Lincoln Tunnel Ride on a perfect night, thanks to Alfredo, Phil, and Team 5BBC. 4-in-1 Cycling Marathon: Lincoln Tunnel Run-Through. Photo by Kin Lee.

Welcome to the website of New York's Five Borough Bicycle Club. We invite you to explore these pages, then get on your bike and explore the city and countryside with us. We offer day rides every weekend and many holidays. We also offer multi-day weekend trips, monthly meetings, and classes on bike repair. And, each May, the 5BBC hosts New York's bicycling event of the year, the Montauk Century. Your membership keeps our day rides free. If you are a 5BBC member, thank you! If you are not a 5BBC member and enjoy our day rides, please give us your support. For only $20 per year, enjoy the benefits of membership in New York's friendliest bike club.

Summer Streets

• On Saturdays August 9th, 16th, and 23rd, from 7 am to 1 pm, the streets of New York will be ours. Car-free streets will extend from Central Park to the Brooklyn Bridge and will include East 72nd St, Park Avenue, 4th Avenue, and Lafayette Street. Bring your bike, your skates, your running shoes, your family, your dog or whatever, and please enjoy this wonderful opportunity!
• Getting to Summer Streets is easy – even from the "outer boroughs". Click here for a list of organized rides to Summer Streets from Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.
• Two of our upcoming day rides are specially planned in cooperation with Summer Streets: CYCLOVIA HALO HALO RIDE on August 16th, and RESTORATION WORKSHOP RIDE on August 23rd. See our day rides page for details.
• 5BBC volunteers will have a table at 24th St. and Park Avenue South and will provide passers-by with information about the club and help with minor bike repairs. From about 9 to 10 am each Summer Streets day, we'll be conducting "classes" on things we're good at – how to cycle in traffic, tips on bicycle commuting, and fun destinations in the NYC area. You 5BBC members know all about this stuff already, but please do come by and say hi. If you'd like to help out at our 5BBC table with your bike repair skills or to teach one of our classes, drop a line to communications@5bbc.org.
• Summer Streets is also in need of volunteers – especially riding marshals. Volunteers will receive a free Summer Streets T-shirt, an invitation to a post-event party, and have the chance to win a one-year membership to Crunch! Click here to help thousands of your fellow New Yorkers enjoy this event.

This week at the 5BBC

Ride locations - where do we meet?
Subway service advisories - can I get there?
Bulletin board - is my ride cancelled?
Weather - from the National Weather Service

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Day Ride

SANDY HOOK MAXIMUM BEACH

7:45 AM, Pier 11, 23 miles

Once more, we’re getting to Sandy Hook on the 8:15AM ferry to do some cycling, then to North Beach for usual summer activities. Bring $53 fare, sunglasses, sunscreen, two water bottles, swim gear, $ for lunch and lock to secure bike. Come early to buy tickets. We’ll have a choice taking the 3:45PM, 5:45PM or 7:30PM (via Highlands) back to Manhattan. Mostly flat, some busy & hilly roads. Co-listed with the NYCC. Leaders: Alfredo Garcia and Marina Bekkerman.

Day Ride

RESTORATION WORKSHOP RIDE

9:15 AM, Plaza Hotel, approximately 20 leisurely miles.

It can be rather upsetting when your fifty thousand dollar French antique night table arrives with a broken leg. Have no fear mon cheri, for Jorge will fix it so your two hundred year old piece will look as good as new (or is it old?) again. We’ll visit Jorge in his Gowanus, Brooklyn restoration workshop who will show us how he repairs and if need be strips for his clients. (We’re still talking furniture folks). Bring lock and money for lunch at a local eatery. Rain at start cancels. Co-listed with Summer Streets. Leaders: Richard Sanford and Phil Goldberg

Day Ride

HISTORIC HOUSES OF MANHATTAN & FREE JAZZ CONCERT!

9:30 AM, City Hall. 23 miles, mostly flat; ride ends uptown at 162 St.

We’ll ride to the six sites in Manhattan of the Historic House Trust of New York and end at Morris Jumel Mansion for a free outdoor jazz concert at 2:00 PM. We'll start biking near the Merchant's House Museum, work our way by Gracie Mansion and the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre before visiting the remaining sites way uptown. Leaders: Fred Dieckamp and Steven Libby

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Day Ride

BROOKLYN PERIMETER

8:30 AM Quick Spin, 9:00 AM Regular spin, City Hall, 40 + miles

Again, if you missed Danny's Brooklyn Ultra Perimeter back on July 13, this is your second chance to see the borough that’s often touted as “the 4th largest U.S. city“. We'll do it clockwise and save the best for the hot time of the day, including Sheepshead Bay (for lunch), Coney Island and Red Hook. Leaders: Jesse Brown, Rodney Millard, Ed DeFreitas

Day Ride

UP, UP, AND AWAY!

