As a cycling enthusiast, one who’s fired up for the UCI World Championships next year in Richmond, I appreciated that the Times-Dispatch sent reporter Louis Llovio to Ponferrada, Spain to cover this year’s races and give us a sense of what to expect this time next year.

Llovio’s coverage wasn’t focused on the races themselves, so you had to go elsewhere to find out that Polish rider Michael Kwiatkowski was the surprise winner in the men’s road race. Instead, Llovio wrote about the Spanish city’s preparations for the race; he asked whether Richmond can expect similar crowds — upwards of 400,000 went to Ponferrada for the races; what traffic issues might arise here in Richmond based on what he saw in Spain; and he covered Mayor Dwight Jones and other local officials in Spain as they pitched Richmond as a city worth the trip for European cycling fans.

New bike lane on the MLK Bridge linking downtown with the north side of Church Hill. Credit: BikeableRichmond.com

Meanwhile, back here in the RVA, our friends at Richmond Region Tourism released a slick video (above) touting the area as a cycling destination for 2015 and beyond. If you’ve got a bike collecting dust in the garage, it’ll make you want to pull it out and get riding.

And speaking of what makes people want to get riding, I’m seeing bike lanes — not sharrows, but actual bike lanes — pop up in very logical, very overdue places like the MLK Bridge and Forest Hill Avenue. For a city with woefully few bike lanes, these signs of progress, while limited, are very positive. Now if we could just get the city to start work on the Brown’s Island Dam Walk — officials say it will be completed by September 2015 — we’d be well on our way to showing the world that Richmond does right by its bicyclists and pedestrians.

Progress on the Va. Capital Trail on New Market Road in Varina. Credit: Va. Capital Trail Foundation

The other day, returning from Osborne Landing with the Terrain360.com mapping vessel, my eyes beheld something they’ve been longing to see for years: actual progress on the Virginia Capital Trail in the Richmond region.

Sure, there’s a half-mile section completed from the floodwall across from Bottoms Up Pizza to Great Shiplock Park. But, outside of that, almost all of the work on the 55-mile, Jamestown-to-Richmond paved path has been toward the eastern end.

What I saw the other day got me all giddy, and I realized I hadn’t posted a Cap Trail update in months. So, just yesterday I gave Virginia Capital Trail Foundation Executive Director Beth Weisbrod a call to check in on things. She was just as excited by the trail progress as I was.

“We’re chugging along,” she said. “We’re still on track to have everything done by next summer, by (the UCI World Cycling Championships in) 2015.”

Weisbrod said that Virginia first lady Dorothy McAuliffe will be the keynote speaker on October 15 for the ribbon cutting of the 13-mile Sherwood Forest phase of the trail.

“(Sherwood Forest) essentially connects the completed section in James City County with the Charles City Courthouse section,” Weisbrod said. “So we’ll have roughly 29 miles of one long continuous strip of asphalt.”

Weisbrod and the VDOT project manager will ride the Sherwood Forest section tomorrow to inspect it, she said. And while some landscaping and other light work remains, it is open and rideable right now.

Pushing rock on the soon-to-be Virginia Capital Trail. Credit: Va. Capital Trail Foundation

With Sherwood Forest complete, that makes the intersection of Kimages Road and Route 5 the current western terminus of the trail. But work has begun on all the remaining sections. Next up, coming east, is the 10-mile New Market Heights phase, which Weisbrod expects to be completed last, then the 11-mile Varina phase, which reaches the Richmond border at Rocketts Landing.

Weisbrod said that CSX still has to pull up and remove the old traintracks that run from Rocketts Landing almost all the way to Great Shiplock Park. That could happen any day, and when it does, work will begin in earnest in Richmond.

“The downtown portion should be done by spring,” Weisbrod said. “I’m pretty optimistic that that is going to happen.”

It’s Wednesday afternoon. That means the weekend is on the horizon, and as I mentioned last week, every Wednesday afternoon this fall you can check back here for a preview of what’s coming up between now and Sunday.

Who wouldn’t want to take the kids camping here? Credit: Tim Thompson

Before we even get to the weekend, there’s plenty going on. Take tonight: If you’ve followed the journey of the Terrain360/RichmondOutside mapping boat down the James this summer, come out to The Camel tonight and see the finished product. The James River Association is sponsoring a happy hour event as part of their Amazing Raise efforts. Ryan Abrahamsen and I will be on hand to tell stories from the summer’s adventure and show off what the one-of-a-kind tour will look like when we release it on Terrain360.com later this month. That’s tonight at 5 p.m. at The Camel, and it’s free.

