The Bicycle Film Festival is coming to Richmond September 6 through 8. The Bicycle Film Festival includes parties and rides, in addition to film showings from around the world, all at different venues in Richmond. The Bicycle Film Festival is a platform created by Brendt Barbur in NYC (after being hit by a bus while riding his bicycle in 2001) that has been a catalyst for the urban cycling movement, sharing bicycle culture with more than 45 cities around the world. The festival merges many creative communities including fashion, music, art, design, as well as all different groups of cyclists.

“Richmond has world-class trails, world-class urban rapids, and soon we’ll have world-class events like the UCI World Road Racing Championships,” explained Matt Siegel, organizer of the Richmond Bicycle Film Festival. “It’s only fitting that we also bring a world-class film festival to RVA.”

Over the last thirteen years, the Bicycle Film Festival has been covered by the NY Times on seven different occasions.  It has screened bicycle stories from all around the world in cities like Buenos Aires, Capetown, Helsinki, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Milano, Rio De Janeiro, Stockholm, Sydney, and Tokyo.  This year, the Bicycle Film festival adds Richmond to that list, with 3 amazing programs and more than 28 films from 13 countries.

The 2013 Richmond Bicycle Film Festival will include a free opening party at Bunnyhop Bike Shop (349 South Laurel Street) on Friday, September 6, and a bicycle tour of various artisan pizzerias in the Richmond area, beginning at Carytown Bicycle Company at 5 p.m. On Sunday, September 8, spectators can enjoy documentary, narrative, experimental, and urban short bike films at the Byrd Theater, such as…

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By Dave Kern, RichmondOutside.com contributor and RideKore owner/operator

Personally, I don’t know where I would be without the multi-use trails in the Richmond area. They provided a place of enjoyment for a multitude of users, including mountain bikers, runners, dog walkers, hikers, and your everyday lover of the outdoors. Now, imagine if these trails did not exist? This might be difficult for some of you who have come to know these world-class trails as part of the outdoor fabric of Richmond. So then, imagine if these trails didn’t have a passionate support group that ensured the trails were maintained and advocated for on behalf of all users in our fine city?

On August 25^th, there will be a free event to promote awareness of Richmond’s trails and the people who make sure these trails remain in existence. Richmond MORE and RideKore will be co-sponsoring an event at the Byrd Theater to raise awareness for the services that each respective organization provides. The free event will showcase a groundbreaking film created by Freeride Entertainment and Redbull Media House called Where the Trail Ends (http://www.wherethetrailends.com/). Where the Trail Ends is a film following the world’s top freeride mountain bikers as they search for unridden terrain around the globe, ultimately shaping the future of big-mountain freeriding. This unparalleled story documents the many challenges mother nature can throw at you and showcases the pioneering spirit of riding through a cast of colorful characters. This is the most progressive and ambitious mountain biking ever attempted resulting in an entertainment adventure unlike anything experienced before.

Richmond MORE is a nonprofit organization committed to environmentally sound and socially responsible mountain biking, facilitating recreational trail cycling, educating about the sport of mountain biking, maintaining local trails, and advocating for increased multi-user trail access.  Richmond MORE’s work includes but is not limited to the following; organizing rides, maintaining and developing trails, raising funds for trail projects, promoting inclusion, promoting and protecting cycling rights, and conducting educational programs for adults and children. RaMORE is the most integral part of Richmond’s trails and your support of this organization will help support future endeavors and the longevity and vitality of Richmond’s trails for years to come.

RideKore provides Richmond with IMBA certified mountain bike skills instruction for all ages and ability levels.  RideKore is here to teach you the proper mountain bike skills and techniques so you can ride safely, with more control, more speed, and more fun! We offer beginner, intermediate, and advanced skills clinics as well as guided mountain bike tours, and private skills sessions. Our skills clinics focus on approachable and progressive coaching that enables riders to progress at their own pace and comfort level.  RideKore is owned and operated by RVA natives dedicated to providing a quality outdoor service and acting as stewards of our local trails.  Furthermore, we are advocates for our local parks systems and trail building organizations. In fact, 10% of the revenue from each clinic gets donated back to the Richmond chapter of MORE.

So come on out to the Byrd on August 25^th at 1:30pm to support your local trails.  Please spread the word about this FREE event and we look forward to seeing everyone for an afternoon of excitement!

Credit: Will Ramos. A biker crosses Swift Creek during a 2008 adventure race in Pocahontas SP.

It was a big week for Central Virginia mountain bikers. As I wrote about in today’s Times-Dispatch, Tuesday marked the kickoff in fundraising for a giant trails project in Pocahontas State Park. The project — 20 miles of new singletrack, revamping old singletrack, putting in a fancy trailhead, building a new bridge over Swift Creek, etc. — was described as a “legacy project” of the 2015 UCI World Cycling Championships that are coming here to Richmond. The state is putting up $50,000; so is Dominion. And now the hard work begins to come up with the remaining $1.2 million to have the trails rideable by the spring of 2015.

