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Photos: Five Boro Bike Tour Rebounds After Last Year's Snafus
By
John Del Signore
Published May 7, 2012
Modified May 7, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published May 7, 2012
Modified May 7, 2012
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The organizers of the Five Boro Bike Tour appear to have delivered on their promise to work out some of the kinks that marred the massive group bike ride last year. It seems yesterday's the sublime weather and improved organization greatly reduced the consternation that erupted from last year's tour, which forced thousands of participants to a standstill in massive bike traffic jams repeatedly throughout the day.
Of course, there were still some bottlenecks, but with 32,000 cyclists on the streets, that's probably inevitable. The ride stretched over 40 miles of car-free streets throughout the five boroughs for the 35th annual tour, and almost 1,000 participants used the ride as a way to raise money for charity—organizers say that over $1 million was raised for groups including LIVESTRONG, Grassroot Soccer, Planned Parenthood of New York City, The Harlem School of Arts. The ride began in Lower Manhattan and headed north for a quick dip through the Bronx, then back down the east side of the FDR, over to Queens and Brooklyn and finishing with a ride over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge into Staten Island.
Here are a mix of reactions from the ride:
Cluster(youknowwhat) in Harlem. #5bbt twitpic.com/9i3l81
— Traci (@JumpingTraci) May 6, 2012
So this year I didn't want to die while biking over the verrazano. #improvement #tdfbbt #5boro #bikenyc
— Jacob Wake Up! (@JacobWakeUp) May 6, 2012
ARIGATO @bikenewyork #bikenyc #tdfbbt volunteers & organizers for a truly awesome day. Biking the FDR was surreal.
— melanie altarescu (@melwire) May 6, 2012
Congratulations to my fellow #weather geeks @AlRoker & @MikeWoodsFox5 for finishing the #NYC 5 Boro Bike Tour! #TDFBBT @bikenewyork
— AudreyPuente (@AudreyPuente) May 6, 2012
But while cyclists seem generally pleased by this year's tour, motorists were another story. "It's killing me," one frustrated motorist told the Staten Island Advance at a police barricade. "I just want to get to the ferry."
Tagged
cyclists
five boro bike tour
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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