Also on short notice: today is the last day to register for Maymont’s Family Camp Out. They’re calling this one “Creatures of the James,” and not only do you get to camp out with your kids at Maymont, but there’ll be a guided hike through the estate in search of native nocturnal creatures, and you can meet a few of Maymont’s own animal ambassadors. Afterwards, you’ll make s’mores and enjoy stories around the campfire. There’s even a Continental Breakfast and another hike the next day. (Ages 4 and older; one adult must register for every four children.)

If you haven’t seen some version of the advertising blitz for the VCU Broad Street Mile, well, you must have been out of town the past six weeks. On Saturday the mile/5K/fun run/festival kicks off at 10 a.m. between Belvidere and Hermitage on Broad Street. As the website says, “Broad Street will be transformed into two areas, a running course and festival. The running course will feature the VCU 5K to kick-off the event, and five themed one-mile races that start at 20 minute intervals. The free festival will feature live music, food trucks, local vendors, kids activities and a new RVA Sports Zone featuring the Richmond Flying Squirrels and other local professional sports teams. Sounds like a cool block party even if you’re not a runner.

Rodney the Ram will definitely be in attendance at the VCU Broad Street Mile.

If you are a runner, however, you could hit the VCU Broad Street Mile and still have time to lace them up at the Virginia Farm Bureau’s Stampede 5K at West Creek Parkway. There’s a kids run first at 4 p.m., then a manually timed 5K immediately following. After that the party begins, with food vendors, a farmer’s market, Center of the Universe Beer and agriculture-themed activities for kids.

Finally, on Sunday, there’s an event that if you haven’t trained for by now, you probably shouldn’t participate in. Or maybe you’re just that beastly of an athlete and you can do a half-iron-distance triathlon (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run) off the couch. If so, or if you want to see some of the region’s top endurance athletes battle it out over a cool urban course, come out to Rocketts Landing for the Richmond Rox Olympic Distance and Endurance Half Iron Triathlons.

Don’t be put off by last week’s heat wave, folks, fall is on its way. And I don’t know about you, but fall is absolutely my favorite time of year. Even after a mild summer like this one, I’m ready for autumn and everything it calls to mind: leaf peepage, apple cider, cool days, cold nights by the outdoor fireplace, football. Call me crazy, but I even kind of enjoy raking leaves.

Volunteers during last year’s ‘Tire-less James’ fill up their batteau with tires. Credit: JRA

Fall is also a busy time of year for outdoor activities in the Richmond area. It seems like as soon as kids head back to school, the calendar explodes with stuff to do. The Events Calendar on our homepage has a comprehensive listing, but starting today, and continuing every Wednesday this fall, we’ll be highlighting the coming weekend’s can’t-miss events for outdoor lovers. (If you’re an event director and your ride, run, triathlon, festival, litter pickup, etc. is on the horizon, let us know so we can feature it.)

Last week, we gave you a heads up the James River Association’s Tire-less James event. Groups of volunteers will comb the river this Saturday in search of old tires and then Bridgestone will haul them away and recycle them (there’s still time to sign up). Ryan and I were up on the James below Iron Gate on Monday taking pictures for our river mapping project and we saw at least four tires between Iron Gate and Gala. So, if you happen to be on that section of the river, keep your eyes peeled.

The Tire-less James is running concurrently with the James River Advisory Council‘s huge James River Cleanup on Saturday. Pre-registration is closed, but you can still join the fun by just showing up to one of the official cleanup sites with close-toed shoes, water and gloves. They’ll provide the bags and take care of the the removal.

If you’re looking to get the heart rate up a little more, drive up to Ashland at 3 p.m. on Saturday for Center of the Universe Brewing Company’s Das Bier Run. There’ll be beer (natch), German food, a 13-piece authentic German band and a team relay fun run. And speaking of beer, yesterday we featured another beer-centric event taking place Saturday — the Spoke and Hop Fest. Head to Hardywood at noon on Saturday and you’ll find 25 Virginia craft breweries pouring two beers each and well as handmade bicycle fabricators from up and down the East Coast (including four from Richmond) showing off their craft bikes. Food trucks and live bands will also be blazing

That’s a busy Saturday folks, but there’s a natural progression in there: Start by cleaning up and giving back, go for a run and a beer then go check out some sweet handmade bikes and imbibe a little more while taking in some live music. Good times.

There’s a lot going on in the fall for RVA outdoors lovers, and tomorrow we’ll be unveiling a new weekly feature: a preview of the coming weekend in outdoor recreation. But I wanted to highlight an upcoming event today because it marries two of my favorite things — bikes and beer. This Saturday (Sept. 13), from noon to 9 p.m., Hardywood will host the first annual Spoke and Hop Fest.

