Tag Archives: @bikenewyork

32,000 Cyclists Take Over NYC Streets for 41st TD Five Boro Bike Tour

32,000 riders line up for the start of the 41st annual TD Five Boro Bike Tour of New York City © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

I was thinking of Nancy Vadreen, the student ambassador for the 41st annual TD Five Boro Bike Tour, as I flew down the mile-long descent off of the Verrazano Bridge (after the mile-long ascent) that deposits the 32,000 cyclists into the festival venue on Staten Island, feeling the wind in my face, so refreshing and freeing.

Nancy Vadreen, the student ambassador for the 41st annual TD Five Boro Bike Tour, describes her yearning as a 30-something, to learn how to ride a bicycle © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com

At the send-off for the ride that morning, she had described that feeling as a yearning. She was a 30-something who had never learned to ride a bike. “I dreamed of riding.” She went on the internet and discovered that Bike New York offers free classes at  many locations throughout the city. In fact, 25,000 people last year learned how to ride through Bike New York, the largest free biking education program in the country, and the annual TD Five Boro Bike Tour is the main fundraiser.

And here she was, riding in the 40-mile bike tour. “I’m proud and grateful to be riding the 40-miles at the TD Bike Tour. To learn to ride, to feel the wind when you coast downhill.”

I saw her again on the Staten Island ferry back to Manhattan after completing the ride – the thrill of accomplishment was still on her face.

REI, the presenting sponsor of the tour, pointed to the company credo, “Life outdoors is life well lived, it forges better connection to yourself.”

Kurt Feilke, retail director for the Northeast district for REI, the presenting sponsor of the tour, pointed to the company credo, “Life outdoors is life well lived, it forges better connection to yourself.” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Such an outdoors experience does even more – it fosters such a sense of comradeship, this shared experience. And  it brings you into neighborhoods that are so typically New York, with bands and entertainment to cheer and inspire the riders.

What is so special about New York City’s TD Five Boro Bike Tour is how, for one day, you and 32,000 of your closest friends, feel like you own the city. The streets, bridges and highways – like Sixth Avenue, the FDR Drive, the Queensborough Bridge, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the Verrazano (the longest suspension bridge in the Americas) are your domain. It makes you giddy. Neighborhoods ring with sound and spirit – Greenwich Village, Harlem, Astoria, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, DUMBO, Staten Island, Central Park’s blossoms seem to burst just for us.

First wave of riders head up Sixth Avenue for the start of the 41st Annual TD Five Boro Bike Tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The ride this year marked the 41st year of this event, which is the largest noncompetitive bike tour in North America. The ride has come quite a long way from that first one, in 1977, when just 250 people participated.

Riders, who race to get a spot as soon as registrations open (participation is limited to 32,000 but could easily be thousands more), came from every state in the nation (yes, Hawaii and Alaska), and this year came from 40 countries.

New York City has really embraced biking, and now offers 1,000 miles of dedicated bike lanes; some 800,000 New Yorkers regularly bike, said NYC DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg  The city is improving its connection between Manhattan and the Bronx. “There’s never been a better time to bike in New York.”

Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer sends riders off on the TD Five Boro Bike Tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said “Thank you for your bike lane advocacy, for being healthy, for being part of the city’s future.” She thanked the DOT for making the Harlem River Bridges safe.

The annual event raises money for bike education. Bike New York operates bike education centers, after school programs, summer camps, and this year launched a Women’s Initiative, as well as its first membership program. “Alums” from the bike education program are joining the ride this year as “Student Ambassadors.”

Numerous charities also use the event for fundraising, purchasing registrations which participants then raise money against. This year, 1,200 riders representing 57 charities, collectively raised $1 million, said Ken Podziba, President & CEO of Bike New York.

The bike tour is also a model of sustainability, promoting recycling, water conservation, becoming the largest sporting event to be certified for sustainability by the Council for Responsible Sport 3 years ago. Each rest stop featured “zero waste” receptacles. Even the rider numbers were recycled.

The ride is designed to be a family friendly tour, not a competition, appealing to all abilities, ages – volunteers hold signs to slow the pace and alert riders to turns and obstacles.

TD Bank, which has been the title sponsor for the past 12 years, pointed to the continual expansion of sustainability efforts.

There’s a lot of good will here REI raises $5 million for community organizations.

But it is mostly in the one-to-one, the shared excitement that goes through all the people.

Riders are sent off by the choral singing of the national anthem by Music With a Message © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The 40-miles pass with one broad smile – we are sent off by the choral singing of Music With a Message, socially-conscious youth who inspire positive change and bring their message of love, hope in their singing.

