New York Century 2002

by Joan Byron, Lenore Beaky, and Bob Nelson
2002 September 8

Joan begins:

More than 3,000 cyclists turned out for the New York City Century, in its various incarnations, on Sept. 8, 2002. I hope your day turned out as much fun as ours! Bob and his Gang of Eight hung together for most of the 100-miler, and Lenore Beaky took a half-dozen on the 35-miler. In my group, several of us survived the so-called 55-mile version, where at absolutely no extra charge, we enjoyed a "bonus" 5 miles - mainly through the delightful hills of Riverdale. Alan Guy of the sponsor, Transportatin Alternatives, explained: "Well, we have a strong Riverdale constituency in Transportation Alternatives." I bet they're strong, especially their legs!

Anyway, here's a couple of photos, hot off the chip. A fun moment happened in Prospect Park, where a roving band of Orthodox men was asking riders if they were Jewish. Someone - Linda? - figured she was about to be lectured for riding on the holiday, and replied that she had been to synagogue the day before. But then they asked if she wanted them to blow the shofar, so several folks said the blessing, and got - well, blown, I guess.

We also have the emotionally charged moments before the start,

in which a rubber device looms large, and Kim, communing with a peanut butter bagel.

Lenore continues:

Our group made it through in one piece. But the Triborough Bridge was a real pain--I was having trouble at first on that ramp just staying on my bike. Everything else was okay.

All went smoothly in the a.m., though we broke up into groups pretty quickly. I was biking with Greg and Kathy, Kip and Don. At Prospect Park I didn't see Don or Greg or Kathy again, so I did the rest of the 35 with Kip and Terry. At Astoria Park we did re-unite with Joan Byron and others from F&F.

Bob writes:

We had a group of nine that pretty much stayed together for what we thought was going to be the 100-miler, but because of some unclear street markings, several of us took a wrong turn at the Triborough Bridge and ended up in Manhattan instead of the Bronx. Some were disappointed, others relieved. Sue Foster documented our progress through the three boroughs, and her group shot is also attached.

There were a couple of scary moments within a moment of each other: after Forest Park in Queens, my front tire blew out with an explosive force that several nearby riders mistook for a gunshot. (My tires were pumped to 150 psi.) I stopped to change the tire, with my trusty assistant Sue Foster at hand, when a cyclist doing the century went through a red light and banged up against a cab. He fell down and was bleeding from his forehead -- my impression was that his glasses broke and scratched him above his eye pretty severely. Barb Krajewski, our nurse on wheels, was there before you could blink an eye -- literally, she materialized out of nowhere. I will have to ask her how she does that. But several sympathetic ladies of the neighborhood supplied ice and wipes while we waited for the ambulance, which appeared with a fire truck -- there's a bonus for you! The young man went in for what was probably a half-dozen stitches.

The only other excitement was Ned Lenihan's flat tire, and the many interesting male cyclists also in attendance. Hope everyone enjoys the photos. I think Kim has a lawsuit, given that photo.