Every year, it seems like, the Sports Backers dream up something new for Dominion Riverrock — the outdoor sports and music festival that returns to Brown’s Island next weekend. This year is no different, except that it’s Red Bull that did the dreaming.

The energy drink company, and promoter of insane outdoor physical feats, is bringing “Berm Burners” to Riverrock Saturday and Sunday (May 17 and 18) for its world premiere. The individual head-to-head pursuit, dirt-cycling competition, as a press release said, will test riders  “core abilities on a dirt cyclone of moto whoops housed between two fast, steep berms.”

Thirty professional riders will compete in the qualifying round, in a five-lap heat. Sixteen riders with the fastest heat times will then compete in the Red Bull Berm Burners Pro Finals, in a head-to-head format. In addition to the professional race, the Red Bull Berm Burners open amateur race will take place on May 18. Cyclists from all age groups and classes are welcome to enter. Race format for the qualifiers and finals will follow the same format as the professional race.

Red Bull has hired renowned pump track builder Dave King to construct the track. When I caught up with King working on a project in Pennsylvania last week, he described the concept as “pretty simple.”

Credit: Red Bull

“It’s gonna be an oval pump track….with pretty close to vertical berms and then to connect the berms there will be a series of rollers. (The) rideable surface is probably about 90 feet long, 30 feet across. It’s gonna be real tight. That’s kind of the whole point.””

King said the 150 tons of dirt he’ll need to create the track will be dropped off above Historic Tredegar this weekend, and he’ll get started on the construction on Sunday.

“I’ll just use a Bobcat and lay it out, then I’ll hand shape it,” he explained. “Then I have a plate compactor and an ATV with car tires. That helps roll everything in, makes it real smooth.”

The build will take about four days, he said. So be sure to check our Twitter and Instagram accounts. We’ll be out there starting Sunday taking pictures and checking on King’s progress.

On Saturday I put our 11-month old in the bike trailer and headed out along Riverside Drive, over the Lee Bridge to the edge of Oregon Hill to watch the USA Cycling Collegiate National Championships. There were a couple of other people watching there where the cyclists came down Belvidere Street and made a hard left onto Byrd. It was a beautiful day; people were out on bikes; the races seemed to go off without an obvious hitch; for a weekend, cycling was the talk of Richmond. Good freaking times.

Here are some random thoughts from watching and reading about the #collnats:

Coryn Rivera defended her criterium title on Saturday. Credit: USA Cycling

1) It seemed like every Richmonder who owned a bike rode it at some point over the weekend. I saw tons of people everywhere. I’m sure the gorgeous weather had a lot to do with it, but I wonder, too, if it wasn’t people being inspired by the race.

2) On Friday, while the time trials were going on, a neighbor and I were talking while our kids played at the local playground. He voiced a sentiment I’d been feeling for a couple of days. To paraphrase: What’s the deal with all the pre-apocalyptic news coverage of the possible traffic headaches the races might cause? 1) God forbid, some drivers be inconvenienced for parts of three days. 2) Is it possible the value of a race like this (and especially the world championships coming in September 2015) outweighs the crushing addition of a few minutes to one’s commute, trip to Carytown, etc?

3) It was really cool to see the post-race reactions from race participants:

“Richmond’s been great,” Division II road race champ Brian Dziewa told the Associated Press, noting that in some cities when a race necessitated street closings, residents protested. “That time trial we did was the coolest time trial I’ve ever done.”

From Brad Neagos, a law student at the University of Denver who won the male Division II omnium, told the Times-Dispatch: “Everybody here’s super friendly. The course was a blast. Just to ride an all-urban circuit race, it’s a cool experience. The fans, I mean the course was lined with fans everywhere, that helps a lot. This is by far the most fans I’ve ever seen at a bike race. It’s cool you know, it’s just a really good atmosphere.”

Alan Neenan, who handles travel arrangements for Cycling Ireland and came this weekend to scout it out for the Irish team ahead of the world championships in 2015, told the AP: “This is an event to be proud of here, and it’s a great city for it too.”

Allison Arensman of Brevard College was the Division II individual female omnium winner. She told the T-D: “It was definitely one of the best national championships I’ve ever been to, as far as organization, all that. It was really cool to see all the banners and the start/finish, to have the ramp at the time trial. It was the little things that made it a lot more professional than usual.”

4) Libby Hill is going to be the place to be for the races in September 2015. Griffin Easter, winner of the DI men’s road race, had this to say to USACycling.com. “This energy was incomparable to any other collegiate race I’ve done. Libby Hill was insane. Those cobbles were the coolest thing I’ve ever done. It was pretty surreal.”