At 6th Avenue we get our first cheering squad – there are at least one in every borough – and bands representing their borough, including Bombayo, Giant Flying Turtles, Night Spins and the Rusty Guns (one of my favorites).

Ken Podziba, President & CEO of Bike New York © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

“The thing that ultimately makes the event so special has remained a constant and can be summed up in one word: diversity,” writes Bike New York CEO Podziba in the official guide to the tour. “For decades, we’ve welcomed riders from dozens of countries and from every corner of this one, children and octogenarians, bike messengers, weekend warriors, everyday commuters, and even unicyclists, old pros and first timers… You never know who’ll be standing next to you at the starting line – they may be from a country you’ve never heard of.

“But diversity isn’t simply what makes our ridership so special – it’s also what makes New York City like no other place on the planet. Depending on who you ask, as many as 800 languages are spoken here. As you ride through all five of our beautiful boroughs… you’ll get the experience a 40-mile slice of the most populous, dynamic and ethnically diverse city in the country.”

Every manner of cycle can be seen on the TD Five Boro Bike Tour. Here, a loving grandson takes his grandmother in a rickshaw-style cycle so she can enjoy the experience. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

There are any number of incarnations of bikes – tandems, kiddie carts, even elliptical contraptions that seem better suited to a gym (I meet a woman from Salt Lake City who said that 100 of them joined the tour from all parts of the country). There was even a grandson riding a rickshaw so his grandmother could have the joy of the Five Boro tour.

Indeed, everyone marvels at how well organized the ride is and all the precautions that are taken to make the ride safe, though we did see some spills and marveled at how quickly aid was provided..

We are 32,000 riders, but there are 2,000 volunteers who assist all along the way – marshals and course captains and EMS, and people along the route who tell us when to slow down and prepare for a turn, and rest stop people who hand out water and snacks.

And there is such a sense of liberation to take over New York City’s streets.

The band Bombayo entertains riders in the Bronx © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com

The ride embraces all five boroughs – and each shows off with street entertainment, raising the spirits of the riders along the route, and at rest stops (Clif Bar sponsored a DJ and entertainment at the Con Ed rest area) and at the Finish Festival on Staten Island (still three miles from the actual 40-mile mark, at the ferry terminal), where, all the finishers received a medal (and TD sponsored a free massage).

Here are more highlights:

TD Five Boro Bike Tour heads rides through Central Park © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com
Taking over the streets: TD Five Boro Bike Tour goes through the FDR tunnel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Riding over the Queensborough Bridge © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com
The famous Silvercup sign greens riders as they come into Queens © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Riding down the ramp from the Queensborough Bridge, with Manhattan Skyline © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Riding down the ramp from the Queensborough Bridge © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com
Street art along the TD Five Boro Bike Tour route © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com
Street art along the TD Five Boro Bike Tour route © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Live Poultry Slaughter (Comedy Club) © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com
Making the turn © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
One of most dramatic views of the ride: Empire State Building framed by Manhattan Bridge in DUMBO © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The finish line of the TD Five Boro Bike Tour is a festival on Staten Island © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

As in recent years, the  bike tour is preceded by a two-day Bike Expo, when bikers can take advantage of discounts and giveaways by scores of bike, biking gear, and bike tour companies and destinations from Quebec in Canada, to Taiwan, and special biking events through the World Association of Cycling Events.

I learned about a new online biking trip planner for the state of Maine, organized by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, various biking groups and clubs (www.bikemaine.org/wheretoride), as well as Maine’s annual 8-Day Bike Maine trip with 450 riders going 320 miles (2018 is fully booked). There’s also the Bold Cost Scenic Bikeway, 211 miles of low-traffic, on-road riding; you can get detailed online and printable maps, GPS data, and local information to organize a self-guided ride (BikeBoldCoast.com).

Also, a 45-day cross-country bike tour, from San Diego, California to St. Augustine, Florida, with luxury accommodations (none of this camping stuff), fine dining, for $13,000, through Cycle of Life Adventures (they also have less ambitious itineraries). (cycleoflifeadventures.com, 303-945-9886).

Bike New York, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY, Suite 1300, New York, NY 10115, www.bikenewyork.org, Follow @bikenewyork on Facebook and Instagram.

