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COURIER LIFE, APRIL 8-14, 2022
BY BEN BRACHFELD
The Five Boro Bike Tour
will return to full strength next
month after two years of pandemic
limbo, and cycling honchos
say participants this year
will not only get to enjoy the
event at capacity, but also an extra
hour of car-free streets.
The tour — which, as its name
suggests, visits all fi ve boroughs
— is once again open to its capacity
registration of 32,000 participants,
after being cancelled
altogether in 2020 due to the COVID
19 lockdown, and featuring
a diminished ridership of just
20,000 in 2021, and a later-thannormal
August date. The event,
which began in 1977, comes back
to New York on Sunday, May 1.
With the extra hour in place,
participants will be able to
choose from a greater number of
“waves” with which to start the
tour, which organizers say will
reduce congestion and allow for
a more pleasant experience.
“The extra hour is a gamechanger
for the riders of the TD
Five Boro Bike Tour,” said Ken
Podziba, president of event organizer
Bike New York, in a statement.
“The ability to spread out
the start waves means less congestion,
plus additional space
to soak in the amazing views
and enjoy a more leisurely, freewheeling
ride. This year’s Tour
will be the best one yet, and we’re
grateful to Mayor Eric Adams,
Department of Transportation
Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez
and all our government
partners for working with us to
infuse an exciting, new liberating
Bicyclists approach the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge during a past Five Boro Bike Tour. File photo by Elizabeth Graham
feel to the Tour experience.”
Organizers have not yet released
the route for this year’s
pedaling palooza, but, as in previous
years, the program will
begin in Lower Manhattan and
end on Staten Island. Last year,
the route started at Manhattan’s
southern tip and traveled up to
Harlem, crossed the river for a
brief layover in the Bronx before
returning to the east side of
Manhattan, after which riders
crossed the Queensboro Bridge
and cycled through waterfront
nabes in Queens and Brooklyn.
Finally, riders trekked across
the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge
to the fi nish line in St. George,
Staten Island.
All streets along the route are
closed to motor vehicle traffi c so
bike riders can peacefully and
safely navigate the city.
The $112 entrance fee is steep,
but the fee supports Bike New
York’s charitable mission to provide
free bike education courses
to children and adults throughout
New York City. The nonprofi
t claims that its educational
programs, administered at “community
bike education centers,”
reached up to 30,000 New Yorkers
in 2020.
The entrance fee includes
snacks, water, and “entertainment”
at rest stops along the
route, access to free bike repairs,
and entry to the “fi nish festival”
at the end of the circuit on Staten
Island.
BIKE ON!
Five Boro Bike Tour to return
to full capacity in May
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