More than 6,000 people registered for the 12th annual Tour de Troit, an annual bike ride in Detroit that goes for 30 or 62 miles depending on your route.

DETROIT, MI- Nick Westphal and Jennie Costello aren't avid cyclist, but found themselves Saturday morning amid thousands of people ready to bike at least 30 miles in Detroit.

“We’ve been thinking about doing this for a while, so I just went out and bought a bike last night,” said Westphal, a 23-year-old Milwaukee native who now lives in Canton. “There’s definitely some serious people here, but then you see people with watermelon helmets and just here to have fun.”

Westphal and Costello were two of more than 6,000 people to register for the 12th annual Tour de Troit, an annual bike ride in Detroit that goes for 30 or 62 miles depending on your route. It was the couple's first time participating in the event, but possibly not their last.

“I think it’s awesome to have something like this downtown in the city,” said Costello, a 25-year-old Grosse Pointe Park resident. “I’m not a huge biker, so I’m a little bit nervous about the 30 miles, but … it’s pretty cool.”

The annual ride, which started in 2001 with 50 cyclists, has grown into the largest bike ride in Michigan, according to the League of Michigan Bicyclists. It features people (and even a few canines) of all ages and cycling expertise. Jim Johnson, a 53-year-old Lake Orion resident who bikes about 2,000 miles a year, said he was also particularly impressed with the amount of people taking part in the event, which starts and ends at Roosevelt Park in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood.

“There are a lot of people down here,” he said. “This is absolutely phenomenal.”

This year’s Tour de Troit is the largest ever, according to event organizers. Pre-registrations, which cost $35-$55, were at about 5,800 and hundreds of more people were registering at the event Saturday morning for $65.

A portion of the proceeds from Tour de Troit go to support the expansion of the greenways network and non-motorized transportation projects in Detroit and all of Southeastern Michigan. Since 2005, nearly $160,000 has been raised, officials said.

Bil Lusa, chairperson of the Tour de Troit Board of Directors, said the bike ride continues to gain momentum each year, and being named the largest ride in Michigan last year has definitely helped the event grow.

“I know that people don’t identify Detroit necessarily with cycling, so to be able to accomplish that we’re definitely proud of that,” he told MLive Saturday morning.

More than 6,000 people registered for the 12th annual Tour de Troit, an annual bike ride in Detroit that goes for 30 or 62 miles depending on your route, at Roosevelt Park in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood.

And after the ride, the fun doesn’t stop, As part of registering, all participants come back to a meal provided by local restaurants -- Amicci's Pizza, Slow's Bar B Q, The Original Gonellas, Organaman, Honey Bee Market and The Majestic Cafe -- and a couple of “icy cold” beverages -- courtesy of MillKing It Productions, Absopure and Alley Wine -- as well as some music.

Kenneth Cockrel Jr., a long-time Detroit City Council member, said its events like Tour de Troit that really show those who might doubt Detroit's future what it can do.

“There’s a lot of people that want to tell the story of Detroit, they want to write us off … I think today, we’re telling our own story,” Cockrel, a Tour de Troit board member, told the thousands of cyclists before the ride Saturday. “We’re transforming. We’re ‘Detroit Bike City.’ “

For more information on Tour de Troit, visit www.tour-de-troit.org.