Back in 2006, during our first year in New York City, Colin and I heard someone talking about a 42 mile bike tour around all five boroughs of NYC. We were at our friend James’ birthday party and the girl was talking about doing the tour the next day. When we asked about her training and preparation for the event, she said she hadn’t really done anything. It surprised us that the event could be completed with little training. Upon further discussion, it sounded like an awesome bike ride. Colin and I vowed to do it one day.
On May 3, 2010, Colin and I participated in our 4th “5 Boro Bike Tour.” Just like the girl said, it really does not require any preparation to complete – except buying some padded shorts!!
It really is an awesome ride. You start in downtown Manhattan, near the World Trade Center site and ride up 6th Avenue, through Central Park, up through Harlem, briefly into the Bronx, down the FDR (a highway with no cars!), over the 59th St/Queensboro Bridge, into Astoria, along the East River through Queens and Brooklyn, on the BQE (another highway with no cars!), and to top it off – you ride over the Verrazano Bridge!! The first 3 years we did the tour, we rode mountain bikes and kept our sanity by stopping at every rest area. There is one every 7-8 miles or so. Because there are so many people and things to see, you really don’t realize you are tired until it’s all over. At each rest stop, there are snacks, water, and bathrooms. In addition to the rest stops, the only “hills” are getting over the bridges – which include the Queensboro and Verrazano – so most of the ride is very flat.
This year was the first time Colin and I rode our fancy new road bikes. Last summer I got a Specialized Dolce bike and Colin also got a Specialized single speed road bike. The road bikes are so much easier than mountain bikes for the ride. For extra motivation, my bike has a computer on it, telling me my speed. Last year when we got the new bikes, we did some pretty serious riding, but we really haven’t done much since the fall. Regardless, we still completed the ride much faster than we have any other year. We decided not to stop at all the rest stops this year, because we didn’t need as many breaks. Since there are 30,000 people who ride, it’s hard to go fast, but our pace was a pretty steady 12 miles per hour.
The weather in NYC was also amazing on May 3rd! We were really lucky in both 2007 and 2008, but last year we were soaked and miserable for most of the ride.
If anyone who is reading this blog is intrigued, I recommend you do it!! Check out http://www.bikenewyork.org/rides/fbbt/index.html for details.
Here are my tips for doing the tour:
- If you want to start at the starting line, get there very early or else you will wait at least 1 hour to start and will get stuck at bottlenecks along the way
- Don’t eat too much before you ride and don’t eat too many snacks at the rest stops. The snacks are usual high in fiber (fruit and Lara bars) and will leave you bloated if you have too much.
- Wear padded shorts/pants/capris. Riding 42 miles is no joke on the gluteus maximus!
- Don’t try to race through the ride. It is a tour and there are many really awesome sights along the way. Enjoy the NYC sights and the fun costumes/decorations other riders wear and keep yourself from colliding with others.
- Enjoy the amazing feeling you get knowing you just rode 42 miles and indulge in those extra calories you enjoy but can’t eat all the time!
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