With the blasting of a horn, thousands of bicyclists were off to take a tour around the city Sunday.
The 45th annual TD Five Boro Bike Tour had 32,000 people registered.
“We have such a diverse group of riders, three years old, 93 years old, people with disabilities, all shapes and sizes,” says Ken Podziba, president and CEO of Bike New York, a nonprofit organization. “It’s not a race, so people are just here to have fun and enjoy New York City is the most fun to have on two wheels.”
Participants started in Lower Manhattan and ended on Staten Island, riding on a car free route 40 miles long.
This year, a special milestone was reached with the 1 millionth person to ride since the tours inception in 1977.
The 1 millionth rider, Adel Suana, was invited on stage for the starting horn.
“I will say lucky perhaps,” said Suana, who moved to the recently and has never taken part in the race before. “This is my first time I just moved two years to New York, and it’s just a fantastic experience.”
Bike New York produce the charitable ride each year.
The funds go to their many free programs on bike education. The organization serves more than 30,000 New Yorkers each year.
“We also are giving bikes, bicycles to asylum seekers who are pretty much isolated in their communities. We have a program called Bike Path, where we train formerly incarcerated New Yorkers to become bike mechanics, then Citi Bike’s hiring them,” Podziba said. “We’re trying to transform lives through bicycling.”