Cyclists ruled the city streets this weekend.

More than 30,000 bike riders participated in the 2024 TD Five Boro Bike Tour on a soggy Sunday. The nonprofit organization that puts on the event, Bike New York, says it is the biggest charitable bike ride in the world.

“It’s just so enjoyable. It’s physical. It’s emotional. It’s mental. It’s spiritual,” said Ken Podziba, the president and CEO of Bike New York.

The 40-mile journey began in lower Manhattan and continued through Central Park, before cyclists made their way uptown to the Bronx. They then went south and biked over the Queensboro Bridge into Long Island City.

Riders then traveled through Queens and along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, before biking over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to wrap up on Staten Island.

This event is not a race — it is a tour. Cyclists of all skill levels from around the world are invited to travel at their own pace and take in the spectacle.

"I think this is just a great opportunity to see the city. I mean, the streets are closed. This like never happens. We were just through Manhattan. It was amazing. It gives you a different view of the city,” said Diego Garcia, a participant in the Five Boro Bike Tour.

Garcia is new to the city after recently moving to the area from Mexico.

Ari Calem, who is originally from Maryland, has been living and working in the city for about three years. She too took part in the bike tour for the first time on Sunday.

"My bike is kind of a plain casual bike. So I'm just enjoying the city, getting some exercise, but not taking it too intensely,” Calem said.

Spectrum News NY1 spoke with two riders Sunday who are blind. They said they feel empowered when riding in the Five Boro Bike Tour.

"We just want to be part of this community, this high energy. We're athletes at the highest level. We both compete internationally,” said Kiana Glanton, who rode Sunday on a tandem bike.

Glanton said she wants people to know there are no limits to what somebody can do.

"I'm just excited to bring some more light and awareness and education to visual impairments and blindness and people — what they can do," said Griffin Pinkow.

The Five Boro Bike Tour raises money to fund free bike education programs throughout the city, including teaching young New Yorkers in all five boroughs how to ride on city streets.

"We teach formerly incarcerated New Yorkers to become bike mechanics, and they get jobs maintaining Citi Bikes, and their lives are turned around," Podziba said. "We also teach tens of thousands of New Yorkers how to ride — how to ride safely."

The event has around 70 different organizations that serve as charity partners, according to Podziba.