May 3d rides

[msincredible]

Ack! Are you one of those real troopers who starts the ride knowing you're going to get poured on?! And how many of the regular group riders showed up?

Oh yeah, was ready to be rained on...was soaked within the first two miles. Surprisingly enough I think there were 9 of us on the group ride, I was amazed that many showed up.

Here are some of us drying out at a bakery/cafe.


And a close-up of my filthy legs.

[NoNo]

Sunday I showed up for the 5 Boro Ride in NYC and instantly regretted it. For starters, though the "start" was at 8, we didn't budge until 9. Of course it was raining and maybe around 60. Even once we were "moving" a lot of it was walking. You'd get a few blocks and all the sudden everyone would slam on their brakes and you were walking. Just as suddenly, you'd be riding again. While riding, I was constantly on the defensive, as I had to contend with people that clearly hadn't riden in 20 years, people that didn't know how to ride in a pack, and people that were trying to race through the crowds and squeezing into spaces they shouldn't. And the potholes. LOTS of potholes. Why these two guys thought it would be a good idea to ride giant unicycles amongst 30,000 people, I don't know, but one of them went down right in front of me when he hit a pothole on a bridge.

There were lots of near-misses. After the Astoria Park rest stop half way through the ride (21mi) my brother and I were once again stopped for no reason. A guy came flying up next to me, lost his footing, and fell on top of me, which pushed me onto my brother and knocked him over Naturally, the guy was fine and rode off. My brother's chain came off, but otherwise his bike seemed fine. I, in the middle of the bike sandwich, fared the worst. At first my front tire wouldn't budge as it was pressed against the upper part of the fork. Took it off and put it back on, and it spun, but with a horrible wobble Went to one of the marshals and he did some adjusting to the spokes and the bike seemed rideable. Got a few blocks, stopped again, and while walking, noticed a ping go through the bike every few steps. There was also an occassional rubbing noise. At that point, 3 hours and only halfway through the ride, I'd had enough. Found the nearest subway and got out of there.

I will never do that ride again! Bike's in the shop, hopefully nothing serious is wrong. I keep finding new bruises on my legs and my arms are really sore. The route wasn't even nice, we were in some nasty-looking areas, and the few landmarks we did go by I didn't see because I didn't dare take my eyes off the road in front of me! If any of you are thinking of doing that ride, I'd recommend against it.

[Biciclista]

geez, Nono, that sounds awful! i hope the bike repairs aren't too expensive!

[PamNY]

Nono, what an unpleasant ride you had. I'd thought about doing that tour, but now I'm glad I didn't. The ride starts near where I live, and it looked like a mob scene to me. I would love to ride over the Verrazzano Bridge, but I doubt it's worth all that, plus it sounds like you couldn't really enjoy the view.

Hope your bruises and bike are okay.

Pam