WATERVILLE — With yarn of various colors woven around the handlebars and hanging like spiderwebs over the wheel spokes, the bicycle looked anything but ridable.

Yet according to Sarah Davis, of Solon, it was. The bike, titled “Pedaling Yarn,” is one of five pieces of bicycle-inspired art at a new exhibit at Common Street Arts in downtown Waterville called “Art on Wheels.” Covered in hand-knit creations made by Davis, co-owner of HappyKnits, a yarn store in Skowhegan, and two friends, it was one of the most colorful and loud bicycles on display.

“We thought about it for about a year,” Davis said. “It’s something we just created for fun, but with a bike you can wheel it around to different locations in town.”

The exhibit opened Saturday to coincide with the arrival of the Trek Across Maine, a 180-mile bicycle ride that raises money for the American Lung Association of the Northeast. It also included several digital prints of bicycles by Waterville artist Kico Passalacqua. The exhibit is on display through July 3.

Claire Prontnicki, 58, of Waterville, had created a gold-painted sculpture based on a bicycle that she had as a child and rode around for about 30 years. The frame of the bicycle hung over a potted plant and was embellished with a tea kettle, doorknobs, old ice skates and more.

“I like being able to connect one thing to another,” said Prontnicki, who works in the library at Colby College. “It was a fun thing to do.”

The exhibit opening was scheduled to coincide with the arrival of more than 2,000 cyclists participating in the Trek Across Maine, which began Friday at Sunday River in Bethel and ends on Sunday in Belfast. The cyclists biked about 70 miles the first day before spending Friday night in Farmington and heading to Colby College in Waterville on Saturday morning.

Ride organizers said Saturday the event is expected to raise about $1.8 million for research, education and advocacy in connection with lung cancer. Participants are required to raise at least $550 each.

“We have people of all skill levels, from those that are more skilled to those that are getting on a road bike for the first time and just want to experience it,” said Jeffrey Seyler, president and chief operating officer of the American Lung Association of the Northeast. “We really want people to enjoy the scenery, the ride and the other people riding.”

Most participants in the ride are from Maine, although more than 25 states are represented by the 2,060 people registered this year, Seyler said.

Nancy Marshall, of Augusta, was one of a few participants in the Trek who ventured to the art exhibit Saturday afternoon. “I think it’s terrific,” said Marshall, 55. “But unfortunately, there was no shuttle (going from Colby to the downtown exhibit). It’s one thing to ride here downhill, but it’s another to go back.”

Most riders had finished the roughly 40-mile trip from Farmington by early Saturday afternoon, and many already had set up tents at the Colby campus, where they planned to spend the night.

Doug Brockway, of Newport, was putting his bicycle in storage around 2:30 p.m. at the Colby College ice arena. This Trek is his first, and he’s riding in memory of his father, who died of lung cancer four years ago.

“I feel pretty good,” said Brockway, 42. “I’m a little tried, but I’m alive.”

The Trek continues Sunday with riders leaving Waterville between 7 and 8 a.m. and riding to Belfast, where it ends at the Steamboat Landing.

Rachel Ohm — 612-2368

rohm@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @rachel_ohm

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