5 Boro Bike Tour 2010
May 07 2010 05:41 PM
For 33 years the 5 Boro Bike Tour has wound its way through NYC streets and bridges on the first Sunday of May. Riders follow a 42 mile route (map) that starts in Battery Park, heads north through Central Park up into the Bronx, comes back down the FDR and across the Queensboro Bridge into Queens, then heads up to Astoria Park before turning south through Brooklyn and finally proceeds across the Verrazano Bridge to Staten Island. Riders then hop on the Staten Island Ferry back to Battery Park.
The instructions clearly state that if you want to be at the front of the line you have to get to Battery Park by 6:15am, and no later than 8:15am...so we split the difference at 7:15am. This placed us nowhere near the front of the 32k participating cyclists and must’ve contributed to the massive cycle-jams we encountered entering Central Park, again in Harlem, and then finally at the Queensboro Bridge. After that things thinned out, but never got particularly thin.
The good news about getting stuck was getting a chance to meet other riders. There were plenty of New Yorkers as well as out-of-town cycling enthusiasts, and even some Europeans who’d come in for the ride. Fathers and sons, parents pulling toddlers, cyclists riding by themselves, or a group of twelve high schoolers who’d come in from Ohio. The extremely fit, and the not so fit at all. Bikes that cost more than some small cars, hipster cruisers, and bikes that didn’t appear to have been ridden since the 2009 Tour. It was a veritable potpourri, and in hindsight it’s difficult not to get sentimental about such things on any day, but particularly the day after the failed Times Square bomb ‘plot’. Good natured people out for a casual ride through the city.
We’d definitely recommend the Tour for the novelty value alone. If you’re a serious cyclist consider getting there at 6:15am. If you’re not so serious don’t have any qualms about participating, all are welcome. The route features plenty of rest stops that allow for bathroom breaks and grub.
Please note: you have to sign up and there is a registration fee, registration opens for 2011 on February 1st, 2011. Hope to see you next year! And if you’re looking to explore NYC on bike between now and then, check out iParks NY and its integrated 5 Boro Bike Map!
The instructions clearly state that if you want to be at the front of the line you have to get to Battery Park by 6:15am, and no later than 8:15am...so we split the difference at 7:15am. This placed us nowhere near the front of the 32k participating cyclists and must’ve contributed to the massive cycle-jams we encountered entering Central Park, again in Harlem, and then finally at the Queensboro Bridge. After that things thinned out, but never got particularly thin.
The good news about getting stuck was getting a chance to meet other riders. There were plenty of New Yorkers as well as out-of-town cycling enthusiasts, and even some Europeans who’d come in for the ride. Fathers and sons, parents pulling toddlers, cyclists riding by themselves, or a group of twelve high schoolers who’d come in from Ohio. The extremely fit, and the not so fit at all. Bikes that cost more than some small cars, hipster cruisers, and bikes that didn’t appear to have been ridden since the 2009 Tour. It was a veritable potpourri, and in hindsight it’s difficult not to get sentimental about such things on any day, but particularly the day after the failed Times Square bomb ‘plot’. Good natured people out for a casual ride through the city.
We’d definitely recommend the Tour for the novelty value alone. If you’re a serious cyclist consider getting there at 6:15am. If you’re not so serious don’t have any qualms about participating, all are welcome. The route features plenty of rest stops that allow for bathroom breaks and grub.
Please note: you have to sign up and there is a registration fee, registration opens for 2011 on February 1st, 2011. Hope to see you next year! And if you’re looking to explore NYC on bike between now and then, check out iParks NY and its integrated 5 Boro Bike Map!