5) Big weekend for RVA. Bigger days are coming…

Bike Walk RVA announced this morning the launch of Connect RVA, a multi-year, regional campaign to make Richmond, Chesterfield, Henrico, and Hanover better places to walk and bike for everyday activities. Connect RVA is gaining traction in the city of Richmond and has recently become an official legacy project of the Richmond 2015 UCI Road World Championships.

The goal of Connect RVA is to help produce more of this in Richmond.

“The Connect RVA project is a perfect example of the kind of legacy that we had hoped would emerge as a result of hosting the World Championships and a benefit for the entire community for years to come,” said Tim Miller, COO of Richmond 2015, in a press release.

In the City of Richmond, Connect RVA is a targeted effort to build 20+ miles of new family-friendly bikeways – protected and buffered bike lanes through the heart of downtown, safe river crossings, paved trails, and comfortable connections to and through surrounding neighborhoods – by September of 2015, in time for the UCI Road World Championships. This effort will require dedicated funding at the local and federal level, as well as close coordination with the City of Richmond.

“We are pleased to be working closely with our local leaders to ensure that we show off a bike-friendly region to the rest of the world in 2015, and to create a network of bikeways that allow Richmond area residents to get where they need to go without requiring the use of a car – whether that’s to school, work, church, or the grocery store,” said Jon Lugbill, Executive Director of the Sports Backers, which runs Bike Walk RVA.

To further celebrate May as Bike Month, Bike Walk RVA is coordinating a month of grassroots, community bike events. Bike Walk RVA Director Max Hepp-Buchanan wrote a piece for RichmondOutside about those events. Click here to find it and a schedule.

“We wanted to do something unique for our region this year, and at the same time make sure our Bike Month was community-driven and inclusive,” said Hepp-Buchanan. “So, we pulled together our most active community volunteers and starting putting small-scale but fun events on the calendar, and came up with a packed month of activities for everyone to enjoy.”

This May is National Bike Month, a nationwide celebration of bicycles and bicycling. Every city and region celebrates National Bike Month differently, and festivities range from rallies at City Hall, to rides with elected officials, to bike parties, to bike commute contests. Which got us thinking at Bike Walk RVA: “How big can Bike Month be in greater Richmond?”

So a few weeks ago, we brought together our most active community volunteers and starting putting small-scale but fun events on the calendar. As the evening progressed and the beer was consumed, the calendar began to fill and pretty soon we had a packed month of activities for everyone to enjoy.

View the full calendar here!

Richmonders ride through Monroe Park during Bike to Work Day 2013. Credit: Phil Riggan

The idea wasn’t to take ownership of events all over the region, but rather help facilitate and empower community members to think creatively and come up with one or two small-scale events that they could pull off in their own backyard. Our collective focus was on inclusivity, family-friendliness, and most importantly, FUN. The events range from morning rides to local coffee shops, “Kidical Mass” group rides for children, a Mother’s Day ride, a women’s only scavenger hunt, and even a “donut crawl” to visit local donut shops. National Bike to Work Day, May 16, will feature five commuter coffee and snack stations throughout the city of Richmond.

The full calendar of the month’s festivities can be viewed online and includes all the various large-scale bike events planned for May as well, such as the USAC Collegiate Road Cycling National Championships (volunteers needed) and the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation’s Cap 2 Cap Ride (volunteers needed for this, too). Anyone who is interested in hosting an event and adding it to the calendar is encouraged to contact Brantley Tyndall, Community Engagement Coordinator for Bike Walk RVA at Brantley@sportsbackers.org.

Every month is bike month in Paris. Credit: Wikipedia.org

Also notable on the Bike Month calendar is a regional series of post-work, social bike-commuting seminars targeting dense employment centers in Henrico, Chesterfield, and the city of Richmond. Employees of area businesses are encouraged to come meet others interested in riding to work who may share a similar commute path, learn some tips and tricks from those with riding experience, and get plugged into the development of bike-friendly projects in the region. Snacks and beverages will be provided.

Local employees are encouraged to sign up for any of the following seminars:

May 7 at The Boulders in Southside, 5:30 p.m.; May 8 at Innsbrook for West End riders, 6 p.m.; May 21 at MeadWestvaco in Downtown Richmond, 5 p.m.

Finally, Bike Walk RVA is working in conjunction with the City of Richmond to conduct Richmond’s first-ever Bicycle Documentation Project, where bike riders will be counted by volunteers over a three-day period at 22 locations all over the city. Why are we doing this? Because new bike lanes often start with good documentation about what streets are used – or not used – by bicycle riders. And it’s our job to count them, so we know how much bike traffic a corridor gets pre- and post-bike lane, and help make the case for future bikeways in our region.

