We offer free day-before check in and bike loading. This is optional -- you only do this if you want to. There is no extra charge for this service. Where and when does day-before check-in take place? Manhattan Friday June 18th 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Bicycle Habitat bike store 244 Lafayette Street New York, NY (near the corner of Lafayette and Spring Streets) You can see a map here. AND Babylon Friday June 18th 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Babylon Bicycle Shop 218 E. Main Street Babylon, NY You can see a map here. What’s the advantage of checking in or loading my bike the day before? Shorter check-in lines in a more relaxed setting. Get some extra sleep on ride day -- you’re all ready to go! We transport almost all of the bikes in the morning on ride day to get you to where you actually start to pedal. (If that makes no sense at all to you right now, just pretend it does make sense and keep reading -- trust me on this. We’ll explain it later). ANYWAY... If you load your bike on the day of the ride, we’ll unload it as quickly as we can in a safe manner, but you WILL have to wait. But if you load your bike the day before we will unload it early on ride day, park it at a bike rack, and guard it for you until you arrive. When you get there just grab your bike and go! This is THE fastest way to get on the road on ride day. Who can check-in the day before? Anyone who is already registered for the ride or who wants to buy registration for the ride. Who can load their bike the day before? Everyone EXCEPT: Cyclists pedaling the 145-mile route. 100-mile riders who are getting themselves to the Babylon check-in location on ride day without our help or transport. If either of those describes you, your bike does not get transported at all on the morning of the ride. You can still check-in the day before, but you can’t load your bike, since there is no reason to do so. If you are doing the 100-mile route and you are using the Manhattan check-in location, we strongly urge you to use day-before check-in if it fits your schedule. (You have a lot of pedaling to do, and we want to get you on the road as fast as possible!) Will Registration Be On Sale at Day-Before Check-In If I Haven’t Signed Up Yet? Yes. Registration sales at day-before check-in are CASH ONLY. No credit cards; no checks. Note that if you have not registered on-line for the ride and sign up at day-before check in you pay the full day-of registration price -- $185. If at all possible we recommend registering here before on-line registration closes on June 16 at noon, which is much less expensive. Can I check in the day before without loading my bike? Yes. On ride day skip check in and go straight to the bike loading area. Can I load my bike the day before without checking in the day before? No. Do I need to bring my registration receipt to day-before check-in? No. I’m checking in a bag that will be trucked to Montauk for me with a change of clothes so I can enjoy the free hot showers at the finish. Can I check in my bag the day before? No. Why? Because what usually happens is that someone checks in their bag early, and then comes running back -- “I MUST get in to my bag -- my [house keys, wallet, drugs, eyeglasses, pet ferret] are inside. It shouldn’t be hard to find in that pile of a thousand bags -- my bag is RED!” This is why in most circumstances we have you hang on to your bag right until you’re ready to pedal. Can I pick up my T-shirt, racing jersey, or socks the day before? No. All clothing will be waiting for you at the Montauk finish line. There will be no clothing sales day-before. There will be clothing sales (subject to availability) at the finish line. We DO offer our Express Lane service where we mail you your clothing before the ride. You can sign up for the Express Lane during on-line registration. If you’ve already registered and now decided that you want the Express Lane service after all, just drop us an email here. EXPRESS LANE SERVICE IS NOW CLOSED -- TOO CLOSE TO RIDE DAY. What if I signed up for the Express Lane pre-mail and already have my rider wristbands? Cool! You can skip day-before check-in if you wish. If you would like to load your bike the day before that’s fine -- make sure your wristband is already on your bike. When you get to day-before check-in do NOT get in the check-in line; go straight to bike loading. Can I pick up my friend’s registration day-before? Can I load my friend’s bike the day before? Yes. Where and when do I get my bike back? On ride day we will transport you at no charge to the place where you actually start pedaling. All the information on when and where to show up on ride day can be found here. Do NOT get in the line to retrieve your bike -- that’s for people who loaded their bike on ride day. We’ll have a separate area set up where your bike will already be unloaded and ready to ride, guared by our staff. WARNING! We always say that you can change your start line or route distance up until the last moment without telling us, and that’s still true. BUT... once your bike is in a truck, you can NOT change routes, or you will find that your bike is in one location while you are in another! What if I load my bike the day before and then realize that I can’t do the ride? You are totally screwed. This presents some interesting challenges! You will have three easy opportunities to get your bike back (and one hard one)! 1. Get to the place where you would actually start pedaling on ride day and retrieve your bike (even if you won’t be able to pedal that day). Those locations are: 100-mile riders: The Babylon LIRR station 6 a.m. - 8 a.m. 66-mile riders: The Mastic-Shirley LIRR station 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. 30-mile riders: The Southampton LIRR station 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. 2. We will look at your registration form and see where you said you wanted to start your day -- Babylon or Manhattan. We will send your bike there: Babylon -- The Babylon LIRR station Manhattan -- 10th Avenue between W. 31st Street and W. 32nd Street. Your bike will be available there on Saturday between 4:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. 3. If you don’t pick up your bike on Saturday you can get it on Sunday, the day after the ride, from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. BUT... If you miss all of those opportunities your bike will go back to our office in lovely Narrowsburg, NY, located a convenient 200 miles from anything. It will be your responsibility to get there and retrieve your bike -- we can NOT deliver or ship it for you for any reason ever. (So a note from your doctor explaining that you were unable to pedal on ride day will not sway us one bit. We’re just that mean and lazy). Bikes will be held for 30 days maximum and then something horrible will happen to them that we haven’t figured out yet. Click here to go to the next page, or use the navigation menu at the top of your screen. Glen Your tour director and humble servant glen @ ridetomontauk.com Not ready to sign up yet, but want to be added to our bike ride mailing list? 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Day-Before Check-In & Bike Loading

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