On May 4th, three TeamOne members (Chet, John, and Z) went on their second out-of-state road trip to participate in New York City’s Bike Tour (5 Boro BikeNYC) 40-mile course traversing all five boroughs (Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island).

This trip was the first time Chet and John visited the big apple, and they wanted to see some of the sites before the ride and more after. This city is well known by Z so he was nominated by a democratic vote (2 to 1) to be the official tour guide. Z, acting as a tour guide, quickly found out that the city had changed since the last time he visited.

Disclaimer: You can skip to the 13-minute video now which conveys a visual summary of the four days or read a day by day detailed description of their stay in NYC. 🙂

Details

The team members landed in LaGuardia Airport, the old PanAm building that JetBlue now occupies.  The building was like traveling back in time.  The lobby was decorated in keeping with the era when PanAm was flying. After taking in all the visual beauty of the PanAm building the members hailed a cab to their hotel.

Once the hotel registration was completed, they went onward to the BikeNYC Expo on Pier 36 for event packet pickup.  The Expo contained many vendors displaying their merchandise with samples of many nutritional items.  Chet, John, and Z sampled most of the edible treats to curb their hunger for the moment.  The team members also tried on a pair of glycerin shoe inserts by Massaging Insoles. Z purchased a set after a few minutes of testing the inserts, finding they relieved his knee pain.  Z said those “Massaging Insoles” are going to help with all the walking to come during this visit.

After leaving the Expo, the group walked, sight-seeing, and taking plenty of pictures: Seaport Village, Lower East Side (LES), Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn (BKLYN) Bridge, Financial District, World Trade Center Memorial, Freedom Tower, and Little Italy.

They met a friend (Wil) at a great Italian restaurant in little Italy call Da Nico.  Da Nico Ristorante has been family owned and operated since its foundation in 1993. A staple in the New York Community, Da Nico Ristorante serves a wonderful array of the highest quality Italian cuisine ( Dinner Menu).

After dinner, a special impromptu vehicle tour by Dragon Wil (Tour & Limo Service) continued the sight-seeing,  including: The Village (Greenwich), SoHo, Tribeca, The Bowery, Williamsburg Bridge (getting gas in BKLYN), Alphabet City, Union Square, Stuyvesant Village, United Nations, Radio City Music Hall, 5th Avenue, Westside, Hell’s Kitchen, 42nd Street (Time Square), Madison Square Garden (MSG), Chelsea, Charging Bull, and Battery Park.

After a late-night and late start to the day, the team members headed to scout out the rental bike pick up spot, then went to Bowling Green station to take the #4 train North into the Bronx.  Yankee stadium is the destination to view the Yankees vs the Minnesota Twins in a Star Wars theme day.  Much to Z’s dismay, Minnesota rose to victory on this day. Once the game ended, it was time for the group to head south to midtown Manhattan.

Time was short before their dinner reservations with plenty of sites to see and explore still remaining, like Grand Central (42nd St.) Station, Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, and stopping at Gallagher’s.

Gallagher’s is located just steps from the dazzling lights of Broadway and the pulsing energy of Times Square. Gallagher’s Steakhouse takes its rightful place at the very heart of New York City. For over 90 years, the log flame & Hickory icon combines two of Gallaghers most distinctive features.  The flame above the logs pays tribute to their hickory coal grills—unique among all the restaurants in New York as the only way they cook their USDA prime steak.  Their sirloins and ribeyes are dry-aged for 28-days while the filet mignon is wet-aged for 21-days making for a really tender and tasty steak ( Dinner Menu).

The day started early at 4:00 am-ish. It takes a little more time to get started when 3 grown men are sharing an average (small) hotel room in NYC and layering bicycle gear for the impending cold and rain. The local news had been labeling this day as a “Soaker” because of the constant rain forecasted.

The group hoped that the newscasters were wrong again, but of course today they were absolutely correct.  A 46-degree morning destined to climb to 53-degree afternoon while going from a steady light to a soaker rain loomed ahead. A couple of minutes in the rain showed them the difference between water-resistant and waterproof gear.  Guess what they had on?

The bike pickup went smoothly. Good thing the group arrived early. Once the bike pickup opened up, the group had true bicycle mechanics work on their bicycles before the rush arrived.  They arrived at the start 2 wave early, so they were allowed to start with the first wave. After what seemed like hours of getting rained on, the event finally started with over 32,000 riders.

This 40-mile bike tour started in lower Manhattan a few blocks north of the Freedom Tower.  TeamOne members started heading north on 7th Avenue, riding through Central Park, Harlem, to the Bronx (8.5 mi), south on the FDR Drive, crossing east into Queens (14.5 mi), north again to Astoria, southeast on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) into Brooklyn (21 mi), crossing the Verrazano Bridge into Staten Island (35.23 mi).

The members rode across the finish line, soaked to the skin, together to receive their medals. They attempted to join the festivities but the grass field had turned into 2 inches of mud because of torrential and constant rain, which had only let up to a sprinkle about 10 minutes prior. Too much mud!  Instead, they took their picture and continued to finish the last 4.75 miles to the St. George Staten Island ferry terminal.  On the 25-minute ferry ride back to the Whitehall Terminal in Manhattan, they passed by the Statue of Liberty while taking in the lower Manhattan skyline.  This ferry ride gave them time to reflect on how much energy it took to push through all the large water puddles on the route.