Interested people can sign up for one of the following shifts: Tuesday, May 6, 5 to 7 PM; Wednesday, May 7, 5 to 7 PM; Thursday, May 8, 5 to 7 PM

Participants will be assigned a location in central Richmond that is convenient to them and supplied with all the materials needed to be an excellent and prepared bike count volunteer.

There’s a lot going on for Bike Month this year! It might not all be high-profile, but hopefully there’s at least a little something for everyone.

A scene from last year’s East Coast Triathlon Festival.

Richmond is fast becoming the country’s endurance hotspot, and everyone better be ready. During the first weekend of May, Richmond will host two of the country’s premier endurance events on the same weekend: USA Cycling’s Collegiate Road Cycling National Championships and USA Triathlon’s Youth/Junior Elite East Coast Cup (aka East Coast Triathlon Festival).  These events will bring the country’s top junior and collegiate athletes to Richmond from almost every state in the country where they will compete head-to-head against the very best.

The United States’ future Olympians and professional athletes in the sport of triathlon and cycling will most likely come from these two fields. More so, these two events are a prelude to the 2015 Road World Cycling Championships, which will be one of the biggest events to ever touch down in Richmond, with the world’s best cyclists and thousands of spectators traveling to Richmond.

Richmond, stand up and take your place as the country’s endurance capital. Let’s not miss this opportunity to show the country (and in 2015, the world) why these events have chosen Richmond as their host. This is our chance to take this momentum and grow our lead even further while creating endless future opportunities.

The Collegiate Road National Championships will be held May 2-4 with events each day. The East Coast Triathlon Festival featuring the Youth/Junior Elite Triathlon East Coast Cup will be held May 4 with events for youth and adult amateurs in addition to the elite races throughout the day. Be at these events! Bring your family and your friends – especially those who do not quite get the endurance thing and show them what it is all about. Come out ready to cheer hard – bring your cow bells, face paint, and what have you and let’s show the world that endurance sports are to be spectated to the extreme just like its participants. 

Let’s also go beyond that and show an amazing amount of hospitality to these athletes, too. They will be easy to recognize – just look for the cleanly-shaven, chiseled legs ready to go to work in the race of their life. Strike up a conversation with them, ask what you can do to support them while in Richmond, wish them good luck, and, if nothing else, tell them you will be there on race day cheering them on!

Stand up Richmond and take your place.  Let’s all grab this opportunity, this victory, and run away with the crown, setting ourselves apart as the forerunner in the endurance world. Stand up Richmond – the time is now.

Back in February we reported that Endorphin Fitness was bringing the Liberty University Online Academy East Coast Triathlon Festival back to Richmond on the first weekend in May. Well, now that weekend is rapidly approaching and triathletes from all over the country are gearing up for the early-season event. The races take place at the Innsbrook Office Park in Glen Allen. The “Elite Cup” race is one of three national races in which youth and junior elite triathletes compete for a chance to qualify for the National Championships held in Ohio in August.

A scene from last year’s East Coast Triathlon Festival.

Now in its second year, the day of racing has become an early-season highlight for local and national triathletes. Michael Harlow, Endorphin Fitness founder, said he that about 750 elite junior athletes, amateur kids and adults will toe the line in three separate race formats. The races include a kid’s fun race for ages seven to 15; a super sprint distance for amateur youth and adults; and the headline youth/junior elite cup event. The elite race, which is a draft-legal, Olympic-style format, will draw the top 13 to 19 year olds from across the country and Canada. Harlow added that he expects more than 1,200 spectators and family members to watch the day’s activities.

This year’s event will also include a group of disabled athletes from United Athletics, an organization that pairs able-bodied athletes with individuals that require physical assistance. Last year’s East Coast Triathlon Festival brought athletes to Richmond from 33 states as well as 19 athletes from Canada.

Attention dirt jumpers, cyclocross racers, and mountain bikers — the challenge is set. On May 17, world-class fixed gear rider Addison Zawada will be among 30 professional cyclists from all disciplines to compete in Red Bull Berm Burners, a first-of-its kind, individual head-to-head pursuit, dirt-cycling competition taking place during Dominion Riverock.

Red Bull Berm Burners’ stripped-down pump track presents a unique challenge to all disciplines of riders, ultimately testing their core abilities on a dirt cyclone of moto whoops housed between two fast, steep berms. Influenced by BMX racing, track cycling, and motocross, the completed 100’ by 25’ oval course will feature pump track-style rollers leading into two nearly vertical six-foot berms. The race is open to 20’ BMX and 26’ and 29’ mountain bike wheels with both rigid and suspension frames, along with all other bike disciplines.

