Thousands started the annual "Go vélo" (Go Biking) festival with a 22 km ride across the city on Friday night, with heavy traffic due to the large number of participants.

It is the first "Tour la Nuit" tour since the COVID-19 pandemic stopped. The event, which coincides with World Bicycle Day, started at 8 PM, with two entry points at "Parc Lafontaine" and "Parc Maisonneuve".

For traffic, drivers faced many road closures through Mount Royal Plateau, Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, and Ville-Marie.

The event organizers recommend drivers use the navigation app "Waze" to plan their routes in advance.

On Sunday, cyclists will also prepare for the "Tour de L'Ile" race at 9:30 AM, a 36 km loop extending through several neighborhoods, including "NDG," "Outremont," Plateau, Southwest, Downtown, and Verdun.

Organizers say that 15,000 cyclists are expected to attend. Bixi celebrates 50 million rides. "Bixi Montreal" also participated in the celebrations on Friday, inviting local mural artists to create custom bike artwork celebrating 50 million rides since 2009.

Although 50 unique Bixis will be for public use, artists were also provided with bikes to display during the festival, which starts next week.