The routes were fully marked and picturesque despite all the rain.  There were plenty of fully stocked rest stops along the route with music and a multitude of great volunteers helping.  The only thing that was different than any other ride was that all riders were directed to unclip by security personnel a quarter mile from the rest stops.  Walking that quarter-mile, in cleats, while wading through puddles, asphalt streets, concrete sidewalks to and from the rest stops proved to be a slight pain because of the rain.  All in all, though, it was a great ride! The trio agreed they would love to do it again in good weather.

By the time they returned to the hotel and showered, it was mid-evening, and they were starving. They didn’t eat anything in the field because of all the mud. The group didn’t want to go far from the hotel and wanted a sit down relaxing place to eat. The members wondered a block or two away from the hotel to find Toro Loco an upscale Mexican restaurant which from the dinner menu posted outside seemed like a good idea. With all the events in the past couple of days, they forgot it was Cinco de Mayo. They couldn’t hear anything from the outside of the restaurant/bar until they stepped into the establishment. It was a little too lively and loud for their current mood. They left Toro Loco and walked west about half a block and found Antica Ristorante. Z has eaten there once before, about 2 years prior, experiencing the biggest Veal parmesan in his life but had forgotten it was in the financial district.

Antica Ristorante is nestled in the heart of the financial district. This restaurant has been serving up fine Italian cuisine for over a decade ( Dinner Menu).  The service was great and the attendants were very personal in their approach to the patrons like they were family.  The night came to an end after they all experienced a food coma, not sure if it was only the meal, the riding event or both?!

After a night of well-earned sleep, they woke up to a perfect day to walk around New York City.  The small group walked from about a block north of the Staten Island ferry to the Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant (CSBC).  The Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant is located at 4 Clinton Street where it meets Houston Street, in LES. The restaurant is noted especially for its pancakes, burgers, biscuits, and other fresh-baked goods. In December 2010, The New York Times described it as a “brunch magnet,” and The New York Daily News said the “legendary” dining destination was “the city’s hottest breakfast nook.”

Trying to walk off breakfast, they proceeded to Washington Square Park in the midst of NYU.  On the east side of the park, they enjoyed the experience of a saxophonist serenading a woman and her baby; at the north entrance, a pianist was also playing and singing as well as any professional selling their music in stores.  They stayed in the park for some time, taking in nature, the people, artist, and sights before continuing with their day.

Exiting the north side of the park, the group was in route to the famous Electric Lady Studios.  The Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in The Village (Greenwich). It was built by Jimi Hendrix and designed by John Storyk in 1970. Hendrix spent only ten weeks recording in Electric Lady before his death, but it has since been used by many notable artists and a very exclusive place to record.  Chet walked every square inch of the sidewalk and the entrance in hopes of channeling Jimi the next time he plays his guitar. Homage was paid to the studio in Jimi’s honor.

The next Jimi reference was within walking distance so the pilgrimage continued to “Café Wah?” just a few blocks away to the south.  “Café Wha?” is at the corner of MacDougal Street and Minetta Lane, a place that has presented numerous musicians and comedians. Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix who was recruited here by his manager Chas Chandler, Bruce Springsteen, The Velvet Underground, Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys, Kool and the Gang, Peter, Paul & Mary, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Joan Rivers, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor and many others all began,their careers at the Wha!

All this walking made them hungry again, so of course, before their departure from New York City, they headed back to East Houston Street.  They finally made their way to the corner of Houston and Ludlow in LES, to Katz’s delicatessen. The best pastrami and rye sandwich in New York City, if not the world, and where the movie “When Harry Met Sally” deli scene was filmed with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal.

Katz’s has been a Jewish kosher style delicatessen since its founding in 1888. It has been popular among locals and tourists alike for its pastrami on rye and corned beef sandwiches. It’s corned beef and pastrami is cured using a slower method, which best flavors the meat, without injecting chemicals, water, or other additives to speed the process. Their finished product can take up to a full 30 days to cure, while commercially prepared corned beef is often pressure-injected (or “pumped”) to cure in 36 hours. Yep, you read that right … 30 days vs. 36 hours. Each week, Katz’s serves 15,000 lbs of pastrami, 8,000 lbs of corned beef, 2,000 lbs of salami and 4,000 hot dogs. They took their sandwiches to go and made their way to LaGuardia (LGA) airport in Queens for the return flight to Orlando.


This was a great trip to bond with friends while sightseeing in the best city in the world.  There were many things to do and see in such a short period of time, and they surpassed their sightseeing goals.  The team felt many positive emotions when leaving New York City.

These team members have learned from their first road trip and made sure the bathroom had a good functioning ventilation system. 🙂 Follow the link if you would like to read the First Road Trip Story: “Augusta, GA Half Ironman – Chet’s Story” https://teamonecycle.com/2012/09/2012-augusta-ga-half-ironman-chet/

Top 5 Lessons Learned from the Trip

  1. The health effects of dairy on the male body, no bueno
  2. You have to leave Manhattan to fill your car with gas because there isn’t a gas station in Manhattan
  3. The difference of Water-Resistant vs Waterproof cycling gear
  4. Never ask for fresh ground pepper with your mouth full of refreshments at Antica Ristorante, if you would like to maintain a shred of diginity
  5. What NYC street water really smells like once it has dried on your cycling clothing

Event Day Statistics

This is the course charted by one of the TeamOne members who participated in the 35-mile route.

Video

Photos
Provided by Jun @ 18mph Studio


Until the team takes the next road trip …

Ciao,
TeamOne