“You gotta be smooth on a pump track to go fast. How smooth are you when your best friend is breathing down your neck? Red Bull Berm Burners condenses the pressure and need to keep your cool and maintain your flow,” said fixed gear cyclist Austin Horse, whose expertise was crucial in advising the design of the unique track.

Thirty professional riders will compete in the qualifying round, in a five-lap heat. Sixteen riders with the fastest heat times will then compete in the Red Bull Berm Burners Pro Finals, in a head-to-head format.

In addition to the professional race, the Red Bull Berm Burners open amateur race will take place on May 18. Cyclists from all age groups and classes are welcome to enter. Race format for the qualifiers and finals will follow the same format as the professional race.

On May 10, the ninth Cap2Cap will go off, with bicyclists in Richmond and Williamsburg riding 100, 50 and 25 miles (and a family ride of 15 miles) to support the Virginia Capital Trail. And if history is any guide, the 9th Cap2Cap will be bigger than the 8th.

“The ride has grown every year,” said Beth Weisbrod, Executive Director of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, the Cap2Cap organizer. “We’ve averaged around 10 percent growth…Last year we had a record 2,500 riders…and I think we’re going to end up growing yet again.”

It’s not just riders, she added, “Our sponsorships have grown, too, which I think is a big indicator of the reputation of the ride because a lot of people want to be involved with it.”

The Cap2Cap is the foundation’s biggest fundraiser, netting $140,000 last year, and it also serves to showcase the parts of Virginia that the still-under-construction Capital Trail will traverse. Riders who start the century ride in Richmond at Rocketts Landing will head east and ride to Williamsburg’s Chickahominy Riverfront Park before turning around. Williamsburg 100-milers will do the opposite ride. The shorter rides will stay closer to their respective start lines.

Weisbrod said she’s heartened that the returning rider/new rider split is currently about 50/50. People want to come back because they’ve enjoyed the experience — the ride, the rest stops, the afterparty — and new people hear about that and want to give it a try.

“People that do running races are sometimes hesitant to commit to a bike ride,” she said. “Maybe the numbers seem bigger, so where someone can visualize what it’s like to run a 10K, the idea of riding 25-miles on their bike is scary.

The Cap2Cap has become a popular spring bike ride — even with kids. Credit: Virginia Capital Trail

“It’s just a different kind of challenge to people who might not have done it before. But when you break it down and you say, well, you need to go at least 8 or 9 mph to stay upright, 25 miles is not that hard. That’s a two-and-a-half-hour effort with a rest stop in the middle of it. That doesn’t sound so scary.”

Yesterday, the Greater Richmond Bicycle Coalition — an new organization made up of 50+ businesses and organizations that support building a Richmond region that is bikeable for everyone — sent the below letter to Richmond City Council. In it they ask the body to allocate $3 million in the FY 2015 budget for new on-street bikeways, plus $3.5 million to ensure the completion of the Brown’s Island Dam Walk. City Council action on the mayor’s proposed budget is due by the end of May.

Click here to follow the debate over funding the Brown’s Island Dam Walk and here for info on the mayor’s lack of budget support for bike infrastructure.

The Greater Richmond Bicycle Coalition also has a page where individuals can write City Council and join with them in asking for these funding allocations: http://bit.ly/1gHJcmg

Dear Richmond City Council,

Recognizing that we are in a critical budget window, the Greater Richmond
Bicycle Coalition urges you to dedicate significant city funding to a
network of bike infrastructure that can connect residents across the city to
wherever they want to go: work, school, shops, parks, and more. This
includes safe and convenient crossings of the James River. Experts close to
these projects estimate needing $3 million dollars to complete a network of
20-miles of bikeways and $3.5 million to build the Brown’s Island Dam Walk.
Please dedicate city funding to pay for these projects without relying on
federal grants, which cannot be guaranteed. Additionally, the window before
2015’s UCI Road Cycling World Championships is closing, and these projects
must start being designed and implemented immediately if we are going to
have anything new on the ground before several hundred thousand visitors
come to Richmond. There are only two paving schedules between now and then.

