Social Workout

Apres Le Deluge

Post Mortem of Five Borough Bike Tour

The First 5-Borough Bike Tour in 1977

30,000 people had signed up for yesterday's mega five borough Bike Tour in New York, and at game time it was raining buckets. Event Marshalls fretted. But, if nothing else, NYC bikers are tough, and they came out. Not the full 30K, but upwards of 15,000. And we rode. It's an amazing event of sheer logistical beauty: Entire avenues and bridges (like the FDR, Queensboro, and Verrazano) closed to cars, but open to bikers all day. I ended up drenched, had mud in my hair and ears, and the shakiest legs ever by the end. And I felt like a true urban fitness warrior. Here's the good news for those that missed out: The five borough tour kicks off a month of biking events throughout the city.

Two upcoming tours worth considering: The "Tour de Queens" on July 12th, and the "Tour de Brooklyn" on June 7th. Registration opens for the 22-mile Queens event on May 26th. The Brooklyn event is officially full, but they are opening up another 500 entries on the day of the event. Meanwhile, there's a city-wide Bike to Work Day on May 15 as part of this month-long program. Embrace your inner Lance, rain or shine.