as they possibly can. The number of accidents the year I rode were truly astounding.

If you really want to ride the route, let me know and I take you on the guided tour. The only part of the ride that I can't easily replicate is the Verazzano bridge. (I can't ride on the BQE or Belt Parkways either but I can ride right next to them or, at worst, underneath them.)

Never again.

[Mr. Pink]

The last time I did it, a girl in front of me had actual tire tracks on her and was bleeding from road rash.



That was funny. Que Jimi Hendrix's Crosstown Traffic.

[jamesutiopia]

Do it for the scenery-- they limit the pace to 17mph (or less) with a motorcade and stop the entire ride 2-3 times (in parks) so the police have time to get ahead of the front and shut down streets. The ride takes over an hour to get rolling, so you want to be near the front, or skip the start entirely (join on before/after Central Park).

You want to be within sight of the front (to avoid the thousands of scary riders who resort to walking and weaving to get over the bridges), but not at the front. The front is scary if you're not comfortable with contact-- lots of shoulders and elbows, and plenty of crashes (especially bad stuff seems to happen at the front of the ride on the BQE). There's to risk so much contact on this ride...

There are two approaches to the ferry-- you can take it before the ride (e.g. 5:30am) or after. I strongly recommend leaving a car on Staten Island (Ferry Terminal has tons of parking) and taking the ferry first. In the past two years they've started to have private security "hold" riders at the post-ride Expo rather than letting riders create a multi-hour queue at the Staten Ferry terminal. This line is really annoying, and they also make it hard for riders who want to go home on Staten Island to leave the Expo...

I rode Five Boro on tandem the past two years and on single for years before that. It's a unique experience

[Cat3roadracer]

Thanks gents. You just saved me $180.

[bcroslin]

Don't write it off just yet! I did it last year (it was on my bucket list) and I had a blast. I signed up and after hearing horror stories about riding with the unwashed masses I decided to pay the extra money and do the Gran Fondo. I felt a little silly paying extra for a 40 mile ride but it was worth it to start at the front and ride with the lead group. It's a "racier" ride but the only downside is the mandatory sag stops. I'm from FL but I make it up to the city 3 or 4 times a year on business and it was fun to go barreling up the Ave of Americas with not a single cab in sight and then flying back down the FDR. Riding on the Verrazano bridge was a trip as well.

The Gran Fondo didn't sell out until the day before if I remember correctly so you've got time to decide if you want to do it. I couldn't have handled riding at the back and would have lost my mind but riding at the front was fun.

[harryblack]

Is this worth considering? For those that have done it, does the congestion ruin the ride?

OF COURSE you should do it; there's significant backlash but like the New York Marathon (sorta), it is what it is. You can ride by yourself or a small group etc anytime, this is your chance to do something different.

Now, personally, I & a few others here could give you a ground level 5 boro bike tour that blows this & any other tri-state organized event away BUT

1) you miss the highways

&

2) there's rather less chance you'll get laid, at least by a fellow cyclist of your preferred gender.

do the ride, have fun, don't sweat this good bike/bad bike stuff. hey, lots of people have ONE nice bike and that's it. you ride it there, you ride it (or the train) home-- enjoy!

[goonster]

does the congestion ruin the ride?

The congestion is the ride.

[spdcyclist]

I've done the ride about 5 times. Twice as a rider, 3 times as a Marshal. It's crowded, but, if you are into people watching and NYC, and you do it with a group of friends and are ok with lots of starts and stops, you will have fun. Lots of skill levels on the ride. Lots of first time riders and riders with no experience riding in a group...let alone the rules of the road. Do it at least once...

Here is a thread from last year

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=128751

Some pictures on the last page.

I will be Marshaling again this year.
:banana:

[dumbod]

Try the New York Century in September if you really want to ride in NYC. They don't close the roads but they stagger the starts so that you're much less likely to hammered in the crowds and it takes you to parts of NYC that you won't believe are in the city.

[YoKev]

Try the New York Century in September if you really want to ride in NYC. They don't close the roads but they stagger the starts so that you're much less likely to hammered in the crowds and it takes you to parts of NYC that you won't believe are in the city.

NY century is also my favorite of the two. Stick with a group and you can cruise.

[bambam]

I did it once and loved it.
Slow 49 mile(?) ride ,7-4:30 skipped 2 sags since I was close to the cut off times.
Scenery was great.
Fools even better.
Rode a beater bike.
Parked on Staten Island.

I know there are other articles on the ride. Maybe in the rides section.

If you go think of it as a tourist thing other than an exercise event.

[sixgears]

Here's one of my videos from the 5BBT from last year. This is more or less the pace until you get out to the FDR and then the BQE which speeds up a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qp3-x_Y1mw

[Ahneida Ride]

Yes it is fun ..

It is also precarious.

Be alert ..... ride slow .... bring a beater bike .

[bcroslin]

Here's a trick to avoid the crowds and easily get in with the lead group - post up on one of the side streets off of 6th Ave and wait for the lead group to ride by. When you see them simply jump in. I'm sure it's not kosher but it's certainly safer and definitely a lot more fun than riding with the masses.

[54ny77]

i did it a long time ago (back in '03) by myself and had an absolute blast.

it's probably more crowded and chaotic since? dunno. sure was a lot of folks then too.

the saturn team was there (bahati, dominguez, et al) as hosts, they rode amongst the throngs.

i yo-yo'd at or near the front 1/3 when i could, going fast during the more open stretches to move up, but also stopped plenty to take in scenery, take pics, etc.

riding over the verrazano and along the bqe was something i'll never forget, that's for sure. spectacular view & experience.