May is Bike Month NYC. Step one: bless bike

New York City cyclists can have their bike’s blessed and sprinkled with holy water this Saturday, April 26. Transportation Alternatives is sponsoring a bevy of cycling events, including the 9:30 a.m. blessing inside the Cathedral of St. John (Manhattan). The reverend will say a “BRIEF” few words, organizers promise, before sprinkling holy water on the congregated rides.

No word on when the blessing expires, but since it only goes down once a year, cyclists will have to hope it lasts at least that long.

The cathedral, at 112 St. and Amsterdam, is accessible by the 110 St stop on the 1 Train.

Bicycle Racing at the ol’ Velodrome

This weekend heralds the beginning of 2008’s racing season for the Kissena Cycling Club. Founded in 1963, the club bills itself as New York’s “premier cycling club” (who am I to argue?) and hosts races at the Kissena Velodrome (Queens), Prospect Park and Floyd Bennett Field.

Festivities kick off Saturday with a race at Kissena. Unlike some of the tours mentioned earlier, this one isn’t strictly for fun. That’s not to say it won’t be fun, but your idea of fun would have to be racing a track bike against competitive riders.

There’s always watching–unlike say, the Tour de France, the advantage of a velodrome is that the cyclists are always in sight (think NASCAR). Plus, spectators get the added bonus of knowing where the track is in case they ever want to scale the fence for a moonlight ride. (Which would be illegal, by the way. But not unheard of).

Kissena has a fact sheet on the upcoming race. Unfortunately it’s in PDF. The pertinent info:

Saturday April 26 (1 pm), Sunday April 27 (12 pm). Riders must pre-register by Friday, April 25 (no day-of registration). Entry fees are $15 for riders in all classes.

Clean, old-fashioned co-ed fun

It might be hard to tell from recent posts, but Brooklyn is not mostly water. In fact, many sports in Brooklyn don’t need:

• boats
• flippers
• oxygen tanks
• surfboards

ZogSports is a leading Brooklyn/Manhattan-based organizer of co-ed sports around the city. ZogSports is also charity-oriented, donating a portion of their proceeds (around $350,000 over five years) to charities designated by their members. It’s important for some people to feel that they can save dolphins or fund afterschool programs just by playing kickball.

Anyway, the organizers at ZogSports match athletes of all levels with leagues that fit their skill and competitiveness.  Current offerings include touch football, dodgeball, volleyball, basketball, soccer, and, yes, kickball. They also handle the business of booking fields and courts. All you have to do is show up with your ZogSports t-shirt, play hard (or not) and go for beer afterwards.

To get in, though, you’ll have to register.  Summertime registration opens up on April 21 for teams and individuals.  Even if you’re the only person you know who likes dodgeball (unlikely), you can still play.

Almost summertime = Beaches almost open

The “almost” in the headline is subjective. Though the weather is improving, beaches don’t open until Memorial Day, almost a month and a half away. In the meantime, surfers have already begun to eagerly ply the waves. Regular surf news is available from Surf New York, and regular conditions reports from Duke’s Stormcast; today, surfers can look forward to:

Waves: 2-3 | 2-3
Wind: SW 5-10 | SW 5-10
Conditons: Fairly clean

Which means…well, who knows, exactly?

Surf2live does, for one, and they’re eager to share their knowledge with you. The Long Island surf school began providing lessons on April 7 from their Long Beach location. Would-be or would-be better surfers can hone their skills starting at $100 / hour.

Cheaper: watching surfing. The New York Surf Film Festival is accepting submissions now for their late September screenings.

You can swim in the East River! Kind of…

You might not be able to swim in the East River, but you can swim on it, thanks to a floating swimming pool spearheaded by Ann Buttenwieser.  Two decades after she conceived of the notion for a floating pool, her dream was realized–with the help of $4 million in fundraised dollars.

The pool is a barge that’s been adapted for the unique use.  Last year, Brooklynites were able to use the facility, which was moored near Brooklyn Heights, for free.  Though the website isn’t yet updated for this year, Ms. Buttenwieser confirms that the pool will open around June 27, when the other public pools open in New York.  It will be anchored off Baretto Point Park in the Bronx.  Not quite as convenient for Brooklyn residents, unless they have a boat themselves.

According to a Times article, Buttenwiser’s project was inspired by dozens of floating bathhouses that New Yorkers once used to keep clean.  One presumes that the bathhouses were displaced by internal plumbing, but the concept–bobbing in a floating pool with unobstructed views of the city–is still sound.

Newsflash: Brooklyn (almost) surrounded by water

It may be hard to believe, but people actually recreate in the waters around New York. Head underneath and everything.

