Here are some helpful hints and observations from a first timer to the tour. They may help you and get you involved in next years tour:
Getting your registration
The best way
If your smart you will register in advance. It's simple and reasonable inexpensive given the support this ride provided to 32K people. The alternative method
If you are a loser like me you will buy your registraion online from somelse at the last minute as I did. I used Craigslist.com and it worked like a charm. I bought and recieved my packet from an injured rider that could not make it within 1 day. I had a friend and his wife scored 4 registrations this way in 1 day allowing the whole family to ride!�
Getting Ready to ride
Getting your bike in shape tune it up The most important part of any 42 mile bike ride, and especially this one, is to avoid equipment failure at all costs. The 5 Boro is a tour not a race which means if your bike breaks your losses are in fun. Take your bike down to a bike shop before the tour and have it gone through evaluated and adjusted if you are not a regular rider or you do not have the skills to evaluate your bike. This simple bit of advice will have you avoiding what I saw first hand, a woman out of the race on the site of road near the starting line just 3 blocks up from Battery Park.�
Secrets to a successful ride So let's assume your bike is now it the best shape it can be for the tour. If you want to have a good time on the ride here are some other observations I made to help you.
If you have a mountain bike with suspension on the front, make it as stiff as possible, the roads are smooth and you'll just lose engery in the bouncing. This also goes for those with bikes that have rear suspension.
If you have big dirt tires, consider getting some wide smooth road tires that fit on your mountain bike rims. I did this and FLEW! Many of the smooth alternative tires for mountian bike street riding are inflatable to 80 PSI which means your rolling not dragging nobbies.
If you have one or two water cages for water bottles on your bike, take two water containers fill them not quite to the top squeeze to let excess air out then put in the freezer the night before. Put these in your cages before you leave in the moring and you'll have cold water on the ride. It was a life saver and make the ride more comfortable.
Backpacks are popular on the tour but I would advise against it unless absolutly nessisary. My riding buddy had some back issues from his on the ride and it just ads personal load. Instead, get a small clip-on rack or a stationary rack behind the seat. Bring a bungie and your set, you can secure what every you want and it leaves you free of burdon.
Toe clips are very valuable on a ride like this. Most of us don't have the cool special shoes as we are not serious bikers. Many toe clips adapt to standard peddles on most bikes. Using toe clips will make your riding more efficient gaining value from upward peddle movement as well as downward. Again this makes the ride more enjoyable especially on the light hills.
Music players are really nice but their use comes with a danger price. It should seem obvious that you cannot hear as well around you when you have earbuds on. I had my iPod on most of the time at low volume to insure some ability to hear loud screems, it got me through the slow spots. A macho perspective would be "If I can walk through the streets of Manhattan with one in the Friday night rush hour I can certainly wear it on this ride". If you beleive this let me point out that you are traveling at higher speeds with bikers around you traveling at even higher speeds, it's not a game and I saw people go down hard.
Some on-board food is valuable, consider something easy to handle like grapes. If you like to stop there have tons of food available at every rest stop. Happy people feasting on bananas, crackers, water, energy bars....
The Finish Line It's funny how it all ends on this tour. You finish after crossing this HUGE bridge. There are lots of people lining up for food. Many of these people are sleeping on the grass exauted from the ride. People are looking for friends and loved ones. You take your rest and sit down. one thing I did not know is that the Ferry is not right there to take you back to Manhattan. After your relaxing moment it's back on the road for 3 miles to catch your boat. When I went they were sending some 30K people over on the Ferry and I waited in line for 45 minutes to get on. It was not that bad, all the riders are telling stories about their rides and having a good time. Standing and waiting is the only part you won't like. If you're feeling good there's a bar right by the ferry entrance so you hang out here for a while until things cool off.
