Registration for the largest charitable bike ride in the United States is now open.
The Five Boro Bike Tour, which takes place every year on the first Sunday of May, is scheduled for May 7 this year.
About 32,000 cyclists with varying skill levels participate in the tour from all over the world. This is the 40th year the event is taking place. Proceeds from the event help to fund free bike education programs taught by nonprofit Bike New York.
After registration, all cyclists must pick up a rider packet at Bike Expo New York, which takes place on May 5 and 6. Standard registration costs $100, $23.40 of which is a tax-deductible donation.
In addition to standard registration, a VIP package is offered and it includes guaranteed placement in the first Start Wave, special VIP Packet Pickup line at Bike Expo New York, official commemorative 40th Anniversary TD Five Boro Bike Tour jersey, Bike New York–branded phone pouch by Manhattan Portage, timed climb over the Verazzano-Narrows Bridge, breakfast and entertainment at the Start, and access to exclusive VIP lounge and gourmet lunch at the Finish Festival.
The VIP package costs $340, $80 of which is a tax-deductible donation.
The 40-mile, car-free tour begins in Lower Manhattan (the start line is at Franklin St. and Church St., with entrance points for each of the four start waves running south along Church to Battery Park), heads north through Central Park and continues on to Harlem and the Bronx before returning south along the East River on the FDR Drive.
From there, cyclists cross into Astoria and Long Island City and then into Brooklyn, where riders take over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and then cross Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and into the Finish Festival on Staten Island.
Registration officially opens at noon. To register, visit the website.
