Biking Adventures: 5 Boro Bike Tour 2011!

I think this was my earliest event yet...

I was so busy on Saturday that I didn't get to bed until midnight, even though I knew I had to be up at 4am. Despite that amount of sleep, I managed to wake up at that hour. My intention was to arrive by/around 6am. Even though the tour doesn't start until about 8am, I wanted to get as close to the starting line this year as possible, hoping to avoid all the bottleneck/bike traffic that I am experienced with my first 2 Five Boro Bike Tours.

This outfit was really tricky to plan. I couldn't wear anything too amazing on my top half because the vest must be worn (there are checkpoints), so I did what I could. I modified it because:

a) it's ugly (seriously, this is not a secret)
b) I didn't want any straps interfering with the nice across-the-shoulder tan I intended on getting!

The rest of my outfit consists of:

• white tube top from Rainbow ($5ish)
• black skirt from Target ($10ish)
• fishnets from a shop on Manhattan Ave ($3)
• shoes from Payless ($20)

Here I am before leaving the apartment-

Official outfit of Five Boro Bike Tour 2011

Sherry was already outside waiting for me. We left Greenpoint at 5:15am. It was pitch black as we rode south on Kent Ave through Williamsburg -

pitch black on Kent Ave around 5:20am on Sunday, May 1st

We made our way to DUMBO to take the Brooklyn Bridge to lower Manhattan. I love this bridge for its architecture (how could you not?!) and the stunning views, but I rarely bike over it because it's the most crowded, making for a very stressful ride. But at this time of morning, with so few people awake, it practically belonged to us. I mean seriously, how many times in your life do you get to ride over the beautiful Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise?! This was amazing!

Riding on the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan bound

Looking at the Manhattan Bridge from the Brooklyn Bridge

Self portrait as I ride on the Brooklyn Bridge

We arrived in lower Manhattan shortly before 6am which was exactly what I wanted! We made our way to where they other cyclists were already lined up and I was thrilled to see we were within a block of the starting line - perfect! Sure we would have to wait in this spot for about 2 hours before the tour began, but I knew it would pay off later.

With so much time to kill, we took some photos, talked to a few cyclists near us and I even had the opportunity to deflate a very annoying beach ball. (I don't know who thought it  was a good idea to toss around a beach ball, but I assure you it was not me. Yes, I'm that person. The kind of person that doesn't need a beach ball hitting me in the head at 6:30am on a Sunday and will pop it when it lands near me...) Here are some photos from while we were waiting:

We made friends with Marshall Derek!

A view of the starting line, on Church by Worth St

the view on Church St

One pre-start highlight was running into a guy I know from Flickr, Ross (aka Karmapix). He has a great recumbent bike that he built himself. He described it to me as a "lawnchair on wheels". He wasn't kidding, look at this thing! (and in case you're wondering, yes, he completed the tour on this bike!)

Ross' sweet ride

Another highlight was seeing my favorite 7 Train subway conductor, Alex! You may remember him from last year's tour or from this blog post I wrote about him.

Alex! 7 Train subway conductor extraordinaire!

Some guy dressed as Iron Man swept me off my feet!

Me & Sherry

Finally around 8am we started moving up to the starting line to be released!

Five Boro Bike Tour starting line

Here are some photos taken in our first boro, Manhattan:

Passing Bryant Park

Passing Radio City

In Central Park

On Cat Hill, which I also run on!

This look says "I have to pee so bad I might not make it to 125th Street"

We took the Madison Ave Bridge into our second borough, and my birthplace, the Bronx - (Christine, was that you waving to me just before that turn off? Sorry, I should have stopped! I realized after that I told you I would, sorry!)

Madison Ave connecting Manhattan to the Bronx

If you sneeze during this portion of the tour, you miss the Bronx. Because we then promptly returned back to Manhattan via the 3rd Ave Bridge -

And from there we merge onto the FDR - one of my favorite parts of the tour! I love driving on this highway! Normally a cars only, tight, winding highway - it's the only time per year you get to cycle on it.

the FDR

The tunnel part is so much fun!