Should the money be raised in time and the work completed, the International Mountain Bicycling Association has said the Richmond region would be named an official “Ride Center.” Right now there are only 11 of those worldwide. When the project is done Pocahontas will have about 40 miles of mountain bike-optimized trail of varying difficulty levels. Pretty cool.

The XTERRA East Championship is back this weekend for its 15th consecutive year in Richmond. The festivities kick off at 12:30 p.m. today on Brown’s Island, as XTERRA will stream a live HD broadcast of a round-table discussion with the sports biggest stars as they prepare for Sunday’s race. The live link, produced by title sponsor Luck Stone, is here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/xterra-run

Conrad Stoltz crosses the dryway to Belle Isle during a past XTERRA race. Credit: ConradStoltz.com

Moderated by Luck Stone’s Courtney Simons, pros in attendance will be a trio of South Africa’s greatest endurance athletes that are in town for the race, ranging from one of the youngest in the pro field – Brad Weiss – to the immensely talented Dan Hugo – along with the sports biggest star – Conrad “the Caveman” Stoltz. Stoltz is a two-time Olympian, 6x World Champion, and winner of seven of the last eight races in Richmond. We also have three of the most decorated women in XTERRA with 3-time World Champion, Canadian Melanie McQuaid, another former World Champ, Shonny Vanlandingham, and the current XTERRA USA National Champion Suzie Snyder.

Luck Stone, a presenting sponsor of the XTERRA East Championship, will also provide comprehensive coverage of the pro race on Sunday that includes live HD video, GPS tracking of the pros, and a social media (GIS) map with highlighted tweets from spotters along the course. There will be four streaming channels of live HD video starting at 8 a.m.  on Sunday, June 9, at xterra.luckstone.com.

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Leaders within the Richmond region bicycling community have announced the launch of the Greater Richmond Bicycle Coalition, a new partnership of organizations and individuals formed to coordinate and encourage progress in bicycle infrastructure projects within Richmond and the surrounding region. Members of the Coalition have met over the past few months to discuss the continued need for bicycle infrastructure and programs that appeal to people of all ages and abilities, and that encourage bicycle use for everyday transportation, recreation, and sport.

“We have a great dirt trail system and a thriving racing culture in the Richmond region. But we also want our kids, parents, and grandparents to safely and comfortably bike to school, the grocery store, and the park,” said Max Hepp-Buchanan, director of Bike Walk RVA for the Sports Backers. “Richmond should be bikeable for everyone, from an eight-year-old child to her eighty-year-old grandfather.”

With combined membership numbering in the thousands, Coalition partners will be active in promoting bike-friendly plans, policies, and funding within the Richmond region by encouraging local elected officials to prioritize development of a connected network of shared-use paths, protected bike lanes, bicycle boulevards, and other bicycle infrastructure needs.

“Richmond officials have been talking about bike infrastructure for years, and now is the time to act. With just two-and-a-half years until the entire cycling world will be focused on the Richmond region as the host of the 2015 UCI Road World Championships, we have more reason than ever to become a bike-friendly city,” said Tim Miller of Richmond 2015.

The Coalition partners share a vision of a Richmond region that is vibrant and where people want to live, work and play; where people are healthy and active; and where quality of life is made better because bicycling is safe, convenient, and comfortable for people of all ages and abilities. The mission statement of the Greater Richmond Bicycle Coalition is, “Building a Richmond region that is bikeable for everyone.”

The growing list of Coalition partners includes:

Richmond-area residents, businesses, and organizations can join the Greater Richmond Bicycle Coalition by visiting www.rvabike.org. The Coalition also has a social media presence, including Facebook (www.facebook.com/GreaterRichmondBicycleCoalition) and Twitter (@RVABicycle) to provide residents with further information on how to join the coalition and get involved. Questions about the Coalition can be directed to info@rvabike.org.

The Coalition will host a Bike Month Wrap Party at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery on Friday, May 31 from 5 PM until 8 PM. The celebration is open to the general public, including children, and will feature live music by local band Solpocket. Ten percent of beer sales go to benefit the Greater Richmond Bicycle Coalition.

There’s some great Riverrock coverage in today’s Times-Dispatch. If you plan on heading down sometime this weekend, here’s your schedule of events. This is Riverrock’s fifth year and every year they add something new. Last year, they moved from two to three days and from just Brown’s Island to Brown’s Island and Historic Tredegar. Here’s a look at my Riverrock preview on today’s Sports front and click “Continue Reading” below for a list of what’s new.  

Also, if you ran last year’s Filthy 5K mud run, you may have noticed a lot of emergency services personnel running around on Tredegar Street and the Belle Isle footbridge toward the end of the race. Two runners, one 12 years old, went into cardiac arrest within 2 minutes of each other. Click here for my story from A1.

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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 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

 Friday, May 17

 Saturday, May 18

 Sunday, May 19

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.”

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.