"It's so exciting to be in a group of so many people, all with a common interest. Plus it's fun to go through all the red lights," said Robert Fuller.

As always the 52 kilometre trip is a ride, not a race, with cyclists travelling at their own pace. As Velo Quebec's executive director Joelle Sevigny explained, this year's route went farther west than ever before.

"We did go west, from Ville Mont-Royal, Cote-des-Neiges-NDG, Westmount and then west again to Lachine, Lasalle, Verdun," said Sevigny.

Turnout was also very high.

"It's about 35,000 with us today, and we are very happy about it," said Sevigny.

While many of the participants had done the ride before, there are always newcomers like Anca Lawn, eager to see parts of Montreal that can often be ignored.

"We just get to enjoy the city you know," said Lawn. "We've been in the city for like 15 years and it's the first time I saw like some areas and it's such a nice atmosphere."

Montreal isn't the only city with a massive bicycle ride. New York's Five Borough ride has also been going on for decades, and its president, Leonard Diamond, came up to Montreal to compare notes.

"We like to come up here to Montreal and see how the ride has a different flavour. We like to see it and steal ideas from them," said Diamond.

In spite of the challenge, many say they're ready to do it all over again. But not until next year.