Keith Richards led a group of bicyclists along the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail to the first Active Streets event in Hawthorne on Sunday morning.
The group of about 15 left Richards’ bicycle store, Swift Cycle, located on West University Avenue, at about 10 a.m. and arrived at the event about 90 minutes later.
For some riders, it was their first time biking the 16-mile trail to Hawthorne, Richards said.
His group was one of the few bicycling groups that attended Active Streets. The Active Streets Alliance, City of Hawthorne and Gainesville Cycling Club hosted the free community event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Active Streets Alliance previously organized two events in Gainesville: Open Streets in October and Active Streets in February.
Thirty local businesses and organizations set up booths to lead activities along Johnson Street. Participants were able to jump rope, draw with chalk and ride bicycles in the middle of the road.
The Sexton family came out to support its community. Sam, Kylee and their daughter, Kieran, agreed their favorite part was being able to try out different bicycles as part of Gator Cycle’s activity.
But Sam Sexton said he was worried the event didn’t have enough support in Hawthorne.
“It’d be nice to see more locals contribute their time,” he said.
However, Joseph Floyd, the Active Streets Alliance executive director, was happy with the turnout.
He estimated about 200 people attended.
“If you compare it to Gainesville on a proportional basis, it has outdone what (Open Streets) did,” he said.
Open Streets attracted 47 businesses and 6,000 people. Hawthorne has a population of about 1,500 people, which means it hosted 66 percent as many activities as Open Streets with only 1 percent of Gainesville’s population, Floyd said.
The purpose of Active Streets is to promote physical activity, healthy lifestyles and human interaction within a community. It also encourages people to play in the roads while feeling safe, he said.
“You experience the space in a different way,” he said.
Ellen Vause, the city manager, sat at the city’s booth, which displayed information about one upcoming improvement already in the works: the Johnson Street road reconstruction project.
Next February, the street will be repaved in a serpentine shape, which will slow traffic, and a shared bike lane will be added, Vause said.
The road will connect the end of the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail to Little Orange Creek Nature Park, which is not yet open to the public.
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 6/16/15]
Vander Kubisek, 5, (left) Jill Kubisek, and Cece, 3, draw chalk pictures in the middle of Johnson Street at the Active Streets event in Hawthorne on Sunday morning. The Kubisek family attended past Active Streets events and decided to come out and support Hawthorne's businesses.
