If you had asked me
three months ago whether or not I thought I could ride a bicycle across the
five boroughs of New York City I probably would have made some snarky comment
about doing it over five days or totally flipped the question around into an
attack on you. However 90 days, three bikes, a snapped chain, blown tires,
subliminal training, and a stolen seat and pole later I have rediscovered my
passion with bicycle riding.
Bike riding had
always been a favorite activity of mine when I was younger. But friends parents
cigarettes, stonewashed denim and Axl Rose apathy took over my pre-pubescent
body; puberty did the rest. So it was with some shock and awe that I recently
came upon biking again and picked it up like…well, riding a bicycle! On May 5,
2013 I was lucky enough to be able to participate in and report back to you
about the TD 5 Boro Bike Tour.
The TD 5 Boro Bike
Tour takes riders up from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan, across Houston
Street and onto the Avenue of the Americas up into Central Park. From there the
tour continues to travel into Harlem, across the Madison Avenue Bridge into the
Bronx and then quickly back out onto the Third Avenue Bridge back down the FDR
along the east side of Manhattan. From there we cross the Ed Koch Queensboro
Bridge into Long Island City, up to Astoria Park and back down across the
Pulaski Bridge into Brooklyn. After that it’s time to hop on the Brooklyn
Queens Expressway before approaching and conquering the Verrazano Narrows
Bridge into Staten Island where the tour finally comes to an end.
All at once. It’s 40
miles. It’s no joke. Maybe for the most experienced riders this is something of
a warm up for larger events like the NYC Century Bike Tour (100 miles) later on
in September. But for all of us it was a challenge we all welcomed.
So it was with
anxious enthusiasm that I came upon the scene out on Church Street and West
Broadway at 6:25am. The scene looked bleak; no one was there! That all changed
rather quickly. You see what the TD 5 Boro Bike Tour did after the influx of
more than 32,000 riders last year was they staggered the starting times. So now
rather than there being scores of people out at the start, there are three
waves of riders who break up their encroachment by some 30 minutes.
The energy quickly
heated up as I realized the scores of riders swelling all around me. Cars were being towed away for not obeying
the Sunday parking restrictions on this day. Still the Bike Tour got larger. In
truth at 6:25am I was early. I still had to stand around in the frigid May dawn
air for an hour and twenty minutes before the first wave of riders, of which I
was part, took off.
As the crowd grew,
everyone seemed tense. I staked my claim of turf to wait near Thomas Street and
Church Street. As more and more people began to congregate the intensity just
became that much more electric.
TD 5 Boro Bike Tour
is an annual event which goes back 35 years with 2013 being 36. If last year’s
numbers were any indication this year’s tally was going to be even greater. It
was instructive too as I awaited our starting time to listen to many of the
past riders share their stories.
One man standing
nearby insisted that even though it was cold now, “by the time you get to the
BQE, you won’t remember the cold.”
That was partly
true. By the time I got onto the BQE (around mile 30) I was far more concerned
about my numb hands and arms than the cold which was still with us. Even though
it was May, it was still early May. The first Sunday in May. When overnight
temps can get nippy. The wind gusts reminded us it’s not quite summer time yet.
The TD 5 Boro Bike Tour
is a clever mix of professional grade riders, regular annual folks who come out
for the experience (some get dressed up in silly garb or have helmet
accessories), and others who ride alone and ride for their own reasons.
As I awaited the
starting gun there were a bunch of guys with large stuffed rats on their
helmets and the rats themselves wore their own pink bike helmets. A few of us
debated whether that meant they were Union for some type of cancer or they were
non-union in an ironic move. Another group I saw had recycling on the brain as
their helmets came adorned with recycle bins. People were riding around with still
and video cameras on their helmets, some were riding with the intent of raising
money for charities like breast cancer, and there was representation from
virtually every state and every nation you can imagine. Riders had state and
nation flags taped around the frames of their bicycle, others wore flag as
capes.
The real beneficiary
of this event this year are the residents of New York City. TD Bank takes on
the title but Bike New York are the ones putting this whole event together.
With partners TD and REI as well as others like “Bicycle Magazine,” Bike and
Roll, Bloomberg L.P., Con Edison, The New York Times, and many more Bike New
York is going to take the proceeds from this event to put it back into
education for New Yorkers about the benefits of bicycling.
A city with a plan in place for some 900 miles of bike lanes and so many bike lanes already in
play, the concept of cycling can really make riding a viable alternative. For
short to medium length trips where taking the train or bus would be common,
riding a bicycle can actually be faster than paying for public transit. The
simple equation of taking the train to the gym and taking the train to work and
taking the train home versus riding a bicycle to and from work makes getting
your fitness in as part of your everyday. When you think of it like that, “Ride
for Life” makes perfect sense.
The TD 5 Boro Bike
Tour was pretty intense. One of the coolest things for me was actually taking
over the FDR as cyclists rode in the southbound lanes with no cars at all on
site. I have driven on that east side road many times; conquering it on a
bicycle was incredibly liberating.
It was also a pretty
amazing feeling to finally crest to an apex at the Verrazano Bridge and begin
coasting my way down onto Staten Island at the races end. There was a sign
where the incline began and ended and I swear it must’ve been 3 or 4 miles of
subtle, gradual incline; the type to make even the most experienced cycler wail
in agony.
I’d also like to tip
my hat to the NYPD and to all of the volunteers who were on hand to help out.
Things have been a little tight with what happened at the Boston Marathon recently
but the NYPD was at literally every intersection we passed through and they
kept things moving very smoothly. The volunteers who stood there for hours
repeating the same few words into a megaphone were still as charming as you can
imagine. For every bit of rote instruction from them came an encouraging word,
a meaningful smile, and a clap and cheer.
Elation met the pain
in my buckled knees and just like that my first ever event of this kind was
over. The TD 5 Boro Bike Tour won’t be back again until next May but if you
have the opportunity and really want to see a side of New York City that few
others ever get to see and you want to do it all in 5 Boro’s in one day, then
you should get connected to what this event is all about! The first Sunday in
May is when the streets go dark of headlights and horns as helmets and bells
lead the way.
Will I see you at
the TD 5 Boro Bike Tour next year?
