#Hundreds cycle Brooklyn in socially-distant West Indian Day celebration

Hundreds of bicyclists hit the streets of Brooklyn on Sunday for a socially-distanced celebration with this year’s West Indian Day Parade lost to the coronavirus pandemic.

About 250 to 300 members of the Good Company Bike Club employed pedal power to get from Crown Heights’ Lincoln Terrace Park to Fort Greene Park.

“[The] West Indian Day Parade was canceled, obviously, because of COVID, but biking is still safe. So, we decided to celebrate in this way,” said Andre Thompson, 39, a captain of the ride. “We’re just trying to get everybody outside, but in a safe way.”

The ride — a ticketed event capped at 300 participants, with an NYPD escort for safety’s sake — was intended partly to bring awareness to Caribbeans for Black Lives, and partly to let people celebrate the region’s culture with the annually people-packed Labor Day parade scrapped due to COVID-19 concerns.

“This is something to do when we are all usually locked in the house because of COVID,” said Askia Simmons, 37, who rode wearing the flag of Trinidad and Tobago. “It gives us the opportunity to come out and have fun.”

Marv Marcel, chief creative officer of the Good Company Bike Club, agreed that the event was a healthy compromise with the parade a no-go.

“We couldn’t have any huge things happening, so we figured it’s safe, we can practice social distancing while being on bikes and being healthy,” said Marcel, 30.