The race includes categories for all levels of racing and encourages riders of all abilities.

Still, the Long Island Rail Road has encouraged riders to travel during off-peak hours and against the rush by maintaining significant discounts for off-peak tickets.

He would like to spend more time on his cancer foundation in Austin, and he would like to expand a national program he started to encourage young riders.

The trend toward higher ridership continued into 2008; MTA released figures that subway use was up 6.8% for January and February as higher gasoline prices encouraged riders to use mass transit over automobiles.

"With the price of gasoline going up and up, this will certainly encourage additional riders," he said.

Other signs give the phone numbers, e-mail addresses and photographs of a dozen senior executives and encourage riders to "write to the top" with their complaints, be they tales of dirty stations or rude drivers.

Thys declined, saying making himself more visible in yellow would encourage other riders to ride against him.

Both ads encourage riders to visit a Web site - www.bettertransit.org - with built-in promotional letters that can be sent to Governor Pataki and leaders of the Legislature.

In this year's Tour, one of the top riders, Tom Boonen of Belgium, said that the especially demanding route only encouraged riders to find artificial methods so they could endure.

He said, "Formula 450 is a great way to encourage young riders.