____________________

© 2018 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com,  www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin , and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

 

32,000 Cyclists Take over NYC Streets for 40th Anniversary of TD Five Boro Bike Tour

32,000 riders at the starting line for the TD Five Boro Bike Tour. This year celebrates 40 years since the first ride, when 250 participated.© Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

What is so special about New York City’s TD Five Boro Bike Tour is how, for one day, you and 32,000 of your closest friends, feel like you own the city. The streets, bridges and highways – like Sixth Avenue, the FDR Drive, the Queensborough Bridge, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the Verrazano are your domain. It makes you giddy. Neighborhoods ring with sound and spirit – Greenwich Village, Harlem, Astoria, Greenpoint, DUMBO. Central Park’s blossoms seem to burst just for us.

TD Five Boro Bike Tour riders head up 6th Ave .© Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com

The ride this year marked the 40th anniversary of this event, which is the largest noncompetitive bike tour in North America. The ride has come quite a long way from that first one, in 1977, when just 250 people participated.

Riders, who race to get a spot as soon as registrations open (participation is limited to 32,000 but could easily be thousands more), came from every state in the nation (yes, Hawaii and Alaska), and 1300 riders came from 43 countries, as far as Australia.

Bill Nye, the Science Guy, tells TD Five Boro Bike riders, “The bicycle is the most efficient machine known to humankind”.© Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com

Bill Nye the Science Guy greeted the crowd as they lined up in downtown Manhattan, extending a mile, saying, “The bicycle is the most efficient machine known to humankind.” The ride, he says, brings the joy of movement, of being part of the city. Strong hearts. Free minds. Together we can change the world.”

New York City has really embraced biking, and now offers miles and miles of dedicated bike lanes – dozens more this year.

Manhattan Borough President Gail Brewer said that 750,000 New Yorkers now bike regularly, 50 percent more since 2012. “Thank you for your bike lane advocacy, for being healthy, for being part of the city’s future.”

TD Five Boro Bike Tour group at Radio City Music Hall, 6th Avenue © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The annual event raises money for bike education – 17,000 people a year learn how to ride, the largest free biking education program in the country. Bike New York operates bike education centers, after school programs, summer camps, and this year launched a Women’s Initiative, as well as its first membership program. “Alums” from the bike education program are joining the ride this year as “Student Ambassadors.”

The surreal scene riding through the underpass on the FDR © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com

Numerous charities such as Doctors Without Borders, also use the event for fundraising, purchasing registrations which participants then raise money against.

One of the charities is the Lighthouse Guild, a not-for-profit vision and healthcare organization with a long history of addressing the needs of people who are blind or visually impaired, and will have several cyclists who are blind riding tandem bikes including a former triathlete, Charles-Edward, who became blind five years ago.

Spiraling down the ramp from the Queensboro Bridge passed Silvercup gives a dramatic view of Manhattan skyline .© Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com

The bike tour is also a model of sustainability, promoting recycling, water conservation, becoming the largest sporting event to be certified for sustainability by the Council for Responsible Sport 3 years ago and this year, earning gold level. Each rest stop featured “zero waste” recepticals.

The ride is designed to be a family friendly tour, not a competition, appealing to  all abilities, ages – a pace car keeps the speed down, and keep it safe.

“Diversity is what makes the ride,” says Sam Polcer, who handles communications for Bike New York.

Indeed, everyone marvels at how well organized the ride is and all the precautions that are taken to make the ride safe. The route has also been improved to unplug some of the bottlenecks of years ago, so there is a nice flow.

And there is such a sense of liberation to take over New York City’s streets.

The Rusty Guns, one of the many bands that keep riders’ spirits up as they travel through all five boroughs of New York City © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com

The ride embraces all five boroughs – and each shows off with street entertainment. In all, there were some 25 bands raising the spirits of the riders along the route, and at rest stops (Clif Bar sponsored a DJ and entertainment at the Con Ed rest area) and at the Finish Festival on Staten Island, where, for the first time, all the finishers received a commemorative 40th anniversary medal.

My favorite scene along the 40-mile TD Five Boro Bike tour: Empire State Building framed in the base of Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com

As in recent years, the  event is preceded by a two-day Bike Expo, when cyclists can take advantage of discounts and giveaways by scores of bike, biking gear, and bike tour companies and destinations from the New York State’s Erie Canalway, to the Laurentians in Canada, to Taiwan, and special biking events like the Granfondo Campagnolo Roma,  October 6-8, 2017, through the World Association of Cycling Events, along with Granfondo Campagnolo Roma.

