5 Boros (in the rain) Tour- May 3rd 09

Thank you Chris for the lovely set up, I hope that this post exceeds all of your expectations, it probably wont but I will still try. So for the record there is no "Lauren Factor" there is only the "Hogan Factor". I was 15 mins late due to alarm failures, but that didn't stop me. My internal alarm woke me at 5:37 suppose to meet Chris on this corner at 5:45, 15 mins late, I'd say that is pretty good. Anyway, we meet up at 6am, it looked like the weather was going to be okay for our ride. I was excited to get to the start and get a good spot. We hit the East side Green way all the way down to Battery Park City. We had a smooth ride down. Finally, we go to the start good thing we arrived at 6:40am, there was already a TON of riders there. We were two streets back from the start, Chris took a blurry picture of all the crazies who woke up at 3am to be at the start by 4. Or they camped out all night to get prime position. These were all the people behind us that decided to get a little extra shut eye..... Smart.

Pre-NYC Grim Lauren

At 8am, we were off! There were so many people it was hard to start, it was neat though a lot of people dressed up in funny outfits and costumes. People also had taped, glued items to their helmet... my favorite which I saw half way through the race was.... I must say very encouraging

If you look closely this rider has a Coors Light can taped to a wire on his helmet... at that time this is what I needed! Tapped from the Rockies!

Back to the start. Manhattan (Boro 1).. we went up 6th Ave all the way to central Park, down the huge hill, couldn't go at my usual lighting fast speed, it was wet and didn't want to risk a fall... got out of the park right before the HILL OF DEATH. Who said Manhattan was flat because it isn't at all! Glad I didn't have to pull Chris up that one :)

Out of our first Boro and into the Bronx (Boro 2)... Not much there we rode in and out like that... Next we were back in Manhattan and riding down the FDR, YES the FDR. When can you ever ride down the FDR without getting killed? NEVER it was really cool and possibly one of the worst roads, needs a little face lift. Then over the 59th Street Bridge, not on the bike path but on the actual bridge, great views!! As we were in the middle of the bridge we could still see riders all the way up the FDR. There were so many people!!! Then into Queens and Astoria (Boro 3) which is where we had to take a mandatory rest stop, I never found out why but we were waiting for a few mins so....

OF course we needed a Beckham Hair shot (did you know that Chris Hogan has artificial intelligence in each hair follicle, which are programmed to a certain position and will immediately return to that position no matter what. I have heard it is risky procedure but if done correctly you can do ANYTHING, I mean anything, scuba diving, sky diving and even bike riding in a monsoon with a helmet on and your hair is guaranteed to still look amazing.)

And WOW looks amazing...

Still waiting in this line of cyclist! I think we went over that Bridge... have no idea which one it is.... Maybe that took us to Brooklyn? ????

After this mess of waiting and people we were in Astoria, it was flat and nice to ride faster, still not turbo speed, the wet roads and wet shoes.... not a good combo.

BUT def a great find. A 45 year old man with a heavy Staten Island accent was riding the EXACT same bike as me!!!!! Yes a 1990-something Trek carbon fiber... with the shifters on the frame... yes it was awesome! See Chris and Martino my bike is still in style!!!

Now over the Pulaski Bridge and into Brooklyn (Boro 4)... Brooklyn was neat, people came out to cheer us on, even in the rain. Chris dinged his bell and said HI to everyone! It's pouring rain, we both have soaked shoes, Chris was still in a GREAT mood! Which helped me as my toes were about to freeze off... "Chris my toes are frozen, I think I have frost bit" He replied "I think it has to be at least 32 degrees. Your toes aren't going to fall off, you are fine, keep riding"

So around mile 30, if we thought it couldn't get any worst, it starts raining harder... Now my toes are really falling off. I am just thinking Get me home, Get me home.... as we peddle faster to the Verrazno Bridge... YES almost there. If it were a beautiful day we would have had AWESOME views from up there. It was really neat to ride on. The climb up was tough but it was worth it to fly down... I still was very careful I didn't want to wreck. YEAYYY Staten Island (Boro 5 Thank God!) Were Finished!

Total time was 3:47 Not bad for rain and 30,000 riders! I talked to a girl today who didn't finish until 4pm! She was in the back of the pack. Didn't even cross the start line until 9:30am! SO glad we go there early. Now it was off to the Staten Island Ferry to get back to the mainland. Thought I was cold and frozen before... ugh now my toes are really frost bit. Luckily I choose a 6'5" guy as my riding partner, came in handy, nice wind shield! Thank you.

All in all a great ride, no road bumps in our ride. Tons of riders who had fallen, gotten flat tires, or simply who couldn't finish due to the conductions. Next year can only be better!

Brand new shoes ended up soaked and muddy=$95.00

Entry in to the 5 Boros Race=$48.00

Powerbars, gels, and energy drinks to keep going=$6.79

NYC grim sprayed on your face from other bikers and riding GRUPPO LOCO style=Priceless!

Too bad Martino wasn't there I would have loved to see how many times we would stop to use the bathroom. How many times he would Purell his hands, face, arms, legs because of all the grim. He may have gotten a panic attack. There is always next year!