Handmade bicycles, like this one by Stijl, will be featured at the first Spoke and Hop Fest this Saturday. Credit: Stijl Cycles

“The overarching idea of this event is craft bikes and craft beer,” said Hinmaton Hisler, the event’s creator and a local handmade bike builder. “Cyclists and beer drinkers tend to many times be the same person.”

Hisler, owner of Stijl Cycles, said he originally imagined the event as a way to capitalize on the 2015 UCI World Cycling Championships that’ll be here in Richmond a year from now.

“The cycling community…needs to get ready for it and figure out how to embrace it and how to capitalize on it,” he remembers thinking around this time last year. “It all of a sudden dawned on me that I am that person. I think what I’m going to do is have a handmade bike show.

“It makes sense to figure out the kinks,” he added, “and then have the second annual event (be before the bike races) next year.”

The handmade bike show idea soon morphed into bikes and beer, and earlier this year Hardywood came on board as the host location. With their involvement in the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild, Hisler said, they were able to attract 25 different Virginia craft brewers.

“It will be the first of its kind in Richmond…having so many different breweries at one event,” Hisler said.

This is a common scene at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. Credit: Hardywood

Each brewer will pour two different beers, and some will bring something different, “something from the archive,” as Hisler described it, as well. There will be food trucks, live bands, seven different handmade bike builders — locals Stijl, CED, EndPoint, Bing and out-of-staters Sarif, Bilenky and Vicious — and a number of different local bike advocacy groups.

$35 in advance and $40 at the door will get festival goers a sample glass and as much beer as they can drink. The proceeds will be split between the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild and the Richmond Regional Ride Center.

Next year, Hisler said, they hope the Spoke and Hop Fest, then over two days at an even larger location, will take place on the Saturday before the world championship races begin.

“We want to provide an opportunity for people from out of town, out of country to sample what the city has to offer,” Hisler said.

I first saw this on bikeablerichmond.com and thought it was worth passing along. The artistic among you take note: The local organization i.e.*, the City of Richmond and the Greater Richmond Chamber is sponsoring the Go Bike! Design Contest, which is open to the public. According to the i.e.* website:

Win $2,500 for the design of an iconic artistic symbol to grace the tops of 30 bike racks to be installed throughout the City of Richmond before the 2015 UCI World Cycling Championships. 

We will cast 30 replicas of the winning design in metal, to be bolted atop the city’s bike racks. The metal design will be distributed to 30 artisans throughout RVA who work in a wide variety of media to embellish the symbol into original works of art, creating a customized finish for a uniquely RVA bike rack and art piece.  The locations of the bike racks have been determined based on the City’s Master Bike Plan.

The winner will be recognized at all GoBike! sponsored events, will be credited with the creation of the original design in official documentation, and will be announced  in local newspapers, the i.e.* website, and in all communications related to the project.

The symbols can be submitted by individuals or teams of no more than three, and the deadline for submission is Sunday, September 28 at 11 p.m. You can find out all of the submission details by clicking here.

$2,500 and eternal regional glory seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.

When Max Hepp-Buchanan was the director of the Cascade Bicycle Club in Seattle he said he learned a valuable lesson from running and losing a political campaign to make the city more bike and pedestrian friendly.

Jake Helmboldt, Richmond’s bike, pedestrian and trails coordinator, talks to supporters of the proposed Floyd Ave. Bike Boulevard. Credit: Sports Backers

“We didn’t win, but what we came away with is that there are a lot of people who really care about walking and biking infrastructure, and they want their city to be a better place to walk and bike, but there wasn’t a good leadership structure in which for them to organize.”

When Hepp-Buchanan became the Sports Backers‘ first Bike Walk RVA coordinator a couple of years ago, he found the same thing to be true in Richmond. Thus was born the idea for Bike Walk RVA Academy, which launches this fall.

“The idea was to start creating teams of neighborhood advocates who can help increase our capacity and give them the tools to help advocate for projects in their communities,” Hepp-Buchanan said.

There are 20 slots in the ‘Academy,’ a series of eight weekly workshops from October 1st through December 3, and interested folks must submit an application by September 4. Hepp-Buchanan said a few spots are still available.

By training community leaders, the goal of the Bike Walk RVA Academy is to “leverage the momentum built from the upcoming UCI Road Cycling World Championships, Bike Walk RVA’s ongoing Connect RVA campaign, the development of the city’s first Bicycle Master Plan and the additional $4.5 million allocated for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in Richmond’s 2014/2015 capital budget.

