CLEVELAND, Ohio -- About 400 Clevelanders ditched cars, buses and trains Friday, opting instead to pedal their way to the office as part of National Bike to Work Day.

Sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s provided the perfect setting for those looking to cycle to work.

Jacob VanSickle, executive director of Bike Cleveland, said the national event brings together the local cycling community.

"I think it provides a celebration point," VanSickle said. "For some people, every day is bike to work day."

VanSickle, who rides his bike to work two to three times per week from Old Brooklyn to Ohio City, said the number of riders anecdotally has picked up in the last four years.

The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency has tried to track that increase in cyclists through its bicycle and pedestrian count program. From 2011 to 2014, the number of workday cyclists rose 43 percent, according to NOACA's most recent report.

Roughly 1,051 people commute to work by bike in Cleveland, according to The League of American Bicyclists, which analyzed commuting data from the 2014 American Community Survey.

Tristan Wheeler is one of those cyclists, although a sporadic one. While he rode his bike to his job at the Cleveland Public Library every day this week, typically he only rides in every so often.

Navigating the roads into downtown from his apartment near W. 144th Street can be bit tricky, he said. Some of the streets are narrow and don't have bike lanes, which can make the trip "a little more daunting," he said.

"As soon as the bike lane starts, it's great. You have your own lane and people respect it," Wheeler said.

Wheeler rarely ever drives to work; he's been an "RTA faithful" since he was a kid because he sees it as a more financially responsible choice, which also plays into his decision to sometimes bike to work.

At the library, he can store his bike in the parking deck, and he's currently working with the administration to set up a bike parking area for the library's cycling workers.

Having access to safe parking and to a shower facility can make the difference, as riders like Scott Cohen know.

Cohen, who lives in Lyndhurst and participated in Bike to Work Day to promote the Buckeye Breakaway fundraising ride, would ride to his workplace in Shaker Heights if he had somewhere to shower.

As cities develop more facilities like the Bike Rack, which has showers, changing rooms, lockers and bike rentals, and create more bike lanes, the number of people who bike to work is increasing. From 2000 to 2014, the number of bike commuters grew 62 percent nationally, according to The League of American Bicyclists.

And that uptick isn't lost on Cleveland.

Nancy Desmond, director of special projects for Cleveland Metroparks, was surprised by the turnout Friday at the Bike Rack - one of the local event's four Energizer Stations. By 9 a.m., organizers at the downtown bike storage facility had distributed six gallons of coffee.

"We want to see more people on bikes for health and wellness," said Desmond, who leads efforts to make the parks more bike-friendly places for visitors and employees.