I’m not sure I would have survived last spring’s pandemic shutdown without my bicycle.
During a time when I was housebound — save for an early-morning biweekly trip to the grocery store to restock provisions and scout for toilet paper — my bike provided a safe and much-needed escape from a scary and depressing reality.
My husband and I have been avid cyclists for many years, but our riding was mostly confined to the weekends. Last year, with so many people working from home, we quickly realized it was possible to hop on our bikes after a day of working from home ourselves for a safe ride on nearly deserted streets that, in ordinary times, would have been teeming with rush-hour traffic.
We weren’t the only ones who sought freedom on a bicycle. U.S. bicycle sales increased 65% last year, with $4 billion in bikes sold between January and October 2020, according to the tracking company NPD Group. Locally, the Virginia Capital Trail saw a 42% increase in visitors, with 1.2 million people enjoying the multiuse trail.
In late May, after the first protests against racial inequity and police brutality erupted downtown, we rode down Monument Avenue and Broad Street on an early Sunday morning to survey the damage that had been wrought the night before.
We continued riding east into town throughout the summer, traveling down Monument on Friday evenings and stopping at the Lee Monument, reading the memorials to those who have been killed by police, listening to the music that was often playing and watching as the space was reclaimed and transformed by protesters.
One of our first social interactions with someone outside our household was on a bike, as we reunited with a few riding buddies after realizing that cycling is the perfect socially distanced activity. On my husband’s 50th birthday in July, instead of throwing a party, we rode his age, plus two, traveling the length of the Capital Trail from Richmond to Williamsburg to mark the occasion.
Luckily for us, the Richmond region is a fabulous place to ride a bike. With relatively mild weather year-round, access to quiet rural roads in surrounding counties, the Capital Trail and a growing network of dedicated bike lanes in the city, the region has something to offer every type of rider. See Page 80 for the lowdown on Richmond’s cycling scene. If you haven’t ridden a bike in a while, I hope it will inspire you to hit the road.
Also in this issue, writer Gary Robertson takes a look at Henrico County’s latest economic development projects (Page 66), and Arts & Entertainment Editor Craig Belcher goes back to the 1980s to revisit Richmond’s rap pioneers (Page 72).
Thanks for reading!