The Bike Walk RVA Academy aims to train and equip community leaders. Credit: Sports Backers

“Now that we have a bike master plan that’s almost done and we have money to start implementing that plan,” Hepp-Buchanan said, “it’s really important that we have people on the ground across the city making sure that when projects are built, they’re built for people of all ages and abilities, that they’re built in a timely manner, etc.”

The longer-term plan, he added, is to roll out similar academies in Henrico and Chesterfield hopefully next year.

Good results in the water, on the bike and the road require the right preparation. Credit: Endorphin Fitness

Part of the appeal of outdoor recreation is the presence of risk. Whether you’re dropping onto single track or hucking over a ledge, you may be embracing the presence of nature, but you are also tickling the edge of danger. (Ok, some of you give it a full-on noogie.)  However, even at your most dangerous level, perhaps exactly because of the elevated risk, you take extra steps to ensure that you still come home at the end of the day. Helmets, ropes, and scouting all keep you in the green. Just as you approach your sport with a pleasant rush of adrenaline sidled up to a healthy dose of caution, consider offering your body the same respect. While you cannot guarantee that you will never experience an injury, you can certainly do everything in your power to reduce your risk.

Scout ahead

Before you head into your next big adventure, get to know your body. Stepping back and surveying can save you time, pain, and money (unless you have killer insurance; in that case, go ape). Qualified professionals use objective assessments such as the Functional Movement Screen (disclosure: this is one of my preferred methods), the Overhead Squat Assessment, muscle testing, and various forms of postural assessments. These tests examine how you move through a given range of motion in order to determine where you are weak, tight, unstable, and strong. If you haven’t been through a movement assessment, I highly recommend the experience, especially if you are prone to overuse injuries.

In the meantime, at home you can do a quick survey. Standing on two feet, can you bend forward and touch your toes (mobility and hip mechanics)? Can you hold a good plank for 15 seconds (core, shoulder stability)? Can you stand on one foot, with control, for 10 seconds (stability)? Anywhere that you display significant dysfunction or asymmetry opens you up to an increased risk for damage, whether it is on a training run or while mulching your flowers. Over time, particularly any time you increase intensity, the vicious cycle of compensation, damage, pain, compensation winds tighter and tighter until you are shut down. Scout ahead and make a plan. Avoid the rocks.

Check your gear

Bikes and shoes will either give you freedom or extreme discomfort. Finding the right fit is the key factor. I frequently meet with athletes who have met with various doctors, only to learn that their shoes posed the major problem. Bike fit is no less crucial. If you have never been fitted, allow me to address a few things: 1) The saddle doesn’t have to hurt.  2) Low back pain is not normal. 3) Hand numbness is not acceptable. A little bit of time and money on the front end will pay dividends in the long run. Once we have ruled out gear as the compounding factor, looking into other problem sources (see #1) becomes more reliable.

Do the maintenance

You wax your surfboard, pump your tires, and lay out your rope. These chores are tedious, yet hardly time consuming and always worth the increased performance that results. Of course, as your equipment gets older you have to increase the amount of maintenance work, but I think you get the metaphor now.

Cycling is a popular cross training choice for runners.

You should maintain yourself the way you do your bike.

Finding balance between mobility and stability contributes to keeping your body in its best condition. Strength comes into play, but without the foundation of optimal joint movement (a product of stability and mobility), strength results may become compromised. Based on your self-testing (or, ahem, visit to a qualified professional), you would be well served by dedicating five minutes each day to focused drills. To improve hip mobility, squeeze your glute while you stretch your hip flexor and quad. To work on balance, stand on one foot while playing catch with your kid. To improve your plank, start with kneeling planks performed in short sets of 10 seconds on, five seconds off (view our perfect plank video). Continue to progress until you can hold a plank on your toes. I like to work on short sets that force you to find good form multiple times rather than trying to force one long hold where all you practice is suffering. Whatever it is, make it a consistent part of your day. Rather than it being a further demand on your time, think of it as a way of extending the life of, well, YOU.

Can you spit?

Many years ago, in my whitewater days, I was given a sage piece of advice: “When you scout a rapid that scares you, spit. If you can’t spit, don’t run the rapid.”  The day came that I looked at Hollywood Rapid, raging at some unearthly flood stage and, barely able to get around my parched lips, I muttered “See ya.”  In truth, I’m pretty sure I could have run the rapid; but the cost of failure was decidedly final. I didn’t trust myself to be able to do what I needed to do, so I walked away. Being pushed to expand your capabilities is the glory of being active, but with that should come respect for your limits.

