Five Boro Bike Tour takes over NYC. Here's why over 32,000 cyclists from around the world rode 40 miles.

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

The first wave of cyclists started at 7:30 a.m. from the intersection of Franklin and Church Street in Tribeca. The last wave left at 10:25 a.m.

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.   

"It's 40 miles and I enjoy every minute of it," said Anthony Maynard, from Columbia, South Carolina. 

"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," Nichole Muller, of Texas, said at the starting line. 

Many riders 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. 

There is no official end time, but most riders should be done by the evening. 

"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 Meredith Mitsifer, of Arizona. "This is going to be amazing, I can't wait to see New York in a whole different way."

Cycling for a cause

The Five Boro Bike Tour represents all ages and abilities. 

"It feels like a microcosm of the world," said Bike New York President and CEO Ken Podziba. 

More than 32,000 cyclists take part in the charity ride, which raises money for Bike New York's free bike education programs. The nonprofit teaches children and adults how to ride, as well as bike safety.

"I'm riding on behalf of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation," said Steve Shiffman, whose wife has cystic fibrosis. 

"We wanted to bring awareness to ovarian cancer," said Nicole Moler, with the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition in Dallas, Texas. 

Participants from around the world say the event is a rare chance 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.

Five Boro Bike Tour road closures

Of course, the bike tour also meant street, bridge and tunnel closures for drivers across the city. 

The Staten Island-bound lower level of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge was closed from 2 a.m. to 7 p.m. The upper level remained open in both directions. 

The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge exit ramp to the southbound FDR Drive 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 closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

See the full list of road closures here.

In:
• Staten Island
• Brooklyn
• Queens
• The Bronx
• Manhattan
• New York City