Road Biking

Dominion Riverrock on the horizon

By Andy Thompson | May 14, 2013

Dominion Riverrock, Richmond’s riverlife celebration starts this Friday and runs through Sunday. Last year over 65,000 people attended the event over the three days. And the weather looks to be just as good this year, with highs in the 80s and chances for scattered thunderstorms. Registrations for the sporting events on May 17-19 will be accepted online until tonight (Tuesday, May 14) at 11:59 p.m. Admission is free, but anyone wishing to compete in a Dominion Riverrock event must pay to enter. Walk-up registration for all events will be accepted on site unless the event has reached its capacity.Dominion-Riverrock-1

Dominion Riverrock also features live concerts throughout the weekend, an interactive village, and sporting events including the Miller Lite Filthy 5k, James River Scramble 10k Trail Run, Urban Assault mountain bike race, Boulder Bash, Slacklining, and more.  For event registration and further information about Dominion Riverrock 2013, go to www.dominionriverrock.com.

Schedule of Events:

Thursday, May 16

Registration   and Athlete Check-In 4:00   – 7:00 p.m.

 Friday, May 17

Registration   and Athlete Check-In 11:00   a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Vendor   Booths and Interactive Village open 5:00   – 8:00 p.m.
Slackline   Highline Exhibition 5:00   p.m.
Subaru Ultimate Air Dogs presented   by Zuke’s (Qualifying #1) 5:00   p.m.
Miller Lite Filthy 5k Mud   Run presented by Ruffwear 6:00   p.m.
FREE   CONCERT: DJ Mordecai 6:00   – 7:00 p.m.
Freestyle Bikes presented by   Agee’s (Slopestyle Qualifying) 6:30   – 7:30 p.m.
Bouldering (Men’s&   Women’s Qualifying) 6:30   – 8:00 p.m.
Subaru Ultimate Air Dogs presented   by Zuke’s (Qualifying #2) 7:00   p.m.
FREE   CONCERT: Soulive 7:30   – 9:00 p.m.
FREE   CONCERT: Lettuce 9:30   – 11:00 p.m.

 Saturday, May 18

Adventure Race 8:00   a.m.
Registration   and Athlete Check-In 10:00   a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
YogaROCK 11:00   a.m.
Vendor   Booths and Interactive Village open 12:00   – 9:00 p.m.
Group Hike presented by Central VA   Trailblazers 12:00   p.m.
Bouldering (Men’s&   Women’s Qualifying) 12:00   – 2:00 p.m.
Black Dog Paddle SUP Yoga Demo 12:15   – 12:35 p.m.
Group Hike presented by Central VA   Trailblazers 1:00   p.m.
Mountain Bike Skills Course   tour with Richmond MORE 1:00   p.m.
Subaru Ultimate Air Dogs presented   by Zuke’s(Qualifying #3) 1:00   p.m.
Kayak Boatercross presented by Cudas 1:00   p.m.
Thule Urban Assault Mountain Bike   Race 1:00   p.m.
FREE   CONCERT: The Trongone Band 1:00   – 2:00 p.m.
Group Hike presented by Central VA   Trailblazers 2:00   p.m.
FREE   CONCERT: The New Belgians 2:30   – 3:30 p.m.
Slackline (Round 1) 2:30   – 4:00 p.m.
Subaru Ultimate Air Dogs presented   by Zuke’s (Qualifying #4) 3:00   p.m.
Group Hike presented by Central VA   Trailblazers 3:00   p.m.
Mountain Bike Skills Course   tour with Richmond MORE 3:00   p.m.
Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) Cross 4:00   p.m.
FREE   CONCERT: The Shack Band 4:00   – 5:00 p.m.
Bouldering (Men’s&   Women’s Semifinals) 4:00   – 5:30 p.m.
Slackline   Highline Exhibition 5:00   p.m.
Subaru Ultimate Air Dogs presented   by Zuke’s (Qualifying #5) 5:00   p.m.
Black Dog Paddle SUP Yoga Demo 5:30   – 5:50 p.m.
FREE   CONCERT: The Southern Belles 5:30   – 6:30 p.m.
James River Scramble 10k Trail Run   presented by Goal Zero 6:00   p.m.
Freestyle Bikes presented by   Agee’s (Slopestyle Finals) 6:00   – 7:00 p.m.
Slackline (Round 2) 6:00   – 7:00 p.m.
Subaru Ultimate Air Dogs presented   by Zuke’s (Qualifying #6) 7:00   p.m.
Bouldering (Men’s&   Women’s Finals) 7:00   – 8:30 p.m.
FREE   CONCERT: Anders Osborne 7:00   – 8:30 p.m.
   FREE     CONCERT: Toots& The Maytals
9:00   – 10:30 p.m.