We exited the FDR at 63rd Street...

... to do another one of my favorite parts of the tour - the 59th St Bridge!!!

Again, this is the car portion of the road. Not the bike path I normally travel.

By my own guess, this is the steepest ramp in the tour. I was really looking forward to it because I love the challenge of it (and to be honest, I like passing people on a pink bike, with no gears, in high heels). Although the steepness hadn't changed (obviously), it wasn't nearly as tough as I had remembered. I guess I got more fit in the past year since I rode it! Go me!

 

I shot a little video on the 59th St Bridge:

We circled down the ramp past the Silvercup Studios sign...

...entering our 3rd borough, Queens:

Love that sign!

Oh, speaking of Queens, another rider snapped this photo of me while riding through Queens. He then somehow tracked me down on Facebook to share it with me. Thank you, Hank!!

We approached the Astoria Park rest stop and had to walk our bikes through. It was at this point that I finally met blog reader, Diana!

This woman has been reading me for a while and we've been in touch on the interwebs and have even done a few events together but somehow have never run into each other... Until today. (Nice meeting you Diana, I apologize it was brief, I really wanted to get out of that rest area!) Oh and you can check out her recap blog on the bike tour, too!


We made our way out of the Astoria rest stop...

... and continued through Queens and at point, met these 2 characters. I can't remember our initial exchange with those 2 guys, but I called them "bad boys" for sneaking into the tour (they didn't have vests). 

I actually had the opportunity to use the line "Is that a banana in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?" to the guy on the left :)

We made our way to Long Island City, which I'm very familiar with. (I bike there fairly often since it's so close to my neighborhood...)

From LIC we take the Pulaski Bridge, whose name you may recognize from my blog because I mention it often. This bridge connects Queens to our 4th boro of the day, Brooklyn.

But not just any part of Brooklyn: Greenpoint Brooklyn! My beloved neighborhood!!! Represent! I love Greenpoint!!!

To make this part of the tour even more magical, we saw our friend Diana while on Franklin St. It's so awesome and unexpected to hear your name and have it be one of your friends who came out to see you. Thank you for your support, Diana!!

We rode through Greenpoint straight into Williamsburg, Brooklyn, another area I'm very familiar with (in fact, this is the same street we took to get to the Brooklyn Bridge a few hours earlier which was pitch black above). Once again I came up on, and passed, those 2 guys from Queens.

I shouted to the shirtless one: "What's it like getting passed by a girl on a pink bike with no gears?" (something I've *always* wanted to say to men that I pass) Without skipping a beat, he told me it was something he always dreamed of. He might just be my new boyfriend ;)

From there we hit DUMBO (if you're not from NY you may not know this, but that stands for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass - it's a section of Brooklyn. One of my favorites, in fact)

That famous view of the Manhattan Bridge that I take all the time, but this is the first time I took it from a speeding bike

"Pedal, Baby, Pedal!" I love this guy!

Passing the Brooklyn Bridge

After DUMBO it was onto the BQE (Brooklyn Queens Expressway) Literally, on the BQE. This is a major highway that was shut down to car traffic for the tour. Normally bicycles would not be on this road. I shot a little video -

And took some pictures -

The  BQE portion of the tour is a long one. As we rode along, I looked to my right at the bike & pedestrian path. It's a beautiful path - we bike along it during The NYC Century Tour. But even more importantly, I know that my pal Trixie runs along there. I thought "How cool would it be if I saw Trixie out for a run?" I continued riding, and occasionally looking over and taking pictures.

As I was taking pictures of my legs...

...I hear from an overpass "Sheryl!" I look up and lo and behold, it was Trixie!!! I couldn't believe she was up there and saw me! Since my camera was handy, I got a photo of her -

And this is the pic she had taken of me, taking a photo of her -

I can't even tell you how exciting that was! I had just been thinking about her and hoping I'd see her and sure enough I did - but not in the way I expected. Freaking awesome! I <3 that woman!!

