By Susan Seliger
May is biking month in New York City – and this traffic-choked town kicked off the celebrations last weekend with The 5-Boro Bike Tour, the largest recreational cycling event in the United States.
I was there, May 3, 2009, for all 40+ miles. Just me and 30,0000 other bikers, who showed up, despite the wind, the cold and the rain that pelted us mercilessly every turn of the wheel.
Now usually this bike race is one of the most exhilarating biking adventures imaginable. It is well-organized — the city shuts down auto traffic on a 40-mile path stretching through all five boroughs of the city and turns the streets over to the bikers. There’s no better feeling than pedaling along wide roads that you usually see filled with honking, tail-gating, belching autos now packed with cyclists to make you feel alive and eco-virtuous.
And before I tell you about this year’s race — I recommend everyone sign up for it next year. Keep this web address handy as you have to register to ride and it fills up fast: http://www.bikenewyork.org
This year, however, it was wet, and cold, and windy and rainy. In short, miserable biking conditions. And did I mention, wet? But the race proceeds, rain or shine. So nearly 30,000 of us – some on bicycles built for two, some parents towing babies behind in covered carts,(I coveted those covered carts) and even a few unicycles — cycled from the base of Manhattan, up through the Bronx, down the FDR drive over the 59th Street Bridge into Queens, down through Brooklyn and into the home stretch up the straight-uphill climb of the Verrazzano Bridge into Staten Island.
Usually there are many fun rest stops along the way, to munch on snacks provided by sponsors of the race, and rest up on green hillsides before moving on. This year, however, the rest stops offered no shelter from the foul weather – unless you count the port-a-potties, which I do not. . My biking buddy and I decided we would just press on – so we stopped only once, for 20 minutes to eat a soggy sandwich. That may be why by the time we reached the home stretch my body was drenched, (plastic ponchos have a way of lifting up as you ride to welcome the rain), my sneakers were making squishy, water-logged noises, and my knees were screaming for mercy with every pedal-stroke.
But it’s a great feeling to watch motorists stream by (on the other side of the highway that was not closed 
off) watching all the cyclists and being reminded that there is another way to travel. Ok, maybe not in the rain – and maybe they were just thinking we were nuts to be out there in the rain, but still…
This is one thing I know… you won’t find a parade of 60,000 more amazing calf muscles than I saw last weekend anywhere else on earth. Or 30,000 crazier but indomitable biking spirits.
By Susan Seliger
