For those of you who are new to the ride, welcome!  This is a wonderful event, and you won’t find a nicer bunch of people or better service anywhere.  If you’ve been pedaling with me to Montauk since 1997, I’m delighted to have you along again. Here’s what’s new for ’08.
 
The Short Version:
What do you care about new stuff? You know that we always have a blast -- just register, grab your bike, and RIDE! Show up and smile and we’ll do the rest.
 
The Long Version:
Here’s what’s new for 2008. (You newcomers are certainly welcome to read on, but this will make a lot more sense to our repeat customers).
 
The biggest news for ’08:
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A completely new faster, easier, better way for everyone to get home from the ride, but ESPECIALLY you super-speedy cyclists. Our new finish line makes your ride better than ever!
 
Here’s the dirt:
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  2. •For those who have pedaled with me for years -- remember cycling from the finish line at Ruschmeyer’s to the train station? No more! Relax and put your feet up right until departure time -- transportation now leaves right from our new finish line, located 150 feet from the train station!
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  4. •ALL of our routes -- 30 miles, 66 miles, 100 miles, and 145 miles -- end at the same place in Montauk. (How is that possible? Details here).
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  6. This means that after you arrive at the finish line in Montauk, you have several choices:
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  8. 1. Move to Montauk for the rest of your life. (Not a bad idea...)
  9. 2. Get picked up by a friend.
  10. 3. Sign up for our transportation home for your bike and you.
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  12. If you’re getting picked up in Montauk by a friend, we have good news -- we now have free on-site parking for your chauffeur. No more parking down the road and hiking back to the finish line. Want to leave a car the night before in Montauk? We have you covered there too! Click here for all the details.
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  14. If you take our OPTIONAL transportation home (a wise choice), we have DOUBLED the number of trips out of Montauk for ’08 to get your bike and you home faster than ever! This is twice as much transportation home as any Montauk ride ever!
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  17. Special News for Speedy Cyclists -- For years the fastest cyclists we’re getting to Montauk by noon, but the first trip home wasn’t until 3:30 p.m.  That’s all changed now, with the first run home at 12:30 p.m.
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  19. Be SURE to read the complete details on the Getting Home page on this web site.
 
  1. •Now that we’re getting YOU home faster, we’ve added faster transportation home for your bike too! Here’s how it works:
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  3. As soon as you arrive in Montauk we’ll ask you if you’re taking our optional transportation back home. If you are, we’ll tag your bike for the trip back to your choice of Manhattan or Babylon.
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  5. While you’re enjoying a hot shower, massage, and a great all-you-can-eat post-ride meal, we’ll be gently packing up your bike and sending it on its way before you even leave Montauk. When you arrive back in Babylon or Manhattan, your bike will already be there waiting for you, guarded by our staff.
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  7. HOWEVER... you KNOW that if you hand us your bike at 3:29 p.m., skip the shower, skip the meal, and dash for the 3:30 p.m. trip home, you’re going to get back just a bit before your bike.  Not to worry -- it’s on the way in the next truck.
 
  1. •For the first time last year we tried serving Briermere Farms’ incredible pie at a rest stop along with fresh whipped cream that we made right on the spot. It was an overwhelming success. (And by “overwhelming success” I mean that 90 percent of you thought it was fantastic, and the other 10 percent thought we were idiots for serving pie in the middle of an athletic event.)
 
  1. Pie and whipped cream will be back for ’08. If you don’t like pie and whipped cream, don’t worry; I can assure you that there will be no mandatory pie eating at any of our rides, and we will have healthy alternatives at all rest stops. (By the way, I was quite amused to learn that when we were serving pie and homemade whipped cream at our rest stop, one of our competitors was serving dry pretzels and Coke at their rest stop. Honest. Yum yum.)
 
  1. •More protein in the middle of the ride! We love all the fun snacks that we serve at rest stops such as fresh fruit and sports drink and ice cream and foccachia from Balthazar Bakery, but several riders asked us for more protein in the middle of the ride, and we heard you! Look for new high-protein snacks at our rest stops.
 
  1. •I’m bringing back a 30-mile route. It will probably lose money, but it’s a great way to introduce some new riders to group rides. I hope it will also help with couples where one person is a serious long-distance rider and the other is a more casual cyclist. We’ll see. We will offer a standard version of the 30-mile ride, plus an escorted version at no additional cost.
 
  1. Our 2008 ride date is June 21st, which is ALSO the Summer Solstice -- the first day of summer, and the longest day of the year; the day when there are more hours of sunlight than any other day. This means something significant, but I don’t know what it is.
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  3. AND...
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  5. At last!
 
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Our friends at Blue Point Brewing Company will be joining us for the June 21, 2008 Ride to Montauk, and will generously be providing FREE Blue Point beer at the finish line (provided you are 21 years old and can prove it). This is new for us, and I couldn't be more pleased.
 
Not to worry -- there will be plenty of non-alcoholic drinks available too, plus a full cash-bar for those in the mood for a glass of wine or stronger spirits after a long day of riding.
 
You regulars may recall that the restaurant at the end of last year's ride was charging an unconscionable $6 per beer (we don't get any of that money) and I swore that I would put an end to THAT.
 
So we did.
 
Those of you doing the 145-mile route and the 100-mile route will be pedaling right past the Blue Point brewery, and we just MIGHT be able to arrange it so that you can stop by, check out the brewery, and enjoy a free cold beer! The only problem is that you will get there about, oh, 7:00 a.m., and if you start drinking HEAVILY at 7:00 a.m., we will probably toss you in the S.A.G. van head-first at, say, 7:05 a.m.  whether you like it or not!
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Stay tuned for even more surprises!
 
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Glen
Your tour director and humble servant
glen @ ridetomontauk.com
 
 
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What’s New for 2008
Photo by John Perito
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