We continued along the BQE towards the Verrazano Bridge...

We looped through some local roads in Brooklyn on our way to the bridge, finally making it to the entrance of the Verrazano. I couldn't believe it was nearly the end of the tour already!

MTA Bridge & Tunnel Authority Welcomes Cyclists!

I shot a little video at the start of the ramp too-

And here's a few pics taken on the span-

And all of a sudden we were over the bridge and in our 5th and final boro of the day: Staten Island!

At the end of that bridge is the festival. The unofficial end of the tour.

We made it to the festival shortly after noon. It took pretty much exactly 4 hours from the time we started. I had a quick bite, sent a few texts/tweets, and took a few photos -

Yes, I rode the whole tour in 4" heels. Yes, these are my official bike shoes. Yes, this is an outfit, not a 'costume'. Now please stop asking me these questions!!!

Leaving the festival, Sherry and I checked out the 'scenic overlook' - it was scenic, but it came with a history lesson. History bores me to tears but my Dad would have loved it.

From there it was another few miles by bike to the Staten Island Ferry.

Close up of the shiny new tassels and clean new handlegrips

We got to Manhattan, and rode along the East River where I got some of my favorite shots of the day...

Gone Fishing

We made our way to the Williamsburg Bridge, which we rode back to Brooklyn.

I headed straight for my usual post-bike tour ritual bar, The Habitat. And ordered what else? Beer and french fries, or course! Meal of bike tour champions and glamour girls everywhere! Yummmmmm!

From there I went home and downloaded/uploaded my photos. Then I laid down for a nap around 4pm. And slept till 6am... which is one reason this blog didn't get posted on Sunday. Here are my heart rate stats for the day:

Bike ride to lower Manhattan:
Total Time: 47 minutes 
Minutes in Cardio Zone: 29 minutes
Percentage of Time in Cardio Zone: 61.70%
Average Heart Rate: 132
High Heart Rate: 164
Total Calories Burned: 322
Total Miles: 6 

Bike Tour:
Total Time: 242 minutes (4 hours, 2 minutes)
Minutes in Cardio Zone: 163 minutes
Percentage of Time in Cardio Zone: 67.36%
Average Heart Rate: 136
High Heart Rate: 173
Total Calories Burned: 1732
Total Miles: 42 (allegedly... according to my cyclometer this was closer to 37)

Bike ride home to Brooklyn:
Total Time: 57 minutes
Minutes in Cardio Zone: 20 minutes
Percentage of Time in Cardio Zone: 35.09%
Average Heart Rate: 122
High Heart Rate: 153
Total Calories Burned: 335
Total Miles: 6

I love the 5 Boro Bike Tour! I had an AWESOME time. I just can't believe it went by so fast. Oh, and all day people were telling me they recognized me from the tour guide. Many even remembered/called me by name. And of course I got the usual questions a million times - about my shoes/outfit. Although I was disappointed that not a single person asked me if my bike had gears because I had a response I couldn't wait to use:

"Gears are for PU$$IES"

Maybe I will get to use it at the next bike tour!

Before I go, since a few people inquired, this is what I ate this day:

• Before leaving the apartment I had a nectarine, coffee w/ soy and my usual vegan pumpkin pancakes.
• Waiting at the starting line, I had a coffee with soy.
• At the start of the tour I had a banana and a bagel.
• At some point along the way on the tour I had a vegan power bar.
• After the tour I had 1/2 a vegan turkey salad sandwich. I ate the other half at some point, maybe on the ferry. I can't remember.
• At the bar I had 2 pints of beer and an order of fries.
• When I got home I had more coffee with soy (in an attempt to stay awake - it didn't work) and a vegan chocolate tofu knish.
• I only drank about 8 glasses of water throughout the day. Not nearly enough considering all my activity.

Oh, one last thing - Here's a video Diana found on YouTube. I appear for a second at the 57 second mark!



And finally, my entire Flickr set can be seen here.