Aaron Blom and Omar Abotteen started out as just a couple of guys who liked to ride bikes.
This past weekend was the third annual Tour de Tech Terrace. Last August, Abotteen, a mechanical engineering major, loved the idea and began putting everything together.
Blom, an industrial engineering major, had the idea to make the tour biannual. The tour will now be held in April and on Labor Day weekend.
"It's just too much fun to only do once a year," Blom said.
The group started with about 30 friends getting together and riding bikes around their neighborhood, but, as with every tour, it expanded and evolved into a more organized event. This year, the tour grew to over 100 participants, Blom and Abotteen said, and it is still growing.
This year was the first tour to give out wristbands to the riders, and also the first to collect canned goods to donate to the Hurricane Relief Fund.
"We were going to give the cans to the Food Bank," Abotteen said. "But, with everything happening in New Orleans, we decided to donate it to them."
For this tour, the course was 11 miles long and stopped at 10 houses throughout Tech Terrace.
Steven Dean, a mechanical engineering major, was the "leader of the pack." He led the tour from house to house, and he was not alone as two pocket bikes followed close behind to ensure safe crossing across major intersections.
"This is just a huge biking-type community," Dean said. "People stand in their yards and wave as we ride by."
Dean said the neighborhood enjoys seeing the group every year and appreciates what the tour does for the community.
"We don't turn anyone away, anyone with a bike can ride," Abotteen said.
He said next April to have your bike tuned up and watch for the fliers that will be posted around campus to join the masses as they ride through Tech Terrace.
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