Pedaling Together: FWCD’s Lower School Bike Bus
This past September, what started as one family’s idea quickly became an FWCD Friday morning ritual. Brittnee and Rob Freund, avid cyclists who spent weekends biking 40–70 miles before they had children, launched the FWCD Bike Bus with their children, Olivea ’34 and Evelyn ’37, when they rode their bikes to school for the first time. Their goal was simple: build community, encourage healthy habits, and create a fun, sustainable way to get to school. Brittnee connected with Head of Lower School Trey Blair and Assistant Head of Lower SchoolMeredith Hudgens Cunningham ’04 to find a way to make biking to school become a reality. Blair and Cunningham then consulted Chelsy Beninate, Assistant Head of School for Operations and Security, and the trio found a safe and welcoming way to make it happen.
Week by week, the Friday Bike Bus grew. One family grew into two families, then a few more joined to become a crowd. The FWCD Bike Bus continued its Friday rides through December. When the second semester started, the Freunds took a break, only riding on Fridays when the temperature was above 40 degrees. They picked up again in March, and now, every Friday morning, approximately 30 riders — 15 students and 15 adults are pedaling their way to campus.
Special guests like Middle School Art Teacher Owen Curstinger, Middle School Spanish Teacher Bob Booth, Upper School Latin Teachers Bryan Carlson, and Head of School Eric Lombardi have joined the fun. For many students, Friday has become the most exciting day of the week — and the only day they’re up before their parents!
The FWCD Bike Bus also connects with a bigger movement. When Brittnee was trying to get the Bike Bus off the ground, she reached out to Sam Balto, Executive Director and Co-founder of Bike Bus World, to learn how to start a local chapter. Bike Bus World’s mission is to transform the well-being of children, communities, and the climate through biking together to school — a vision the FWCD community proudly embraces.
Bike Bus riders – students and adults – meet at Overton Park at 7 a.m., with options to join at the start or at pickup points along the route at Ranchview/Bellaire or Riverhills.
It’s a ride worth waking up for — and it’s only just getting started.
