# 5 Boro Tour was a mess, anyone done the LI Harbor Ride?



## CTBigBoy (Jan 19, 2010)

Much against my better judgment I made the trek down from CT yesterday for the annual cattle drive that is the 5 boro tour. This is my second year and will definitely be my last. I was going with some more inexperienced riders so I knew the pace would be slow and we would be spending some time at the rest stops. What I didn't know is that the rest stops would be out of water, the majority of the riders total dullards, and the pace would in fact be determined by the inordinate amount of walking we had to do on a bike tour (7 hours and 45 minutes for anyone that is interested - yeah, complete cluster ****).

Anyway, now that I have vented, let me return to the subject of this little post of mine. After going through the ride this weekend, I am somewhat hesitant to jump at the chance to take part in next months LI Harbor Tour. The route looks great and I enjoy the idea of a century being so close to home. However with the same BikeNewYork organization being in charge of the event I was wondering if anyone has had experience with the ride and can steer me to the start line, or the "stay the hell away" line.

Thanks in advance, safe riding to all!


----------



## R1000 (Mar 15, 2005)

7 hours??? what the hell.. It's no wonder the rest stops were out of the water by the time you got there... 

Just messing with ya... I got to be honest, I was there on Sunday and I had a blast. Did in about 3 hours. The key is to skip the first two rest stops. It pretty much opens up after that. I've done Bike New Yorks Twin Light ride, and it's a very good support ride. BNY usually does a pretty good job all the time.


----------



## dafocks33 (Feb 16, 2010)

News flash...maybe after you did it last year..you would know that it is not a race...it is a tour and a chance to see the city like you have never or would never be able to see it unless you were a part of this event. I was there and had an absolute awesome time. Who really cares if you had to slow up or even walk some places. People came from across the globe to do this. I wish it would have taken me longer than it did. Go do a race if you want to get some speed cardio in. 

5 Boro = 2 thumbs up for me. Very happy I did it and would recommend to anyone.


----------



## iraform (Apr 1, 2010)

So, dafocks33, you were fine with having to walk rather than ride for much of the first half of the tour, with being stopped in Central Park for a half-hour, with having some rest stops run out of water even thought there had been a forecast for mid-summer heat a week out? It's got nothing to do with wanting to go fast; most of us just wanted to ride, not walk. The volunteers were great, but the tour itself just wasn't nearly as fun as it could have been. Thumbs down for me.


----------



## ROAD&DIRT (Mar 27, 2009)

I skipped it this year for that reason. I rode in the last two years and vowed to never do it again. To pay the amount of money and have to walk half the route is ludicrous to say the least. 

To the OP: I have never done the LI Harbor ride but was thinking about riding in it this year doing the century. I have riden in the Twin Lights ride twice and enjoied it. They do a better job their, no walking... just simply riding.


----------



## dafocks33 (Feb 16, 2010)

Maybe I was on a different ride this weekend. Yes, I did some walking thru central park and maybe they could have started on the FDR instead. I am sure that its not the easiest thing to shut down 6th avenue! and Central Park! for a morning, so I think the complaining is a little overboard. I never ran into the problem of having no water at the rest stop. I also had two full bottles ready to go, just as if I would have for any 40 mile ride. No one is mentioning the energy bars, fruit, and other stuff given out at the rest stop. I took as much as I wanted. I thought it was a great "Tour". It was not a race and people from all over the country came to participate and see the city like you would never have a chance to see it. The police were great, the volunteers were amazing. I was very, very impressed at the way it was run and frankly I was getting pissed about the complaining I heard from people along the way. Everyone knew there were going to be 30,000 riders who signed up. Common sense would tell you that there might be some traffic!


----------



## cski (Mar 11, 2010)

*LI Harbors ride*

Rode this last year and heartily recommend it. Sounds nothing like your experience on the Tour in the city - plenty to eat and drink at all of the rest stops, never any significant crowding on the ride (they control departure times by not checking in or handing out cue sheets for the shorter distances until later), and only wish I had had more time to linger after I was done for the post-ride festival.


----------



## Mdeth1313 (Nov 1, 2001)

If you're in CT, why not do the Hat City Cyclists' Cyclefest out of Bethel. It's much cheaper and less congested.


----------



## Alan_G (Apr 22, 2010)

I came up with a group from the D.C. area and it was a blast. The worst thing was waiting an hour and a half to start. After that, only some walking up a hill in Central Park and then a few slow places. We made it to the festival in 3.5 hours and then decided to hop on the ferry as there was no wait. We were back in Manhattan by 2 pm. Unfortunately, two of our more inexperienced riders had to be collected by the SAG wagon, but they had a great time anyway. It was nice seeing NYC on a bike, but I still like the biking environment in the D.C. area better.


----------



## ph0enix (Aug 12, 2009)

I thought about doing the 5 boro this year. I'm glad I didn't - definitely would not have liked to walk.


----------



## adamssss (Mar 22, 2010)

its more of if you got closer to the front half of the 30,000 riders i think the ride would have gone much smoother. my cousin, girlfriend, and i didn't stop for any breaks until astoria. there was plenty of water, oranges crackers like others said.


----------



## R1000 (Mar 15, 2005)

exactly.. its like everyone said including me.. You have to get in front as best as you can. Either by skipping rest stops in the begining or try getting there earlier. 

I only remember Central Park being very crowded, but after that it was great ride.


----------



## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

Did the LI harbors tour last year. If you love climbing steep hills, you'll love this ride

this is totally different from the 5 boro tour. You'll be sharing the road with cars.


----------



## CTBigBoy (Jan 19, 2010)

Sorry for disappearing there for a minute, real life called me back for a while. Although reading dafocks post maybe it was a good thing I missed out on some of his anger. Da - to your point, I don't ever remember saying anything about being mad because I couldn't "race" the 40 miles. I actually made the point of mentioning that I was with two less experienced riders and knew that I would be going slower than my normal ride pace. And you are correct, this is my second year; the first year (minus the collision with a swerving rider in Brooklyn) I had a good time, to the point that I invited friends from out of town to take part in the tour this year. My point was simply that given how many years the event has taken place I was disappointed that it didn't go more smoothly. As someone else pointed out, hot weather was in the forecast, and running out of water simply isn't acceptable. The food was good, and like you, I did take as much as I wanted, thus you didn't see me complain about it in my post. Like IRA said, I just wanted to ride, never did care about speed, so I was disappointed. 

Anyway, to get back to my original question, thank you for those that had first hand information on the event, since no one had any complaints I think I may give it a try. 

Safe rides to everyone!


----------



## R1000 (Mar 15, 2005)

Thats cool man.. i just wanted to chime in so that you can give a BIKE NY event another try. They are prettty good supported events.


----------

