Been a whole since we did it, not sure the year. One year I had a tape recorder mounted on the handle bars and had a tape of the of the Ohio State Marching Band playing their fight song. I played that as I rode along until someone got tired of it, took it out of the tape player and through it into, I think maybe, the Hudson River. At the start of the race I was interviewed on TV about the music and our group.
We rode up the Avenue of the Americas, Wall Street, and into Central Park. I think we had 24 thousand that year, and a memory of that day, well they could not have enough "facilities" in Central Park for that many people, so the hill, was the best place to go .... Looking up that hill at ... so many .... women's butts, a scene to remember. When you gotta go, you gotta go.
The ride ends up in Staten Island, and we took the ferries back to South Seaport. I remember an Irish bar of some sort, where our bunch headed and spent a bit of time, perhaps too much.
Two incidents I vividly remember. I was wearing biker tights, royal blue. I remember out waitress, as I was heading to the restroom saying to me, "Does your Momma know you're wearing those?" I guess I did look pretty silly, but, so did everyone else.
Driving home, very late, or, very early, in New York City, and I was following my daughter, who knew New York. I could not lose her or we might be lost, forever. At that time she lived in Beacon, NY. I had to go to the bathroom. I could not stop, I had to continue driving. All we had was a Coke bottle, and I had underwear and those tights on. We made it to Beacon.
Fun rides, what my highlight reels are made of. I think one of those years was the "Hands Across America" event, and we held our hands on the Beacon-Newburg Bridge. People as far as we could see, in either direction. A rather emotional experience when you realized the enormity of it.
One year, son Brad did not ride, but met up with my New York son, Dean, they hung out in the city and were to meet us at South Seaport. They thought one fellow was having car trouble and stopped to help him. Then, they realized he was stripping the car, they had helped.
This year, NO back packs, understandably. It is quite an event, think about it for next year.
