Bronx bicycling enthusiasts can now get in gear for the 17th annual Tour de Bronx bike ride as registration for the Oct. 23 event is now open.

Participants can take in views of the borough on bicycle in a joint project by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Transportation Alternatives, and local hospitals. The idea behind it being to promote the beauty of Bronx, as well as to encourage healthy living and exercise in the state’s unhealthiest county.

“Riding a bike around our borough is the healthiest way to see the best of the Bronx, and I invite everyone to join me again this year to tour our wonderful borough,” said Diaz in a press release.

Diaz kicked off the event during a press conference in Norwood at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore yesterday.

For Roxanne Watson, the event could be another marker in her recovery. Watson received a heart transplant at Montefiore Medical Center last year and has recovered well enough to try her hand at the Tour de Bronx.

“For a long time I couldn’t even walk,” Watson said. “Now I’m exercising three times a week and willing to try new things like Tour de Bronx,”

It’s the largest free cycling event in the state, according to the press release.

Bicyclists can choose from 2 different courses. A 25-mile course meant for all skill levels or a more rigorous and speedier 40-mile course for more experienced bicyclists.

The course starts on 161 Street and the Grand Concourse and heads into Mott Haven. Then it snakes around the southeastern edges of the borough. It pulls northward and to the west after Throgs Neck and ends near Bedford Park.

To register for this year’s Tour de Bronx, click here.

–Ronald Chavez