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Moscow night bicycle parade gathers record number of participants

Parade gathers more than 20,000 cyclists

© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. The night Moscow bicycle parade in support of the development of bicycle infrastructure has gathered more than 20,000 participants, Moscow Deputy Mayor and head of the Moscow Department for Transport and the Development of Road and Transport Infrastructure Maxim Liksutov said on Saturday.

"Today, there will be more than 20,000 participants. It [the bicycle parade] will be probably one of the biggest in the history of night bicycle parades," he said at the opening ceremony.

In 2017 this event gathered 10,000 cyclists. The first Moscow bicycle parade was held in 2012.

The night run

The participants gathered at 22:00 Moscow time (GMT+3) on the Suvorovskaya Square, where the parade started, and finished on the Bolotnaya Square. The route was 20 km long, and the participation in the parade was free of charge. The only restriction was the age: cyclists under 16 were not allowed.

Some participants hired bicycles. Some city rental centers provided a discount for bicycles on this day. The Moscow Region residents could transport bicycles in the passenger trains of the Central Suburban Passenger Company and the Moscow-Tver Suburban Passenger Company free of charge from August 4 to 5.

"We are glad that many people from the Moscow Region and other regions and districts bordering Moscow came to today’s night bicycle parade," Liksutov stressed.

The monitor of the bicycle culture development project "Let’s bike it!" and the event’s organizer, Vladimir Kumov, added that this year’s night event was devoted to space. "August is well-known for its star showers. Today we can see participants on flying saucers dressed in special costumes," Kumov said.

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