Kickstarter

For two years, I have turned back the pages (and squeaky wheels) covering over 120 years of Richmond, Virginia's forgotten cycling history.  Now, I want to share this with others and need your support!

Through first hand interviews, old photographs, newspaper images and newspaper accounts, journey back in time to see the first bicycle rider in Richmond.  Feel your heart pump riding down Brook Road in 1895 to break a cycling record that likely still stands today.  Hear the lingering cheers of 15,000 fans watching a 1892 cycling race.  Learn how early cycling advocates shaped the modern landscape.  Revisit the 1983 Tour of America and the dusted off memories of the re-emergence of bike clubs and racing in the 1990s.

After splitting Richmond’s cycling history into four eras, the book ends by looking forward to Richmond's anticipated hosting of the 2015 world cycling championships.  Join me to help celebrate the long and rich history of Richmond's cycling community, and to bring these faded memories back to life!

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Club House located on Broad Street where the VCU Siegel Center is today.

“Local riders once “paced” Fred List of Syracuse, New York on a five-mile Brook Road course to an 11-minute, 28-second effort.That’s about 26 mph on a single speed, 30 pound bicycle on a cinder road. Although cyclists of the period understood riding aerodynamics, List probably wasn’t drafting off of anyone.”

“At the time, the Horse Show Building and Idlewood Park were on the west end of Richmond‘s city limits and north of Reservoir (Byrd) Park. The City’s trolley system’s hub was only a block away, so the location was ideal for an amusement park. This place was FUN. Children rode the carousel at Idlewood Park. Along the boardwalk, there were indoor and outdoor swimming pools and other amusement rides. Byrd Park was within walking distance of the trolley hub for the City. (This was 50 years before the Richmond Expressway.)”

In 1892, 15,000 spectators witnessed the race at the Exposition Field where the Science Museum is today. 

“Blame Hollywood if you always have imagined the saloon with a row of horses parked outside. From the mid-1880s through the early 1900s, when you read about a Richmond police officer riding after a criminal, the officer probably was riding his bike to chase that bad boy. The City of Richmond’s police force used bikes until the 1920s, when the City finally gave in to the automobile craze.”

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Almost everyone involved with this book is involved in the cycling community. I want to thank those who are helping to make this book happen. Champe Burnley (president of Virginia Bicycling Federation) and Jacob Hemboldt (City of Richmond Pedestrian, Bicycle and Trail Coordinator) have written forwards. The book editor is Dave Kearney (Neighborhood Sports) and the book graphic designer is Roger Sattler (Sattler Creative). The cover photographer is Kip Dawkins (Kip Dawkins Photography).

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Many of the cyclists in Richmond today do not know about the 1983 Tour of America. Yet, many of these same cyclists can rattle off facts about European cycling history.  The European history is more readily attainable.  American cycling history is not documented as well.  Richmond’s cycling history was non-existent – until now.  I have discovered, Richmond’s history is as rich as any cycling history in the world. With the 2015 World Road Cycling Championships coming to Richmond along with hundreds of thousands of visitors, now is a great time to reflect on Richmond's rich cycling past as we await its richer cycling future.

Your kind support will enable the project by helping to defray book production and printing costs.  I encourage you to support “On Richmond’s Wheel.”
 
Tom