So i told Mike I'd post something about the New York Bike Tour I did about a month ago. I am finally getting to that so forgive me if its "old news" already. Anyway before i get into details I'll briefly give you my background. I am a soccer player and I am new to cycling... I had always been interested in the sport especially since my father used to race as an amateur when i was a little kid and while I'd be going off to soccer practice all throughout my elementary/high school/college career I'd see my dad going out for rides, I would always say it was something I would like to get into. So with my college career officially over and my men's league career in full effect i started to feel somewhat frustrated one day when I went to a game and played one of my better games yet my team still lost. I felt like i put in all i could yet didn't see the direct results of my effort with the win that i was looking for. Basically after this I started thinking to myself I wanted to try something different.... something i could put all my effort in and be satisfied with the results because it was just myself and no team involved. This "Epiphany" combined with my upcoming birthday this past September and my dad coming home from an afternoon bike ride when i was home visiting my family all helped the light bulb in my head switch on. I'm going to get into cycling.
So after a couple trips to westwood cycle and some visits to performance.com I was fully ready to go. With my new bike and about 15-20 rides with my dad or mike under my belt, i signed up to do the new york bike tour to get some experience with a nice 42 mile "traffic free" ride. So that morning i woke up at 5:45 am, and put on my cycling gear and rode through the eerily quiet streets of Hoboken from my apartment to the path while noticing upon arrival that it was really cold and I was just wearing shorts and a jersey. Shaking that thought by the arrival of the path train i rushed down the stairs and rolled myself and my bike onto the train along with countless over Hobokenites and their bikes. I knew what i was in for as soon as the train started moving out of the station. I woman grinning from ear to ear about the prospects of the long scenic ride through new york forgot to hold onto her bike and as it fell over i braced myself for the potential domino effect occurring but luckily she reacted and caught her bike before disaster. As i arrived in new york and got off the path i watched thousands of people all heading down the streets to the starting point. As i pull up to the back of the line at 6:30am only about 4 blocks from the starting point another cheery person pulls up next to me and just clips out of his pedals in time to step off his bike. While doing so he kicks his leg over and goes to ask his friend about trying to get coffee before they start while his bike teeters over onto mine and into my leg as well. This made me realize that I definitely wasn't even close to "traffic free" cycling at all. After waiting for the longest hour and a half ever in my life freezing from the wind tunnel created by the buildings and standing still...the ride finally began. I did not get over 6 mph on my bike computer until hitting central park. People were falling all over the place but luckily other than the old man's bike hitting my leg at the very beginning i made it unscathed. Once I hit central park the ride opened up and i was able to enjoy it very much. Riding through Queens and Brooklyn were my favorite parts and i was able to really ride hard without stops. Once we hit the Gowanus there were some nice climbs as well at the finish on the Verrazzano bridge where I was able to challenge myself amongst some strong riders. When the ride finished i enjoyed the Staten island ferry ride home to battery park and navigating to the path and back to my apartment for a nice rest. All in all i thought it was a great experience and look forward to doing it next year hopefully with a group of friends.