A friend of mine did the 2023 5 Boro Bike Tour in New York City over my objections. I said "Don't do it, it's too crowded, it's full of tourists from out of town. You won't like it."
He went anyway and his thoughts are compiled here:
"There was extreme crowding at the start line in the TriBeCa area, people jostling each other. Disappointed this year because the only merch we got were these goofy yellow helmet covers. No shirts or other swag, nothing cool."
He went onto say, "Lots of tourists from out of town. Many different types of riders, so at the starting line you had people who barely could ride a bike next to people with $20,000 bicycles clipped in and head to toe in gear. When it started the high performance riders flew off fast weaving through slower riders."
The next criticism came about with the route. "The route had probably less than a mile in the Bronx. You went from Harlem over the Madison Avenue Bridge into the Bronx for 5 minutes and then back over the 3rd Avenue Bridge. It didn't feel right because the Bronx has so many awesome parks to bike in."
During the next leg of the trip there was a rest stop in Astoria park. "The only water they had was coming out of a hose attached to a hydrant. Spartan to say the least. For food all they had was a giant pile of bananas lying on the ground in the park. What are we a bunch of monkeys? For $150 I expected more."
Much of the route went over highways, like the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and Gowanus Expressway. This is where the different type of riders clashed: "Some people treated the 5 Boro Bike Tour like a race and were zipping around clipped in weaving etc. If you were doing a leisurely ride you had to really be careful because everyone was going at a different speed. That being said there were lots of parts that were wide open and easy to ride. Biking on the highway was a cool experience."
The final leg was over the Verrazzano Bridge and ended at a park in Staten Island. "Biking over the Verrazzanno was cool, but it's a long and boring ride for the most part. The final party area was ok, but they did not have any free food and there were food trucks that had jacked up their prices. One gyro was $19 dollars at the food truck. I decided to not eat."
"There was also a VIP area at the finish and zero people in it. No one barbecuing, nothing. While the finish festival was ok, I did not realize that it was nowhere near the Staten Island Ferry. After such a long bike ride, it was rather annoying to have to bike another 4 miles after the bike tour was over to get back to Manhattan."
There was an enormous wait for the Staten Island Ferry."I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT THAT STUPID $19 GYRO. I waited nearly 3 hours at the Staten Island Ferry area on the Staten Island side. Complete shitshow. I was starving by the time we boarded the ferry. Everyone was so jammed together waiting for the ferry I couldn't even go to a deli to grab food for water. My girlfriend had suggested I stop the 5 Boro Bike Tour in Bay Ridge and bike back to Manhattan. I should have done that."
I had also suggested to him he could have biked over the Bayonne Bridge up through Bayonne and Jersey City and taken the PATH or a ferry from there. It would have definitely taken less than 3 hours.
All and all my friend said he would not do the 5 Boro Bike Tour again. "Much more fun to do rides in a small group or on my own." He indicated it was not worth the $150. "Maybe for tourists it's cool, but I can have a lot more fun biking around NYC on my own terms. Not worth the hassle."
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