Richmond.com has a short blurb today on the League of American Bicyclists awarding Richmond their Bronze level distinction as a bike-friendly city. The group comes out with the list every year. They also awarded VCU their silver distinction among bike-friendly colleges and universities. VCU is the only Virginia school on that list.

Scrolling through the list of cities, it looks like there are probably a couple of hundred at the Bronze level. Richmond was the only Virginia city added to the list this year, but places like Roanoke, Harrisonburg and Alexandria were named Bronze recipients in the past. The only Silver Virginia town is Charlottesville. There are no Gold or Platinum Virginia towns (heck, the only Platinum towns, overall, are Boulder, Co.; Davis, Ca.; and Portland).

According to the League website, “the Bicycle Friendly Community Program provides incentives, hands-on assistance, and award recognition for communities that actively support bicycling. A Bicycle Friendly Community welcomes cyclists by providing safe accommodation for cycling and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation.”

It would appear Richmond has a ways to go before it reaches the next levels of bike friendliness, but this award is certainly a sign that Richmond is headed in the right direction.