 "Photo: Ruben Castillo")
A whistle on a rooftop started a mass of bicyclists on a 10-mile journey through Lubbock's Tech Terrace neighborhood Saturday.
Tour de Tech Terrace, a Texas Tech tradition, brought nearly 500 cyclists to the corner of 30th Street and Hartford Avenue, the first of 10 stops at 10 backyards along the 10-mile route. At each stop, participants opened up their backyards for the group to stop and socialize along the route.
The biannual event, which started in 2004, has no entry fee. Each cyclist is asked to bring three canned goods for charity. In the past, the food has been donated to the South Plains Food Bank. This year the canned goods will be donated to victims of Hurricane Ike.
Friends Jake Schwierking and Ethan Minshew, both from Georgetown, organize and run the event together, but they are not the founders of the tour.
"I was the roommate of the guy who started it," Schwierking said, "He asked me if I wanted to start it and I said, 'No, that's a horrible idea. We're going to get in trouble.'"
Today, tour founder Aaron Blom, a Tech alumnus who graduated with an industrial engineering degree in 2006, said he can hardly believe how much the event has grown.
"It started with 30 people," he said, "and I worried then that that many people would get us into trouble. It's nice when it's low-key. It would be nice if it were 50 people riding in a thunderstorm, but the more the merrier."
The tour is not a race, and brings both new and experienced bicycle riders together for a leisurely ride.
Gina Tramel, a junior human sciences major from Fort Worth who rode in Saturday's tour seemed eager to explain to anyone new to the tour that it is not a race.
"It's kind of like school," she said. "As long as you finish, who cares."
Blom has been back to every tour since he graduated. However, he's not the only Tech graduate who travels back to Lubbock for this event.
Trevor Best and Chad McGee are both Tech graduates who have attended almost every tour. For Best, living in Midland could not keep him from touring on Saturday.
"I like the people," Best said, "Everyone's so nice and courteous."
McGee returned to Lubbock from Dallas to attend what he called the greatest event Lubbock has to offer.
The tour is not just open to students either.
Rex Housour was born and raised in Lubbock, but is not a Tech student. After he saw a mention of the tour online, he decided to try it out. Saturday was his second tour.
He said he enjoys the unity of the group and seeing everyone cooperate.
People attend the tour for different reasons. Some people said they like the tour because it is the only time they can get drunk and ride on their bike with hundreds of other people. For many cyclists, it is more than an opportunity to party at 10 different houses.
"As much fun as it is to get drunk," Best said, "that's not the reason I like it. I enjoy biking, and everyone here loves bikes and loves biking."
Jared Sorrel, a senior geography major from Eden and a Tour de Tech Terrace veteran, said he has toured four times.
"It's good to show people we have power as bikers," he said. "It's nice to see so many different people come together for an event."
Differences within the group seemed to disappear when the 500 bicyclists hit the Lubbock streets together. Minshew said he gets satisfaction from the sight of the cohesive group riding together and is impressed by the way the tour allows people of all walks of life to get together for one thing.
"On campus, you're Greek or not Greek, this major or that," said Minshew, a senior advertising major. "We encourage everyone to come out."
Founder Aaron Blom said his favorite thing about the tour was its spirit. He enjoys meeting new people and seeing old faces at the tour. As long as everyone's having fun, they will keep going.
Minshew and Schwierking enjoy the tour's social aspect, but also enjoy being part of an event that can benefit the community and bring Lubbock residents together.
"It's a great way to bring friends of old back to Lubbock," Schwierking said, "And bring new people of Lubbock together."
Demetrick Ferguson, a senior math major from Harker Heights, said he feels strongly about the tour's impact.
"Tour de Tech Terrace is the single most enjoyable event in any and everyone's collegiate career," he said, "And it must be experienced."
Tours in the past have caused a stir in the neighborhood and prompted police intervention, but one rider, Adam Foster said the smaller size this year made for a much smoother ride.
"It's one of the best tours I've done," said Foster, a senior communications major from Plano. "Lubbock seemed to enjoy it today, and seemed to be receptive."
This semester's tour, however, saw 200 less riders than it did in the spring, but the organizers of the event were not disappointed with the smaller number.
Before the tour, Schwierking and Minshew were not sure how neighbors would respond. The two were hesitant to say that the Tour de Tech Terrace tradition would continue without knowing the way the neighborhood would react to it this semester.
After the tour Schwierking said it went flawlessly, so they plan to have the tour again in April.
"Nothing bad happened," he said, "So it's on."
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