Riding the First Friday Art Trail

By Ginger Hall

We decided to ride the First Friday Art Trail in Lubbock on a whim. We received the notice via email from the bike club and thought “Why not?” The forecast didn’t call for uncomfortably cold weather, so we loaded up our five bikes on the car and headed downtown to meet the organizers. When we arrived at the meeting location, we were worried that, a) we’d been left since we arrived a few minutes late, or b) we were it and the organizers had given up. Fortunately, that was not the case; Angie and Mike from Healthy Lubbock greeted us and got us hooked up with our nifty little BikeTexas safety lights. Our friends, Shawn and Nicolle, also showed as well as a gentleman on his recumbent from the West Texas Turtles.

Our little group pushed off and pedaled through the streets to various stops along the trail. We wandered through shops and purchased fun little homemade goodies. Everybody was kind enough to wait while our daughter had a caricature of herself drawn, complete with bike helmet (she refused to remove it for the artist). It was a very easy-going and friendly group and we thoroughly enjoyed chatting with new people. The best thing was that the night progressed easily. We all greatly enjoyed each others’ company and were all glad to just go with the flow. The vehicles in the area were actually very accommodating and we didn’t have any issues with them.

In conclusion, the Hall family will definitely be attending this again. I encourage families to attend, especially if their children are adept at handling their bikes and are familiar with riding where vehicles sometimes get a wee bit close. I see this group growing and becoming especially popular during the warmer months, when layers of wind and cold-resistant clothing aren’t required. We’ll definitely be a part of it!

Thanks to all of those who worked to make it happen,
Ginger

Healthy Lubbock and the Lubbock Bicycle Coalition plan to have a community bike ride at every First Friday Art Trail in Lubbock starting in February. Make plans to see the Art Trail from your bicycle!