 Sunday, May 19

Registration   and Athlete Check-In 10:00   a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) Enduro 11:00   a.m.
Subaru Ultimate Air Dogs presented   by Zuke’s (Qualifying #7) 12:00   p.m.
Slackline   Highline Exhibition 12:00   p.m.
Vendor   Booths and Interactive Village open 12:00   – 5:00 p.m.
Bouldering Speed Comp (Men’s   and Women’s Qualifying) 12:00   – 1:00 p.m.
Group Hike presented by Central VA   Trailblazers 12:00   p.m.
Slackline (Quarterfinals) 1:00   – 2:00 p.m.
FREE   CONCERT: William Walter with Tucker Rogers 1:00   – 2:00 p.m.
Group Hike presented by Central VA   Trailblazers 1:00   p.m.
Black Dog Paddle SUP Yoga Demo 2:00   – 2:20 p.m.
Group Hike presented by Central VA   Trailblazers 2:00   p.m.
Mountain Bike Skills Course   tour with Richmond MORE 2:00   p.m.
Subaru Ultimate Air Dogs presented   by Zuke’s (Qualifying #8) 2:00   p.m.
Dirt Crit Short Track Mountain Bike   Race 2:00   p.m.
Bouldering Speed Comp (Qualifying   #2) 2:00   – 3:00 p.m.
FREE   CONCERT: Barrelhouse 2:30   – 3:30 p.m.
Group Hike presented by Central VA   Trailblazers 3:00   p.m.
Kayak Freestyle presented by Cudas 3:00   p.m.
Freestyle Bikes presented by   Agee’s (Best Trick Qualifying) 3:00   p.m.
Slackline (Semifinals   and Finals) 3:00   p.m.
Black Dog Paddle SUP Yoga Demo
3:30   – 3:50 p.m.
Subaru Ultimate Air Dogs presented   by Zuke’s (Finals) 4:00   p.m.
Bouldering Speed Comp (Men’s   and Women’s Finals) 4:00   p.m.
Freestyle Bikes presented by Agee’s (Best   Trick Finals) 4:00   p.m.
FREE   CONCERT: The Photosynthesizers 4:00   – 5:00 p.m.

 

 

 

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Posted In: Canoeing/Kayaking, Climbing, Hiking, James River, Mountain Biking, Road Biking, Road running, Running, Trail Running, Upcoming Events

Report: Central Va. has long way to go on bike/ped infrastructure

By Andy Thompson | May 9, 2013

Interesting piece by Mike Martz on the front of the T-D today about bike/pedestrian infrastructure in Central Virginia. Among the eye-opening statistics in the article: the city of Richmond, Chesterfield and Hanover counties have a grand total of 18.5 miles of dedicated bike lanes. That is rather pitiful.

“The streets that have bike lanes are few and far between,” states the report by Richmond Sports Backers, which documented 18.25 miles of bike lanes in the city and counties of Chesterfield and Hanover. “This random use of bike lanes has had little impact on bike usage due to the lack of a network connecting bike lanes and trails to allow for continuous safe riding conditions.”

Sports Backers says what is missing is a master plan for the city and surrounding counties to build the infrastructure of bike lanes, paved and unpaved off-road trails, neighborhood byways, and marked “sharrow” lanes to make cycling a reliable and safe transportation alternative.

“It has to be a coordinated effort,” said Max Hepp-Buchanan, who was hired last month as director of Sports Backers’ Bike Walk RVA advocacy program. “You don’t want a bike lane that just drops off when it hits the county limits.”

 

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Posted In: Greenways, Mountain Biking, Road Biking

Big bike news and events

By Andy Thompson | April 23, 2013

I’ve featured a couple of cycling related events and news items in my recent Times-Dispatch columns that I want to highlight here also. First the news, and this is a big one: Pocahontas State Park is in line for an extreme makeover –mountain bike addition. If a public/private partnership comes together as hoped, the state park in Chesterfield County will be the site of 35-40 new miles of singletrack. What’s that, you ask, doesn’t Pocahontas already have some serious singletrack? It does, but the new stuff will be IMBA-built “mountain bike optimized” trail. And if it goes through, it, along with Richmond’s downtown trails, would give the area a good chance to become an official IMBA “Ride Center.”

