Moonlight Ramble takes over the streets tomorrow night

KSDK -- Once a year, since 1964, people have gathered downtown to pedal their bikes along a moonlit path.

"Dick Leary was our executive director, he said we're going to have a bike ride at midnight, invited all of his friends by postcard and telephone," explains Mark Cockson.

That first year it was a group of one.

"He showed up downtown nobody else did. He was by himself he said okay I'm going to do this bike ride and he did. So the next year his friends said wow he's serious and thought started coming downtown to meet him on moonlight bike ride," adds Cockson.

Last year, around 10,000 people showed up and that includes Cockson, a guy who also answers to Moonlight Mark, and the current executive director of the Gateway Council of Hostelling International.

This year's ride will begin at 15th and Market in downtown st. Louis. The organization that collects the $30 entry fee will be putting the money towards renovating a building that was built in 1867.

"This used to be the Mulanphy Emigrant home. Brian Mulanphy was the bachelor mayor of St. Louis who left a huge fortune. Part of his fortune went to build this building to help immigrants who were coming through St. Louis," Cockson says.

The idea now is to turn this into a hostel with 86 beds because even though St. Louis is home to Hostelling International it's not home to a single hostel.

"In the 40's and 50's we did run hostels and then gradually we got out of the business of running hostels and became more of an organization to promote tourism and travel and staying in hostels.