My Pictures of

The Five Boro Bike Ride

May 1, 2005

This year, I didn't get around to sending out my email to see if anyone wanted to go with me on Bike New York. So I went by myself (if you can call being with 30,000 other riders, "by myself").

I ran into an old friend, Delia, from the Erie Canal Ride, 2000, before the start of the ride, so I had someone to ride with.

The rest of the story is in the pictures below.

Click on a thumbnail to see a larger picture.

I drive to Staten Island, park there, and take the ferry across to Manhattan where the ride starts. I forgot to send out my usual email asking people if they wanted to go with me this year. I did ask the students in my class, but when I told them how early they had to get up, they lost interest. So I was all by myself this year and I made it in time for the 5:30 am ferry. Here is the line waiting to get on the ferry. It turns out this was a passenger only ferry. Here's a view of the inside.

Another view of the inside. Yet another view of the inside. Looks like the whole place is a bike area!

I walked up to the front to take this picture. It was still before sunrise and foggy and drizzly. The Verrazano Narrows bridge that we will eventually ride over to get back to Staten Island is in the background. Since I was on the first ferry and the earliest ever for me, I wound up closer to the start line than ever before. The orange webbing on the ground is as close as one could get without having paid extra for a VIP pass. The empty street ahead is reserved for VIP pass folks.

Here's some of the people waiting behind me. I got to the start line about 6 am and the ride actually starts at 8 am. So there's a lot of waiting! Here's Delia. I first met her and her sister, Barb, on the Erie Canal ride in 2000. They were on a tandem then, but ride single bikes in a crowded ride like the Five Boro Ride. It turns out we had exchanged cell phone numbers before the ride expecting to meet up at the festival. But she rode up the cross street right in front of me to get to the VIP area (yes, she had a VIP pass) and I saw her and waved, so she came back to talk to me. We wound up riding together all the way around. Barb also had a VIP pass (actually Delia had both of them) but got lost and wound up back in the main pack.

It started raining before the ride started and kept on for several hours. So there wasn't much to do but ride! We rode to the Astoria Park rest stop, roughly the halfway point, where we took a break. The ride is held at the park until 10:15 am, so we would have had to take a break whether we wanted to or not. Another shot of Astoria Park. The snacks weren't so great this year. Oh well.

It continued to be rainy and overcast, so we made it to the festival without stopping. The access to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge was much better this year. In past years, we've looped from the BQE into Brooklyn and then back to the bridge ramps and there was usually a big jam up. This year it seems we just went right from the BQE to the bridge with no waiting. (Maybe there was a line later, but when we went it was great.) In any case, here's Delia riding up to the midpoint of the bridge. Delia starting the descent down to Staten Island.

The view of Brooklyn in the foreground and Manhattan in the background from the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The porta-potty lines at the festival with the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in the background.

There must have been a reason I took this picture, but I can't remember what. Maybe it's all the riders behind the green fence who are just arriving at the festival. I can certainly remember why I took this one! If you like women with long legs...

Another shot of the festival. When we arrived (about noon) it wasn't very crowded. We walked up to the food court and were maybe fourth or fifth in line. By the time we got served, the line had grown to hundreds! By the time we left (around 2pm) the festival was very crowded. We rode back to the parking lot/ferry. I later heard from Delia that she had to wait about an hour and 40 minutes in the ferry line (even with a VIP pass). Altogether it was a 42 mile ride. I seem to remember in past years it was a 44 mile ride. I wonder if the new routing onto the bridge shortened the ride a bit.

	I drive to Staten Island, park there, and take the ferry across to Manhattan where the ride starts. I forgot to send out my usual email asking people if they wanted to go with me this year. I did ask the students in my class, but when I told them how early they had to get up, they lost interest. So I was all by myself this year and I made it in time for the 5:30 am ferry. Here is the line waiting to get on the ferry.		It turns out this was a passenger only ferry. Here's a view of the inside.
	Another view of the inside.		Yet another view of the inside. Looks like the whole place is a bike area!
	I walked up to the front to take this picture. It was still before sunrise and foggy and drizzly. The Verrazano Narrows bridge that we will eventually ride over to get back to Staten Island is in the background.		Since I was on the first ferry and the earliest ever for me, I wound up closer to the start line than ever before. The orange webbing on the ground is as close as one could get without having paid extra for a VIP pass. The empty street ahead is reserved for VIP pass folks.
	Here's some of the people waiting behind me. I got to the start line about 6 am and the ride actually starts at 8 am. So there's a lot of waiting!		Here's Delia. I first met her and her sister, Barb, on the Erie Canal ride in 2000. They were on a tandem then, but ride single bikes in a crowded ride like the Five Boro Ride. It turns out we had exchanged cell phone numbers before the ride expecting to meet up at the festival. But she rode up the cross street right in front of me to get to the VIP area (yes, she had a VIP pass) and I saw her and waved, so she came back to talk to me. We wound up riding together all the way around. Barb also had a VIP pass (actually Delia had both of them) but got lost and wound up back in the main pack.
	It started raining before the ride started and kept on for several hours. So there wasn't much to do but ride! We rode to the Astoria Park rest stop, roughly the halfway point, where we took a break. The ride is held at the park until 10:15 am, so we would have had to take a break whether we wanted to or not.		Another shot of Astoria Park. The snacks weren't so great this year. Oh well.
	It continued to be rainy and overcast, so we made it to the festival without stopping. The access to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge was much better this year. In past years, we've looped from the BQE into Brooklyn and then back to the bridge ramps and there was usually a big jam up. This year it seems we just went right from the BQE to the bridge with no waiting. (Maybe there was a line later, but when we went it was great.) In any case, here's Delia riding up to the midpoint of the bridge.		Delia starting the descent down to Staten Island.
	The view of Brooklyn in the foreground and Manhattan in the background from the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.		The porta-potty lines at the festival with the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in the background.
	There must have been a reason I took this picture, but I can't remember what. Maybe it's all the riders behind the green fence who are just arriving at the festival.		I can certainly remember why I took this one! If you like women with long legs...
	Another shot of the festival. When we arrived (about noon) it wasn't very crowded. We walked up to the food court and were maybe fourth or fifth in line. By the time we got served, the line had grown to hundreds! By the time we left (around 2pm) the festival was very crowded. We rode back to the parking lot/ferry. I later heard from Delia that she had to wait about an hour and 40 minutes in the ferry line (even with a VIP pass). Altogether it was a 42 mile ride. I seem to remember in past years it was a 44 mile ride. I wonder if the new routing onto the bridge shortened the ride a bit.