Yesterday beginning at 9AM in McCarren Park, 2500 bicyclists invaded the streets to participate in the 6th annual Tour de Brooklyn, an 18-mile family-friendly ride through the borough. Despite the heat and humidity, online registration was full according to the Brooklyn Eagle. The ride, which is sponsored each year by Transportation Alternatives, wound through Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bed-Stuy and Prospect Heights before heading over to Red Hook Park for a break and snack.

According to TreeHugger.com, the ride also focused on green themes:

Using the theme “Creek-to-Canal,” the course passes between two of Brooklyn’s more infamous waterways, the recently declared superfund hazardous waste site Gowanus Canal and America’s most polluted waterway, the Newtown Creek.

Despite the sultry state of the canal and creek, the tour is born of optimism. The borough is going green, and nowhere is that more clear than in the realm of bicycles. In the last decade, the number of cyclists using Brooklyn’s East River bridges has gone up 600%, and as New York City gets ever more bike friendly, there’s no sign of it slowing down.

Once again, our over-achieving photographer friends Vitaliy Piltser and Lucy Aboytes were on the scene to document the event (and put us all to shame in our lazy, air-conditioned apartments). Check out some of their wonderful shots below of the ride!

Congrats to all who rode in the event!