Minneapolis and St. Paul marked Friday's National Bike to Work Day with morning group rides and resource fairs to encourage people to commute by bicycle. About 200 cyclists turned out for a celebration at the Hennepin County Government Center.

In the afternoon, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Department of Transportation engineers Aaron Tag and Steve Barrett led commuters on a tour of the "I-35W@94: Downtown to Crosstown" project. The ride featured stops at Franklin Steele Park, the 24th Street pedestrian bridge and Midtown Greenway, where the engineers provided updates and insights on the $240 million reconstruction of I-35W through south Minneapolis.

Nice Ride offered free rides on its shiny green bikes.

Started in 1956, Bike to Work Day is now one of the biggest biking days of the year, said Lauren Jenkins with the League of American Bicyclists.

According to census data released this week, about 872,000 commuters nationwide report that riding a bike is their primary way of getting to work. Bike commuters are three times more likely to be men, live in the urban core and be younger than 45, the data showed.

Minneapolis has one of the highest percentages of bike commuters among cities with populations of 60,000 or more, with about 4% of workers pedaling to their jobs, the Census Bureau said.

Lilacs were in the air — and on the handlebars — as riders gathered Friday to celebrate two-wheeled commutes.

This week two Minnesota communities achieved the distinction of being named "Bicycle Friendly Communities" by the League of American Bicyclists. With the addition of Woodbury and Walker at the bronze level, the state now has 27 communities that have earned national recognition for their efforts to make safe accommodations for bicycling and to encourage people to bike.

Minneapolis is one of 34 communities in the nation that have achieved gold status, the second-highest level awarded by the league. St. Paul, Grand Marais and Hennepin County have achieved silver status.