On Saturday I Rode in the NYC Cranksgiving race.
http://www.cranksgiving.org/ride.html
Which is a bike messenger style race. Instead of traditional checkpoints with race staff you go to a bunch of grocery stores, buy food, and bring it to the end to donate.
I had a great time, and gathered a bunch of food to give to the food bank. Although its a bit late for this year, I would highly recommend it to anyone near enough to participate next year. *STRONG* Knowledge of the area is kind of mandatory, as with any messenger race. Owning a smart-phone (I don't) also helps a LOT.
Strava outcome of the route I took:
http://www.strava.com/activities/96942051
NOTE! This was the "long route." There was a shorter route, but I'm pretty sure that required going through the east village & further south in Manhattan, and fuck that. I don't need to get lost where the streets go at funny angles and don't have numbers. As you can see where I went way east towards the williamsburg bridge (no reason for that) when I should have gone west near the end, I am totally hopeless once I get out of the numbered streets.
In lesser news, I am pretty sure I broke the rear hub on my Brompton as I was zipping through central park at 96th street. It wont shift into lowest gear *in* the hub which means something broke, according to everything I have read on the web. This was OK for the rest of the race, as its mostly downhill from there, but could suck in the near future if I want to ride up any hills... Since I think its kind of played out on FB, and have not been updating, I have put about 1850miles on the bike since I got it in early August.