Cycling Named ‘Richmonder of the Year’
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When the city of Richmond hosted the UCI World Road Race Championships last September, Peter Sagan and the rest of the cycling community raved about not only the event, but also the city and people. Turns out the feeling was mutual: Richmond fell in love with cycling.
Richmond Magazine named cycling “Richmonder of the Year” in its latest issue, citing the excitement surrounding the race, an accompanying spike in cycling-specific infrastructure, and the health benefits of cycling for its residents, among others.
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“[Richmond Worlds] generated a lot of interest in cycling that I don’t know would have happened if we wouldn’t have gotten the bid,” Richmond Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator Jakob Helmboldt told the magazine.
In preparation for Worlds, Richmond and the surrounding communities added dozens of miles of bike lanes and finished the construction of the $74-million, 53-mile Virginia Capital Trail. Perhaps more importantly, Richmond citizens took to their bikes in droves and got caught up in the spirit of the global event.
Nearly 650,000 spectators flooded Richmond for the nine-day event—almost 200,000 more than originally expected. Race organizers estimated a $158 million financial boost to the city, but the official numbers won’t be known until early next year.
Richmond looks to continue upgrading its bike facilities in 2016, launching a bike-share program and adding additional bike lanes and boulevards.
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