David Rosenthal, author of SCUBA Diving: the Wrecks and Shores of Long Island, NY, offered some tips on diving in the sometimes tricky waters near the city:

What are the biggest dangers of diving around New York?

The biggest danger is becoming lost or disoriented, especially for new divers or those used to resort diving in blue, crystal clear monster. A huge problem is monsters in their head. They brush up against things, go into a state of high anxiety, and maybe do something dumb.

When’s a bad time to dive?

In poor visibility. Visibility problems are usually churned up by the wind. Waves on the surface. When large waves occur at sea it makes “surges” on the seabed. When they approach shore, the surges precipitate stuff on the bottom. It takes a day or so for the particles to settle out.

What would you say to people considering diving around New York?

On the whole, local diving has good visibility. Give it a shot. Get to know the dive sites when the visibility is decent, and then you’ll be more comfortable diving in lower visibility. I go–poor visibility or not–because I’m looking for various artifacts. But you’ll almost never have zero visibility. There’s a lot of good diving around the New York area.

Most times people are surprised local diving is more pleasant than they thought it would be. There’s a lot of history, ranging from coastal Native Americans to Europeans. New York City is also one of America’s oldest ports. As long as ships have been traveling they’ve been sinking [making for good wrecks to explore].

Where are the best places to try diving around the city?

Rockaway beach at 9th Street. The Hamptons. The wreck of the USS San Diego. It’s off shore–a 500 ft naval vessel from World War I. There’s the wreck of the Oregon, an ocean liner.

How can someone get into it?

Read my book!

(Some responses have been edited for clarity).

Update: Coney Island Roller Rink open

Gowanus Lounge was on hand for the opening of a new roller rink in an old Coney Island building, and were thrilled at the public reception.

To see the Childs Building alive with music and fun and smiles after a half-century in hibernation is a spectacular thing. (The gentleman who own the building for fifty years–and is now in his nineties–was even on hand on Saturday night.

Speaking of bike tours…

Early registration for the 5 Boro Bike tour ends March 28. Early registrants to this May 4, citywide tour pay $43, versus $55 for latecomers. Tour organizers are expecting 30,000 riders to participate, not 30,001.

Why not? Because registration ends when they fill the available slots. Since the tour is totally car free, and features an NYC marathon-esque start on the Narrows bridge, it tends to fill up. (Our wise city fathers neglected to include bike or pedestrian access to New York’s largest suspension span, so chances to see it with people power are snapped up).

Tours de New York

Queens is getting a bike tour! Streetfilm.org has footage of a March 11 fundraiser by Transportation Alternatives, who are trying to rake in some money. They’re hoping to fund a group ride through New York’s biggest and second-ugliest borough.

Now, this is blog is called Sport Brooklyn, and clearly, Queens is not Brooklyn. But since there’s only so many of these bike tours each year, each of them is worth noting. By “these bike tours,” I mean the 15 – 100 mile group rides put on by various groups over the summer. In addition to Transportation Alternative’s popular NYC Century, Brooklyn and the Bronx each host an annual “Tour de…”

No date is slated for the Tour de Queens. But what about the familiar favorites? No worries. Tour de Brooklyn will be held May 25, NYC Century on September 7, and Tour de Bronx on October 19.

Monster Track canceled. What’s Monster Track?

Monster Track 9 is off, with organizers citing safety concerns in the wake of a recent death of an racer in Chicago. Monster Track was billed as one of the world’s largest alleycats, with organizers expecting up to 250 participants this year, many of them non-messengers.

For those who’ve just arrived in America or somehow missed the late nineties, an alleycat race is an unsanctioned bicycle race on open streets (i.e. with traffic). The Chicago racer, who wasn’t a courier, was killed when he ran a light and was hit by an SUV, said the Chicago Tribune.

The organizers said that the growing popularity of alleycats among non-messengers contributed to their decision to cancel it:

“As many of you know, Monster Track started as a race held for a small, close group of NYC bike messengers. It has now become an overwhelmingly all-inclusive event. This, on its face, may seem like a positive direction for a race but in the context of a solely track bike alleycat it brings many problems. First and foremost, the safety of the racers is compromised. We believe that this is not a tenable position for race organizers.”

BikeBlog quotes a press release saying several smaller events will go on:

Friday March 7, 8PM
Goldsprints at Third Ward
195 Morgan Ave. Brooklyn

Saturday March 8, 1PM
Fixed Gear Comp and injured messenger fundraiser at Rocky’s
South 5th St. at Kent Ave. Brooklyn

Sunday March 9, 12PM
Velo City Track Competition at Kissena Velodrome
Booth Memorial Ave near Kissena Blvd. Queens