NEW YORK — New York City’s Five Boro Bike Tour is the largest charitable bike ride in the United States. It starts in Manhattan, then covers 40 miles across the five boroughs to end on Staten Island.
Five Boro Bike Tour route map
Bike New york
The first wave of cyclists started at 7:30 a.m. from the intersection of Franklin and Church Street in Tribeca.
“It was a great destination and it was a tour, not a race, so we thought that it would be a first thing for us. We are not cyclists, so we’ve trained some,” rider Nichole Muller, of Texas, said at the starting line.
“We’re riding a tandem bike together, so that will be interesting just to take it to another level. We practiced yesterday in Central Park, we’re good New York, we’re good,” added rider Meredith Mitsifer, of Arizona. “This is going to be amazing, I can’t wait to see New York in a whole different way.”
The route then heads up into the Bronx, over to Queens, back down to Brooklyn and ends at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, where riders can then catch a ferry back to Manhattan.
Five Boro Bike Tour road closures
Of course, the bike tour also means street, bridge and tunnel closures for drivers across the city.
The Staten Island-bound lower level of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge will be closed from 2 a.m. to 7 p.m. The upper level will remain open in both directions.
The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge exit ramp to the southbound FDR Drive will be closed from 7:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. The approach from the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel to the westbound Gowanus/Brooklyn Queens Expressway will be closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
See the full list of road closures here.
Cycling for a cause
More than 32,000 cyclists are taking part in the ride, which raises money to fund Bike New York’s free bike education programs. The nonprofit teaches children and adults how to ride a bike, as well as bike safety.
Riders from around the world say it’s a rare opportunity to explore the city in this way.
“I think a lot of people that maybe are not familiar with the city, they think of New York as just Manhattan, but there’s so much more to New York, and I think doing it on a bike is probably the most unique way you can possibly do it,” said Will Stafford, from Virginia.
Many arrived Saturday to pick up their bibs and to attend the annual blessing of the bikes.
“One of the reasons people come here, certainly not the only reason, but one of the reasons is people are aware of how dangerous this is, riding a bike in New York, and they come to pray for their own safety and ask us to pray with them for their own safety,” said Patrick Malloy, Dean of Cathedral St. Catherine of the Divine.