9:45 AM, Cunningham Park, 35 miles

Celebrate the history of aviation in Hicksville, LI. Bring $10 admission (IMAX theatre is extra). Lunch is available in the Red Planet Cafe. For more info see cradleofaviation.org. The museum has a bike rack so bring a lock. Leaders: Phil “Bike21” Goldberg and Bob Castro

Day Ride

BICYCLE BEACH BUMS #8

10:00 AM, Prospect Park (Grand Army Plaza), 30 miles

More Bums, more beach! Join us every Sunday through the end of August when we ride out to the delightful beaches of the Rockaways. The trip is pancake flat and the water’s warm. Bring a bathing suit, bike lock, sunscreen, and bring or buy lunch along the way. This is a moderate paced ride suitable for everyone! Leaders: Brian Hoberman and Susan Levine

Phooey on overpriced bicycling trips!

• We've put together a series of enjoyable and affordable weekend vacations exclusively for 5BBC members. We're going to Montréal, Cape Cod, Cape May, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Maryland's Eastern Shore, Coastal Long Island and Connecticut, the Berkshires, the Taconics, the Hudson Valley, and the Delaware Water Gap. Join your 5BBC friends for a weekend (or two weekends, or three) of bicycling bliss.
• Early-bird discounts apply, and if you find a weekend trip you like, you can register right now. Even if you're not ready to sign up, you can click here; there's no charge for looking. See you on a 5BBC weekend trip!

We Have Pictures!

• Picture yourself on a 5BBC ride. Better yet, go on a 5BBC ride, and take a picture! These photographs are from recent rides and events. To add your own, email your photo to webmaster@5bbc.org.

Anyone see the incident Friday 7/25 involving a Critical Mass cyclist and a police officer?

• As some of you are aware, a police officer violently knocked a Critical Mass cyclist off his bike and then accused the cyclist of assault. An amateur video of the incident disproved the officer's version of events and he has been disciplined. Investigations are underway, and accurate information about what happened is needed.
• If any of you were eyewitnesses to this incident, please email lawsuitinfo@5bbc.org at your earliest convenience. Thank you!

5BBC sues the NYPD to keep group bicycling legal

• We have the details and current status here.
• Our parade permit lawsuit is attracting media attention. Here are links to articles in The Village Voice, NY Metro, Streetsblog, and AM New York.

Regional Roundup

• ENY ... BNY ... ?
  To which NYC area bike rides and events shall I go?

LOOK

• No one ever sees a cyclist before a crash.
• Half of the 110,000 cyclists in New York City have experienced accidents with cars. It seems that cyclists have almost become invisible to drivers.
• This is a serious problem. However, the solution is not complicated. It's simple.
• In order to stop the accidents, drivers need to see cyclists and cyclists must see drivers, before it's too late. Preventing accidents boils down to one simple action.
• Look.
• The NYC Bicycle Safety Coalition, in collaboration with the NYC Department of Transportation and other city agencies, has launched a public awareness campaign to remind all New Yorkers to take this one simple action.
• You will see ads on buses, bus shelters, taxi tops, and phone kiosks. Drivers of motor vehicles will see these ads too.
• 5BBC is proud to be a member of the NYC Bicycle Safety Coalition and a co-sponsor of this campaign.

Have a safe ride

• New York City has announced a plan of citywide bicycle safety improvements that will make your ride safer in the years to come. These include road improvements based on a 10-year study of NYC bicyclist fatalities and serious injuries, 200 miles of new bike paths and lanes, an advertising campaign to increase motorist and cyclist awareness of each other and make clear a cyclist's right to the road, increased enforcement of laws against motorists who endanger cyclists, and support for state legislation to require better visibility on large vehicles and increased fines for parking in bicycle lanes.
• This action by the city was no accident. Your bicycle club, along with Transportation Alternatives and other bicycling and advocacy groups, developed the Bicycle Safety Action Plan and has been working for the past year to get the city to recognize that cyclist deaths and serious injuries are preventable. We're glad the city now agrees.
• In the meantime, remember that safe bicycle riding begins with YOU. Here are some of our favorite tips for a safe ride.
• Of course, accidents will happen, and it's best to be prepared for them. Here are 5BBC ride leader Susan Rodetis's suggestions for some things you should carry with you when riding.

5BBC members stay informed

• Bicycletter, our bimonthly newsletter, keeps us informed with feature articles, details of all club rides, and much, much more. Read your online copy.
• 5BBC Weekly Update, our email newsletter, lists upcoming rides and other bicycling events. If you are a 5BBC member and would like to subscribe, drop a note to communications@5bbc.org.
• Is my ride cancelled? For late-breaking news, including weather-related cancellations, visit our bulletin board. Want messages to reach you on the road? Click here to enter your cell phone email address, and here to start bulletin board email delivery.
• Can't get to a computer? Information on 5BBC activities, including upcoming day rides, is as close as your phone. Call 212-932-2300 ext 115, or point your mobile phone browser to 5bbc.org/mobile.sht.

Who needs a folding bike?

• Arrive at your destination with your full-size bike and start pedaling. Borrow our bike case for free. It's another reason to be a 5BBC member!