For 3 days in March, during SXSW, Bike Hugger is in Austin, Texas, and puts on a big bike show with special guests. We’ll talk about technology in the Create tent, ride daily, then host a larger social ride called the Mobile Social. What we’re doing for the 2014 edition is focusing on mobile photography, wearables, and apps. The tag line for the Mobile Social is Because every good ride deserves to be shared.

I realized at times we’re so in the moment during the Mobile Socials we don’t stop often enough to take photos so decided this year that’s what we’ll do. Photographers Dan Rubin, Pei Ketron, Jeremy Dunn, and David Schloss are going to pull focus on the ride to mobile photography. We’ll start from the Create tent, ride a scenic route next to the river, and stop along the way to get the shots. Back at Create, we’ll talk about the photos and techniques the pros use. Rapha, our reception hosts, will pour free beers for us.

If you count the two “unofficial” years, Bike Hugger has been riding in Austin during SXSW for a decade. Ten years of Mobile Socials have seen enormous, the-roof-is-on-fire crowds — a hundred or so when it rains — and always a colorful peloton that rolls through town like a movable feast. People have met on the rides and gotten married, businesses pitched, and we mostly had lots of fun. We’d like you to join us and we’ve got free bikes.

More Bikes Than Ever

Answering the call for more bikes to ride and take photographs, our partners Nokia US and Tern are bringing a fleet of bikes to town and Lumias for cyclists to demo and take photographs. Combine the Mobile Social fleet with the SXCycles free bike share and that’s more bikes than ever.

Ride with Us

The Mobile Social SXSW with Nokia and Tern starts at 12:30 PM CST, Sunday, March 9, from the Create tent at the Long Center. We’ll ride for about an hour, taking photos, then head back for a reception. The event is free and open to the public. The pace is social and all cyclists are welcome. Any bike will work for the ride, there are no hills, just fun.

We’ll tell you before the event starts how to get a free Tern Bicycles to ride and a Lumia phone to take photos. Follow us on Twitter for the announcement.