Beyond picking appropriate levels at which to participate (if you are 5k ready, you probably shouldn’t come out for the marathon); you should be cognizant of what level you are at from day to day and week to week. Race on race day, train on training day, rest on rest day. Never vice versa. (A co-worker and pro triathlete has it tattooed on his wrists: “Hard Days Hard.” “Easy Days Easy”.) Guaranteed, the most common explanation that I hear for “My calf hurts” is something within the general theme of “I did something I don’t normally do at a speed/intensity/gradient that I’m not used to.”  It’s ok, we all do it.  Sometimes a little push can do wonders for our fitness and motivation; however, when it comes to laying your body on the line, know when it is okay to walk away. Then go train until you CAN meet the challenge.

There are 23 other hours in the day

A standing desk is a good idea, but good posture is key whether you sit or stand.

The time that you spend active usually represents such a small percentage of your daily living that discussing injury prevention solely on that sport is like talking about the tree instead of the forest. We all know of the dangers of sitting at desks all day so I will spare you. Set an alarm for every 50 minutes to remind you to stand up and walk around. If you have a standing desk, you are not off of the hook. The most important thing that I have ever learned with regard to effective physical therapy is that, without good posture, nothing else will hold. Ears aligned over shoulders, shoulders aligned over hips, hips over knees, knees over ankles. Feet evenly balanced on the ground. Avoid sucking in just as much as slouching. Ideally, as you stand, you are at relative ease without having to brace or squeeze anything. With a small degree of attention throughout the day, you will enter your adventure already better prepared, thus set up for reducing your risk for injury.

To make it through an entire season without an issue is a gift, but it is a gift that often takes a little prep work and a touch of luck.  The luck will run its own course, but the work, the work will have to come from you.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”- Benjamin Franklin

Riders prep their bikes for the Sports Backers’ Anthem Moonlight Ride. Credit: Richard Chittick

There was just one little problem with the Anthem Moonlight Ride this past weekend: Where was the moon? Seems an event called the Anthem Moonlight Ride should have a decent show of the moon. Wasn’t it just a few days prior that everyone was talking about the supermoon and how the moon would be a dazzling display of mooniness? Well, turns out the moon had moved on. Six days after the supermoon of August 2014, the moon rose at nearly midnight, hours after the 5th annual nighttime bike ride sponsored by Sportsbackers had ended. When it did finally rise, it was a waning gibbous, about 60% of full, according to www.timeanddate.com. 

But that was probably the only glitch facing nearly 3,000 people who showed up on Saturday night to check this event out, which is getting bigger each and every year. That many people, that many bikes, and twice as many lights, with at least one light on the front and back of each bike. It’s a spectacle, to be sure, what with all the sparkly red tail flashers mixing in with the steady beam of the headlights.

Here’s a few other things I observed about Saturday night’s ride:

– It’s not just the people that come in all shapes and sizes at an event like the Anthem Moonlight Ride, it’s the bikes, too. Road bikes, mountain bikes, cross bikes, kids bikes and tandems of various designs all made appearances. Then I saw the coup de gras right at the start line: a 3-person tandem with a middle seat custom-designed for a 5-year-old. It had a special crank mounted above but linked to the original one with special crank arm attachments all to cater to the little girl’s small legs. She was a genuine part of the operation of the bike, steadily pedaling away with her parents as they made their way through the course.

Bikers had police escorts throughout the Anthem Moonlight Ride. Credit: Richard Chittick

– The event featured two courses, the 17-mile Full Moon, and the 8-mile Half Moon. The Full Moon featured an out-and-back of Lakeside Avenue via Hermitage Avenue with a quick side-trip into Bryan Park, along with an out-and-back of Monument Avenue via Westwood and Malvern avenues. The Half Moon course featured the same course as the first 8 miles of the Full Moon before heading back into Sportsbackers Stadium along Hermitage Avenue. The courses used roads in both Richmond and Henrico County.

– According to the announcer at the start of the event, this year marked the first year that the course was completely closed to traffic. Though I don’t remember traffic being a problem when I rode this event in 2012, the course certainly felt safe on Saturday, with a police officer stationed at every intersection along the way.

– And of course, there was the Blue Moon Costume and Tacky Light Contest. I saw someone riding a bike wearing a blow up sumo wrestling costume, and an entire family wearing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles jerseys – to say nothing of the elaborate lighting systems used to illuminate entire bikes and wheelsets. At times, some of them looked like oddly shaped Christmas trees rolling down the road.