Dash For Cash-Less July 4th Beach Roll
The Dash For Cash race at Floyd Bennett Field, followed by a ride to the beach for post-race hangs, had become a TBD team 4th of July tradition, and one we all were very much looking forward to this year. Sadly, a week before this year’s event, the race promoter announced that he was unable to negotiate a suitable arrangement with Aviator Sports (the entity charged with issuing permits), as the promoters of the Tuesday Night FBF series had, and the 2019 edition of the race would be cancelled.
Photos in this post by Matthew Vandivort, Scott Rettino & Alvaro Soltero
While our rare opportunity for a mid-week daytime race on the scorching cracked asphalt of FBF were dashed (too soon?), we would not forgo the latter half of the tradition - the ride to the beach for team hangs. Race or not - the beach roll drew a crowd of TBD & friends. Dutifully, we assembled at Hungry Ghost in Brooklyn for breakfast coffees, some of us schlepping from the Bronx (me), and one even made the reverse schlepp from the beach to add some extra miles (Scott brilliantly rented a beach-side AirBnB for the holiday). Our casual caravan looped through Prospect Park, and moseyed on down Ocean Avenue toward the shore.
This year, we opted to head further East, toward Scott’s AirBnB on Rockaway Beach, where he and his pals graciously let us park all of our bikes. We then found a suitable patch of unoccupied hot sand to park ourselves for the afternoon. The waves were mellow and water very cold, which was much welcomed given Ra was beating down on us and temps rose well into the 90s. We had to take regular cool down dips. I’d never been to this part of the Rockaways and was pleasantly surprised to see the many concession options, which included ice cream, smoothie bar, bao & taco shacks (which most of our squad opted for), and poké (my favorite hot summer day meal). Fancy!
After a couple more hours of storytelling & nap time, we all were sufficiently sunburnt, despite continuous but clearly inadequate sunscreen application. We headed back home to a delightfully empty NYC, and were thankful that we got to carry on at least part of this beloved TBD team tradition. But, we’re still holding out hope that Dash For Cash may return once again next year. Till then… don’t forget to (very fastidiously) apply that sunscreen, kids!
I am a New Yorker who rides bikes of all kinds, sometimes runs, loves cats, and nerds out on transit justice issues. I am an advocate at heart and a member of the All Powerful Bicycle Lobby, though opinions here are my own.
Instagram: @luciadlite
Twitter: @luciadlite
E-mail: lucia@tobedetermined.cc
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