The Greater Richmond Bicycle Coalition is a new organization formed to unify
the long-standing, but often disconnected voices in the cycling community.
Supplementing current riders, research suggests that as many as 60% of
non-cyclists would ride more with more and better bike infrastructure, too.
Our coalition is composed of over 50 bike advocacy organizations and
businesses representing all nine council districts, as well as each of the
counties in the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area. Our collective reach
is over 100,000 people. And our focus is to build the right infrastructure
for cyclists and those not yet riding to make transportation, recreation,
and healthy activity by bike safe, inviting, and convenient for those of all
ages and abilities.

Studies abound showing bike infrastructure to be a sound investment,
increasing retail sales, property values and tax revenues by up to 70%. A
network that connects the city is a high-return, low-cost investment that
will increase quality of life for all Richmonders, create a more welcoming
and energetic business environment, and draw new people to the city to live
and spend money. Let’s build a city where talented professionals will
relocate to live, work, and play that also serves the needs and demands of
current residents.

We hope you agree that now is the moment to commit to something great for
everyone in our city. A representative of the coalition will be reaching out
to you to meet to discuss the need for bike infrastructure and why now is
the critical moment for the City to allocate the funds to build it.

Thank you for your time and consideration, and please let us know if we can
work together to make these projects a reality.

Sincerely,

Greg Rollins, President
Greater Richmond Bicycle Coalition, www.rvabike.org
100 Avenue of Champions, Suite 300
Richmond, Virginia 23230
info@rvabike.org
804.740.7914

Richmond, you need to go on a diet – a “road diet”, that is!

Roadway rechannelizations – or “road diets” – take streets that have an excess amount of carrying capacity for cars and reconfigures how the space is used through re-striping of the lane lines. When done right, a good road diet actually improves traffic flow while dramatically increasing the safety of everyone using the road, including people on bikes (by adding bike lanes), on foot (by improving pedestrian crossings), and behind the wheel (by reducing speeding and collisions).

How a road diet might work.

Richmond has a number of streets that can easily go on a diet. Best practice says that most roads with four or more travel lanes and an Average Daily Traffic (ADT) volume of 20,000 cars or less can be reconfigured to one lane in each direction, a center turn lane, and bike lanes.

Full disclosure: I am not a traffic engineer. But it doesn’t necessarily take one to see that some of Richmond’s roadways are significantly overbuilt for cars, and underbuilt for bicycles. Here’s my top seven:

The Leigh Street Viaduct (or MLK Bridge): If you’ve driven across this bridge, you’ve probably noticed there are three lanes in each direction and very little automobile traffic. It’s an important connector from downtown to Church Hill and with an ADT of 9,100 automobiles, this is a perfect candidate for a road diet. In fact, Mayor Jones has already announced plans to stripe wide buffered bike lanes on the bridge by this June.

Brookland Parkway: Between Hermitage and Brook, Brookland Parkway has four travel lanes, two very narrow parking lanes, and a wide center median. A road diet on Brookland Parkway could increase the width of the parking lane (so your car door isn’t hanging out in traffic), and include a nice wide bike lane in each direction. Extend this further east, and you’re connected to the Cannon Creek Greenway.

What Franklin St. would look like with a road diet and bike lanes. Credit: Marc Kaplan/Sports Backers

Manchester Bridge: One of the biggest bicycle and pedestrian challenges we have in Richmond is how to safely get across the James River. The Brown’s Island Dam Walk will be the great new shining star of the riverfront once it’s completed, but the Manchester Bridge is just waiting for new striping that will make biking across safe and easy. With seven total travel lanes and an ADT of 18,000 cars, the Manchester Bridge needs to go on a diet!

Hermitage Road: Hermitage is a major north/south connector from the Northside into the Fan. It also has a bunch of extra carrying capacity. Sharrows were installed on Hermitage over the past couple of years, but wouldn’t a fully separated bike lane be so much better?

Leigh Street (again): One of the best east/west connectors through central Richmond, Leigh Street generally has a lot of extra room for bike lanes. It cinches down to two lanes at times (that’s what sharrows are for), but for the most part, you can easily wedge a bike lane in there and ride comfortably all the way from Scott’s Addition to Church Hill.

Brook Road: Another important north/south connector to and from downtown for many commuters and families. Speaking of downtown…

The MLK Bridge on a road diet and with bike lanes. Credit: Marc Kaplan/Sports Backers

Franklin Street and Main Street: The idea here is to convert one travel lane on each street into a fully protected bike lane. On Franklin, you’d be biking east and on Main, heading west (this type of relationship is called a “couplet”). Franklin and Main have the potential to be Richmond’s first protected bike lanes (or “cycle tracks”) running right through downtown.

There are many other great candidates for road diets out there not listed here. And you know them better than I do, because they are in your neighborhood – you walk, bike, or drive them every day. So what are they, RVA?