The governor (pressed by aide Jasen Eige, a trail runner and biker) got the process rolling, by adding a $50,000 budget amendment that recently made it through the General Assembly. To those funds will be added $50,000 more from Dominion Resources. The $100,000 will get the ball rolling on what could be a project costing north of $1 million. Click here to read more.

As for events, I recently featured the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation’s Cap2Cap ride. This year will be the eighth annual Cap2Cap, the ride day that has grown from 150 participants to over 2,200 last year. What once was an event for hardcore cyclists, is now a party (in both Richmond Williamsburg, depending on where you start your ride) with some riding mixed in. It’s also the group’s largest fundraiser, bring in over $110,000 in 2012. This year’s event goes off on May 11. Click here to learn more.

 

 

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Posted In: Mountain Biking, Road Biking

Bike Virginia to unveil new website

By Andy Thompson | April 15, 2013

Bike Virginia recently came out with an exciting press release. If you’re a cyclist who’s traveled Virginia’s byways, you know this is long overdue. The statewide bicycling advocacy group, announced that it is “in the development stages for a comprehensive cycling resource website that will provide cycling-related information and activities from across the state of Virginia. The website will serve to support both new and experienced cyclists of all ages and skill levels, helping connect people with places to ride and encourage cycling and bicycle tourism across the state.”

bikevirginia-1352471333_600The joint announcement was made today by Tom Bowden, Chairman of the Bike Virginia Board of Directors, and the organization’s Executive Director Dr. Kim Perry. The non-profit works to improve the state of active living in Virginia through bicycling initiatives. Funding for the project is provided by proceeds from the annual Bike Virginia Tour and a generous donation from Primal Custom Cycling Apparel. The Bike Virginia organization’s mission is to help Virginia benefit from and grow bicycling, to positively influence health and the environment, and enjoy the associated economic benefits. The site will include a ‘places to ride’ section, a calendar of activities, cycling news, information on commuting by bike and riding for fun and fitness, cycling club information, tourism centers, bike shops, links to cycling-related businesses, trail maps and more. Communities from across the state will be invited to participate by providing information regarding their cycling-related activities and places to ride via an online submittal form. The site is expected to go-live this fall.

For more information, contact Dr. Kim Perry at at kim@bikeva.org.

 

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Posted In: Mountain Biking, Road Biking

What Richmond can do to create “don’t-know-it-yet cyclists”

By Andy Thompson | March 23, 2013

Beth Weisbrod, Executive Director of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, always seems to find insightful things to say in her e-newsletter entries. Here’s what she had to say a couple of days ago.

A protected bike lane in Raleigh.

A protected bike lane in Raleigh.

“Very few people self-identify as a cyclist.”
I heard this at the National Bike Summit a few weeks ago.  Doing what I do, I tend to move in circles where people are certain of their cycling identity.  Whether they are professionals who bike-commute, college students who bike to class, bike clubbers, avid road riders or mountain bikers, those are the people most excited about the Virginia Capital Trail.  While I am aware that a burgeoning cycling culture, by definition, means more people are becoming comfortable calling themselves cyclists, it’s those who have already undergone that evolution who (generally) support us.  

For a region to really embrace the bike/pedestrian “movement”, they need to consider the non-cyclist.  Or, what I like to call the don’t-know-it-yet-cyclist.  Cities can do this by designing infrastructure that beckons them.  Two things; safety and connectivity have proven to be big draws.  Protected bike lanes and separated paths, like the Virginia Capital Trail, give new riders that critical sense of security.  And if they can actually get somewhere, all the better.  Having schools, businesses, neighborhoods and offices connected in a way that encourages all kinds of people to ride does great things for a community.

Cities all over the world report that areas served by protected bike lanes — those separated from cars by a buffer or physical barrier – -generate more bike traffic than those areas where only a paint stripe exists between riders and cars.  Why is this a good thing? Economic impact.  In Indianapolis and New York City, for example, businesses along protected bike path corridors report higher retail sales, and neighborhoods along these routes enjoy higher property values.  So really, the don’t-know-it-yet-cyclists are a powerful group of people that can bring big returns to a city making good infrastructure investments. 

As our region designs new roads and improves existing ones, urge our planners to make similar investments.  Allowing room for bikes does not mean giving the brave their own lane beside traffic.  It means creating an environment where people of all ages and abilities decide they’d rather try pedaling to school, work, or the grocery store because they feel safe doing so.  Once that happens, the definition of cyclist becomes more in line with the definition of success.
 

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Posted In: Greenways, Road Biking