Imagine a day where the streets of New York are open just for bike riders!
On the first Sunday in May, 32,000 cyclists of all skill levels come from around the world to roll through every borough of New York City on streets totally free of cars. During the TD Five Boro Bike Tour, for one day, the roads are yours, the bridges are yours, the City is yours—there’s no better way to experience the Big Apple. Produced in conjunction with the City of New York, the TD Five Boro Bike Tour is the world’s biggest charitable bike ride, with proceeds funding Bike New York’s free bike education programs. In 2014 alone, the group taught bike skills to more than 16,000 kids and adults. When you ride with Bike New York, you’re helping them in their mission to empower more New Yorkers to grab life by the handlebars.
On the two days prior to the TD Five Boro Bike Tour, more than 60,000 cyclists roll through Basketball City to meet, greet, and talk shop with one another and 100+ exhibitors, from big brands to local innovators. There’s truly something for everyone. Don’t know how to ride a bike? Bike New York experts will teach you for free. Prepping for your next big race? Check out the latest in state-of-the-art gear. Merchandise sales, product demos, giveaways, panels, contests, entertainment—it’s all at the Expo.
Bike New York offers free bike education programs throughout the five boroughs, whereby they teach kids and adults how to ride a bike, and how to do so safely and confidently in the city. In 2014 alone, they taught bike skills to 16,000 New Yorkers. Bike New York organizes numerous annual events, including the TD Five Boro Bike Tour (the world’s biggest charitable bike ride), Bike Expo New York, and smaller regional and community rides.
The history of Bike New York is the history of the Five Boro Bike Tour, and it all started with an audacious plan to take a group of high schoolers on a ride across New York City. Every year since 1977, on the first Sunday in May, the group welcomes 32,000 cyclists from every state in the nation and more than 60 countries around the world to NYC for an experience of the Big Apple unlike any other.
Cycling is a zero-emissions activity, but a large-scale ride like the TD Five Boro Bike Tour is not. That’s why, in 2014, the group implemented myriad initiatives to make the Tour as green as it can be and to set the bar high for sustainably produced events. The task was a momentous one, and required the support of numerous City agencies and nonprofits and the help of thousands of invaluable volunteers. As a result of their efforts, the Tour was awarded Silver-level certification by the Council for Responsible Sport, a nonprofit that recognizes sporting events that promote and demonstrate environmentally and socially responsible measures that help reduce the environmental footprint within the event’s host community. Bike New York hopes that this certification will encourage other organizations and events to join them in going green. The Tour is the first event in New York City to be certified, and they look forward to the day when being sustainable is the rule, not the exception, and certification is a thing of the past.