Bike Friendly Richardson

What an amazing day and what an incredible group of riders who came out for Bike Friendly Richardson’s 4th Annual Black Friday Ride. When I arrived early to the starting point at East Side, folks were already waiting to go. Eventually, the group grew to over 30 riders. Even City Councilman, Amir Omar, stopped by to see us off and applaud our efforts.

We also had a pretty large variety of bikes, from a stretched-frame cruiser, a cargo bike, a tandem, some classic refurbs, a few mountain bikes, to some super light road bikes. With so many different styles of riders, my first concern was how I was going to pace a ride and keep everybody happy — not a problem.

The group was amazing. Nobody had an agenda, other than having a casual ride around town and avoiding the crowded, Black Friday shopping malls. The ride was slow with lots of stops to let folks, who got stuck at crossings or lights, catch up. Everybody seemed relaxed and ready to enjoy the amazing fall colors, as we rode through some nice, Richardson neighborhoods.

The first part of the ride was about 10 miles and it stopped at the Dal Rich shopping center, where folks fueled up with some drinks and tasty food at Big Shucks or Whole Foods. After that, the return ride was about 7 miles.

Overall, we took lots of back roads, bike trails and some bike lanes – all made possible by the city’s great bike plan as well as some amazing, interconnecting neighborhoods.

Here are a few pics from the ride: