Every year on the first Sunday in May, New York State in the United States celebrates Bicycle Blessing Day.
The story is. 1819. The first bicycle took to the streets of New York. The curiosity was brought from England. By the end of the summer, the municipal council banned movement around the city by a new type of transport, calling the bicycle unsafe for humans.
However, over time, the bicycle has become the main, cheap and convenient means of transportation for residents of the state.
Since then, New York has hosted the largest mass bike ride in the United States, the Five Boro Bike Tour, every year. The race starts at Battery Park and takes place in five areas of New York along streets closed to traffic that day. The length of the route is — 40 miles (64 km).
About 30 thousand cyclists take to the track. The route passes through Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island before crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and returning to Manhattan via a ferry to Staten Island. After the end of the race, everyone will enjoy a festival in Staten Island with live music, food and exhibitions.
Also in New York State, an antique bicycle auction is held annually in the small town of Copack. In addition to the most unusual bicycles of all sizes and models, from elegant ladies' to sports and racing monsters, here you can find everything that is in one way or another connected with bicycle themes: accessories, parts, rare photographs and postcards.
Collectors and rarities lovers from England, Japan, Canada and the USA take part in the auction.