5 Boro Bike Tour

Last weekend was the 5 boro bike tour - 42 miles of biking through each of the five boroughs in NYC. I had wanted to do this ride last year, but it was set for a day that I was out of the country on vacation, so this year I made sure to plan my vacation either before or after it.

Anyway, I was pretty psyched to do this bike ride until I a few days before, when they started saying it was going to rain. I still had hope, because those weather people are never right. So I asked everyone to pray that it wouldn't rain.

Well I guess I need more religious friends, because it rained.

I woke up Sunday morning, saw it was cloudy out and drizzling, and thought to myself, hmmm I should've bought that poncho yesterday. Note - I did not buy said poncho the day before because (1) there was only a 30% chance of rain; and (2) ponchos are ugly and remind me of tourists and I would probably never wear it again. But I was regretting that decision Sunday morning, so I hastily tried to find a poncho at the supermarket or bodega - the only things that were open so early in the morning.

Well, I never found a poncho. And I debated whether I should even do the ride in the rain. But I soldiered on and met up with my people anyway, hoping that it would stop drizzling.

The ride starts all the way down in Battery Park, but unless you want to get stuck in that huge clusterf**k, its best to start uptown a little and get ahead of the pack. So that is what we did. And we made great time. We rode up sixth avenue, through Central Park, then up into the Bronx (briefly), and then back into Manhattan. We then got to ride on the FDR (which was closed) and over the Queensboro Bridge. We made it to Astoria Park, the first rest stop, by 9:30. At that point, my feet were pretty soaked, as was I, but it wasn't so bad. Plus, it stopped raining!. I grabbed some bananas, chips and lara bars, and used the porta potty (note: being a female and using the porta potty when you are soaking wet is, er, not so fun).

At 10:05, the tour started again and so did the rain. We made our way down through Queens and into Brooklyn, making great time again. I have to say, I was riding way faster than I rode last year, and that is all thanks to spin class. Now unfortunately, during this second half, it started to pour. Which wasn't horrible, but all that NYC dirt that was being thrown up onto my back and into my hair by my back tire? Well, that wasn't so fun.

On that last stretch of highway, as we approached the Verrazano bridge, which would take us into Staten Island, the final borough of the tour, I had had about enough. The rain was pelting me in the face, I was pretty sure my eye-makeup was streaming down my face (it wasn't, luckily) and I was ready for a hot shower. Of course they save the worse hill for last, but I pushed through it and we were done. But er, then we had to ride three miles back to the Staten Island ferry to get back to Manhattan. Mmmm great. And did I mention that I then had to bike back home once I got off the ferry? Well, needless to say, I rode as fast as I could home and after I cleaned up my dirty, sopping wet bike (and my apartment floor), I took a nice hot shower.

All in all, I am glad I did the tour and it was a lot of fun, despite the rain. Plus, I get to say I rode 42 miles and then some in the rain. Here's hoping next year's forecast is sun sun sun!