Messages of encouragement to get over the 1 mile climb on the Verrazano, the last challenge before the Finish Festival on Staten Island, at the 40 mile mark of the TD Five Boro Bike tour © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com

In a first for the TD Five Boro Bike Tour’s 40th anniversary year, friends and family were able to follow their rider’s progress along the 40 mile route, by virtue of a chip embedded in the number card on each bike.

Riders could sign up to have their progress posted automatically on their Facebook or Twitter pages, or enter the phone numbers of up to three people to keep them updated via SMS (text), so that folks can know when they start the Tour, reach several rest areas along the route and finish.

For the first time, the Tour was also broadcast live by NTD.TV. It could be viewed at http://www.ntd.tv/live; https://www.facebook.com/NTDTelevision/ and http://youtube.com/user/ntdtv

Bike New York, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY, Suite 1300, New York, NY 10115, www.bikenewyork.org, Follow @bikenewyork on Facebook and Instagram.

____________________

© 2017 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com,  www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin , and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

32,000 Get Ready, Get Set To Fill NYC Streets for the 40th Anniversary TD 5 Boro Bike Tour & You Can Follow Your Rider Along

32,000 riders at the starting line for the TD Five Boro Bike Tour. This year celebrates 40 years since the first ride, when 250 participated.© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

In a first for the TD Five Boro Bike Tour’s 40th anniversary year, friends and family will be able to follow their rider’s progress along the 40 mile route, by virtue of a chip embedded in the bib.

The ride – which caps participation at 32,000 – is the largest noncompetitive bike tour in North America, with riders from every state (Hawaii and Alaska included) and 1300 riders from 43 countries, coming from as far as Australia.

Remarkable to consider that when the first ride was held in 1977, just 250 participated.

The annual event raises money for bike education – 17,000 people a year learn how to ride, the largest free biking education program in the country. Bike New York operates bike education centers, after school programs, summer camps, and this year launched a Women’s Initiative, as well as its first membership program. “Alums” from the bike education program are joining the ride this year as “Student Ambassadors.”

This year, Bill Nye the Science Guy will be riding and will help launch the ride which gets underway in waves, beginning at 7:30 am from downtown Manhattan.

Numerous charities such as Doctors Without Borders, also use the event for fundraising, purchasing registrations which participants then raise money against.

One of the charities is the Lighthouse Guild, a not-for-profit vision and healthcare organization with a long history of addressing the needs of people who are blind or visually impaired, and will have several cyclists who are blind riding tandem bikes including a former triathlete, Charles-Edward, who became blind five years ago.

The bike tour is also a model of sustainability, promoting recycling, water conservation, becoming the largest sporting event to be certified for sustainability by the Council for Responsible Sport 3 years ago and this year, earning gold level.

The ride is designed to be a family friendly tour, not a competition, appealing to  all abilities, ages – a pace car keeps the speed down, and keep it safe.

“Diversity is what makes the ride,” says Sam Polcer, who handles communications for Bike New York.

The route has also been improved to unplug some of the bottlenecks of years ago, so there is a nice flow.

And there is such a sense of liberation to take over New York City’s streets.

The ride embraces all five boroughs – and each shows off with street entertainment. In all, there will be some 25 bands along the route, and at rest stops (Clif Bar is sponsoring a DJ and entertainment at the Con Ed rest area) and at the Finish Festival on Staten Island, where, for the first time, all the finishers will receive a commemorative 40th anniversary medal.

As in recent years, the  event is preceded by a two-day Bike Expo, when bikers can take advantage of discounts and giveaways by scores of bike, biking gear, and bike tour companies and destinations from the New York State’s Erie Canalway, to the Laurentians in Canada, to Taiwan, and special biking events like the Granfondo Campagnolo Roma,  October 6-8, 2017, through the World Association of Cycling Events, along with Granfondo Campagnolo Roma.

Riders can sign up (click here) to have theirr progress posted automatically on their Facebook or Twitter pages, or enter the phone numbers of up to three people to keep them updated via SMS (text), so that folks can know when they start the Tour, reach several rest areas along the route and finish.

Anyone not riding the Tour can follow along with a live broadcast produced by NTD.TV. View it here:

Also, don’t forget to follow @bikenewyork on Facebook and Instagram for the latest from the Tour.

If you want to cheer on the riders or catch any of the entertainment we have planned along the route, check out the Tour’s entertainment page for info. Tag @bikenewyork and use the official event hashtag: #TDFBBT

Bike New York, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY, Suite 1300, New York, NY 10115, www.bikenewyork.org.

____________________

© 2017 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com,  www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin , and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures