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New York's Five Boro Tour

CNIDogCNIDog
in Races & Places 🏁⛺

 Ok, technically not a race but I thought this would be the best forum to ask questions about this event.   

In the spirit of doing fun / cool stuff this year my son and I have been talking about riding the NY 5-boro tour.  Has anyone done this before? While I've read the info on their web site about logistics I'm looking for advice from folks who have done this event.  Biggest question I have is around the logistics of getting to the start the morning of the tour and where people stay if coming in from out of town.  We live a little over 2h from NYC so I'm looking into places to stay the night before.   Any other advice suggestions welcome.  Thanks.  

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    carls10carls10

    I have not done it personally, but my spin instructor has done it numerous times.  She claims that it is crazy, lots of people on all kinds of bikes.  Not worth bringing a nice bike or even clipping in because it is so stop/go.  I know that she also does not go to the start line because of the crowds. 

    Sorry not too much information, but I know she continues to go back because she has fun.  I had considered doing it wit her, however I am on the west coast this year.

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    drm1drm1

    Did this a number of years ago--strong memories. Definitely fun, and the second best way to see the city after the Marathon. We drove down from CT that morning, parked on West St. and just rode down to the start at the Battery. Took the Staten Island Ferry back from the finish and rode to the car. Then we stopped at the Carnegie Deli for a late lunch. I definitely remember that.

    This is said to sell out fast. --Dan M

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    CNIDogCNIDog
    Dan,
    Whereabouts in CT are you? I'm over in Mystic so I'm thinking it'll be too long a drive to head down there that morning. Considering finding a hotel down that side of the state but away from the fray. Like that Carnegie Deli idea. A good pastrami on rye would be perfect recovery food.
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    Cary BlancoCary Blanco
    From what i've heard, unless you're in te very front, plan on walking your bike from battery park city to central park. After that it apparently opens up. At no other time can you do this route so it does have it's merits.
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    mgraffeomgraffeo

    I've done it a few times.  I would never do it again unless I had a way to get to the start line very, very, very early, in order to be among the first 1,000 or so people to do it.  If you're not in line before maybe 6am, it's a complete waste of a day and one of the most miserable 5 or so hours you'll ever spend in close proximity to your bike (notice, I won't use the term 'riding' here).

    If you're among the very first riders in line, the tour is phenomenal.  You ride closed roads throughout NYC, with phenomenal vistas, and it's a pretty amazing experience.  I'd recommend it time and time again.  I'd have to think that you'd need to be staying at a hotel very close to the start line and be willing to be up very, very early to accommodate this.  They used to have an option of paying more to start as a VIP, and that, too might be worth it.

    If not, don't waste your time.  It is MISERABLE, HORRIBLE, and lots of other synonyms for those two words.  The crowd control means that you could end up not crossing the start line until an hour after the gun, and if so, you're definitely going to miss the Astoria part of the loop.  It's way too crowded, which means that you can count on having 20,000 people in front of you trying to get into a single-file line to enter Central Park.  Takes another hour.  2 hours after the start of the race, you've gone 6 miles.  If that's not bad enough, the Park is a big tease, because there'll be another huge line to exit the park.  After that, it starts to open up some, but you'll miss Astoria entirely (they close off that part of the loop early), and then slog it out with people down to the Verrazano bridge, which is very cool to go over.  However, then you're funneled into the park at the base of it, with 45,000 people (about 20x too many for that park).  You can't get to anything, and will want to leave as soon as you get there.  They say there are massages, food, etc, but the lines mean waiting 45 minutes for a sausage. Then, if you're smart, you'll have a car on Staten Island.  Because if not, you've got another humongous line to get on the ferry.

    I hope I don't rain on anyone's parade.  I've done this event three times.  First time was about 7 years ago, and it was terrific.  The last two were horrible, overcrowded, poorly organized, and just a waste of a day that I'll never get back.  I would consider doing it again, but only at the absolute front of the pack.  

    Hope that's somewhat helpful and not too vindictive!

    Mike

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    drm1drm1
    Huh. Mike's done this a lot more recently than I did. All those years ago we had a much better time than his experience, but the Manhattan route has changed which may well have created a lot of the problems. We basically had Sixth Avenue to ourselves, to the fury of people trying to get crosstown. I bet the change to go through the Park led to the problems.

    Aaron: We're in Bloomington, IN now but lived in Hamden at the time. --DRM
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    kcb203kcb203
    I did it a couple years ago. It took over an hour to cross the start line, and the road didn't open up unil ~ mile 25. The line at the ferry to return was miserable. I had a thought, though, about a way to shortcut the problems and not have to get in line at 6 am. What about starting about 10 blocks north of the start--perhaps around Houston St.--and latching on to the front of the group as it comes through? That seems as though it would alleviate most of the problems.

    Learn to use a cell phone while riding if you want to stay with somebody.
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