The annual Tour de Bronx, one of the city’s largest cycling events, is always a big deal.

But this year’s ride, on Sunday, Oct. 24, holds a special significance, as it will honor Megan Charlop, the longtime community health advocate and activist who died last March in a tragic cycling accident.

“She was an avid participant in the Tour de Bronx, and thought it was a great way to promote bicycling,” said Dr. David Appel, MD, a colleague of Charlop’s at Montefiore Medical Center’s School Health Program.

She spent over two decades at the hospital, where she developed a lead poisoning prevention program and helped combat childhood obesity by getting schools to stop serving sweetened milk.

Promoting good health and exercise — especially through biking — was one of Charlop’s top priorities.

“Her motto was, ‘No child left inside,’” Appel said. “She was dedicated to finding safe places for children to ride their bikes.”

This included bringing a “Learn to Ride,” program to nearby PS 56, which lent a fleet of free bicycles to the school and taught hundreds of children how to ride.

“This big bike ride — it’s an example of adults creating the right examples for children,” said Dr. Steven Safyer, MD, president and CEO at Montefiore, which is a sponsor of this year’s tour.

The tour starts near Yankee Stadium, at the Grand Concourse and East 161st Street, and has two separate routes that snake through the Bronx, highlighting the borough’s parks, waterways and cultural institutions. Participants can choose between a leisurely 25-mile ride and a quicker-paced 40-mile route.

“This is a wonderful way for us to promote health, a wonderful way for us to promote tourism,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., who will be participating in the tour for the first time. 

Charlop, who was an advocate for alternative transportation and better bike lanes, was killed in March while riding her bicycle to a meeting at a school after she swerved to avoid hitting an opening car door.

“Megan is someone who lost her life, literally, promoting bicycling,” Diaz said. “We are dedicating this event to her. Her legacy will live on. People, particularly young people, need to know who Megan Charlop was and everything that she stood for, everything that she meant to us and to the borough of the Bronx.”

Ed. Note: The Tour de Bronx is this Sunday, Oct. 24. Register at www.tourdebronx.org or just show up at the starting line at 161st Street and the Grand Concourse. The event is free.