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Looks like tons of riders braved today's gloomy weather to participate in the big Tour de Brooklyn ride. The second annual event started and ended at Tompkins Park in Bed-Stuy-- rumors of BBQ at the end have not yet been substantiated. The rain has left us too depressed to get out of bed, so we didn't make it to the ride-- did you go?
Pix by Aberjona on Flickr.
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"BARBECUE" It's spelled "barbecue".
you mean, as in a BBQ?
"and a period goes inside quotation marks." so what?
was it just me or did this ride seem a little unorganized? i rode the 1st one last year and it seemed to go smoother. from the late start to the construction on roads, to the many stops along the way - i was a little disappointed. on the plus, it was a good turnout for a rather grey day.
I rode it. Not very good.
Last year's was much better, as the route took us down to Coney Island along some nice wide routes along Ocean Parkway. I don't know what genius planned the path, but it took us down narrow streets causing significant bottlenecks.
Additionally, it took us around the butt-ugliest parts of Brooklyn - outskirts of Red Hook and the Navy Yards. Due to the remoteness of the route, there was also a lack of places to take a wizz, which I needed to do from mile 1 because they held us at the start so long. I had to duck into Fairway to use the head.
Plus, the rest stop was three miles from the end, what's the point? The best part was when we passed Angel Bakery, as the smell was heavenly (npi)
All in all, mucho suckiness. Perhaps they were trying to build support for that Brooklyn Greenway Initiative by routing us that way, but all it did was show me how fugly that area is.
you should have just wizzed in Red Hook. Heck, the wizz actually might make Red Hook smell better. That place sucks.
I agree. Last year's was much smoother (and I do mean smoother, taking us over cobblestones wasn't the best idea). But if I recall, last year people complained that we didn't see enough neighborhoods, just down and up Ocean Parkway. I liked that there was only one rest stop this year, though. Last year, there were two, which was too much.
Overall, I think the ride was was too slow and could have benefited from better mapping. But TransAlt will learn from the past two years and I'm sure next year's route will be better.
Also, I agree that they're trying to gain support for the greenway, which was probably a big part of the mapping of the route.
I'd have gone, but it was way too early.
Can't they schedule these things for late morning or early afternoon?
Given that they have to close streets for it, they need to do them early in the day. Just don't be such a lazy bastard and get your ass up in the morning.
Considering that the feeder rides met up at 7:45, and the actual ride didn't start until after 9:30, that was almost two hours of waiting before we got started. And yes, the cobblestones sucked hard. I had to pee so bad by the time we got to Redhook, I just went home.
On the other hand, it was a nice day out and I'm really grateful for Transportation Alternatives for organizing the event. I will definitely do it again next year. Hopefully with a little feedback, it will get better every year.
being from texas, here's a clarification. a barbecue is a grill. bbq is a style of sauce. big difference.
I did the ride, and I agree that overall it was fun, but that it wasn't the best idea to take that large of a group through narrow, cobblestoned streets - that was where most people sustained injuries or had bike problems. And yeah, putting the rest stop near the end of the tour- not such a great idea, although the rest stop itself was lovely, and thank goodness they had plenty of porta-potties. Also the riders were all really cooperative and nice to each other - no one complained or acted like a jerk when things got congested, and people were friendly towards each other at the rest stop.
It was fun, but as mentioned, S L O W.
Still, it's tough to complain about a free organized ride that shuts down the streets for you and offers up some snacks and a free beer.
Plus, it's always important to show up for an event like this--especially if you cycle in this city everyday. If nothing else, it increases the visibility and awareness of all of us trying to commute on bike.
If you want to ride a bike...move to China.
I found the ride yesterday -- like the 5-borough "bike" ride -- involved a fair amount of walking your bike. That was definitely boring. I'm not a traffic engineer, but why is it that there are so many bottlenecks leading to so much walking?
So ends the griping, because it was really cool to explore new areas of Brooklyn, see the beautiful old factories, etc.. My group just hung out and ate at the Red Hook ballfields for awhile instead of making the short trek to the AltTrans party.
I went on the bike tour yesterday, and rode til the end but saw no BBQ or beer. Was there any?
Aside from the cobblestone streets which gave me a serious *ss burn, the ride was fun! I'd do it again.