Local riders participate in a beginners’ cycling class led by Urban Cycling Group. These free classes take place every Tuesday at 7 a.m., meeting at Dorey Park by the pond. (Photo by Jeff Saxman)
“In urban communities, cycling is seen as a way of transportation, but the benefits of cycling are huge,” says Pricilla Wright, communications and marketing manager of Urban Cycling Group (UCG).
Founded in May 2020, UCG evolved from a casual group ride among friends on the Virginia Capital Trail during the pandemic to a 200-plus-member collective focused on promoting physical and mental health, connecting with the community, and advocating for social justice.
Made up of predominantly Black riders but open to everyone, UCG has established itself as a group where bikers of all backgrounds and skill levels can come together.
A Chesterfield native and self-proclaimed “100% Richmond advocate,” Wright says UCG is “just an open group of people who want to bring everyone into this [biking] world.”
Last March, Wright and fellow founders Kyron Copeland, Michael Wiggins and Rafael Akbar hit the Capital Trail. As they posted pictures to Instagram, their rides quickly attracted the attention of fellow bike enthusiasts, from veteran riders to newer cyclists who were looking for others to ride with. Within weeks, the number of bikers began to multiply, including friends and co-workers of the trio and eventually strangers. Two months later, UCG was officially formed.
Since its inception, UCG has brought together as many as 200 cyclists at a time, from a huge night ride with bikes decked out in a rainbow of lights to a Juneteenth Father’s Day celebration with singer and Petersburg native Trey Songz.
Wright says UCG’s “Justice Ride for Breonna Taylor” in July was one of the most powerful to date. “It wasn’t just Black people saying, ‘We need to figure out how we can make our lives more livable in this kind of environment,’ — it was everybody,” she says. “It was the unity of the cycling community that came together.”
While nonmembers can join UCG during its open rides, an annual membership fee of $99 grants access to exclusive rides, discounts at local bike shops and access to social events throughout the year. Typically, there are a few rides each week, some throughout the city and others on the Capital Trail. The rides range from 10 to 60 miles.
For cyclist Adrienne Milford, being able to bike with others was what originally drew her to become a UCG member. “As a woman, I didn’t want to always bike alone and didn’t know of too many bike trails, so [I] didn’t get out to ride as often as I wanted to,” she says.
Having gained endurance, knowledge, comfort on the bike and confidence since riding with UCG, Milford now serves as a group leader for rides. Each ride offers various groupings based on skill level and speed.
UCG plans to join biking groups across the state for rides and is working to offer weekday rides hosted by ride ambassadors across the region.
In August, UCG launched as a nonprofit organization, with the goal of connecting urban communities to cycling and providing resources to promote a healthy lifestyle. The team is working on a Virginia Capital Trail grant to launch intergenerational bike programming.
“Our goals are to help get children who normally wouldn’t be on the Cap Trail on the Cap Trail riding, and to also get seniors out who want to ride but may be afraid,” Wright says. “What started as ‘Oh, it’s COVID, I love this, I want to get outside,’ [has evolved into] ‘How do I help others get involved?’ We’ve solidified — we have to be a staple in the community, and not just on our bikes.”
