Custom bicycle show coming to Richmond

By Andy Thompson
Published: January 24, 2010

When Don Walker decided to bring the North American Handmade Bicycle Show to the East Coast for the first time, he had plenty of options for venues.

There were the big cities: New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston and Washington, but they eliminated themselves on cost: High-overhead convention centers, pricey hotel rooms, traffic. No thanks, he said.

Then there were the mid-sized locales: Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, Charleston, suburban Maryland and New Jersey, and, of course, Richmond.

"Richmond is easy to get to," Walker explained. "It's right there off of I-95. It's got Amtrak. The airport is 15 minutes from downtown. Adding up all the costs, I was like, this is probably the most affordable location we've ever been to. It's centrally located between the Carolinas and the D.C.-Baltimore area. Even Philly can get here relatively easily."

All those factors made it the right financial decision to bring his event, which attracts thousands of attendees every year to check out the best handmade bicycles in the country, to River City, but he needed a little more to convince him.

"Richmond really does have a burgeoning cycling scene," he said. "It's really picked up in the past five to six years. That's a good thing."

Why should the average Richmonder care about a bunch of bike nuts coming out of the woodwork to ogle custom cycles of all shapes and styles? Well, for one, they bring money.

Erin Bagnell, public relations manager for Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the three-day show (Feb. 26-28) at the Richmond Convention Center should bring in about $2 million, based on Walker's estimate of 6,500-7,000 attendees.

But there's something even more significant about this event coming to town: It signals Richmond's arrival as a bike community and all that entails (younger, healthier population, less traffic congestion, etc.)

"I know that was part of the reason they decided to come to Richmond, because we've started developing that reputation as a cycling-friendly town," said Braden Govoni, owner of Carytown Bicycle Co. "Richmond makes a lot of sense from a logistic standpoint, which I'm sure influenced their decision, but there are a lot of cities like Richmond that are similarly accessible in the Mid-Atlantic that could have been selected as well. But I think Richmond makes a lot of sense."

One reason it makes sense, he said, is that the bike community here is so diverse.

"There's a huge racing community here; you go through campus and there's bikes everywhere now that [city trails manager] Nathan Burrell has done with the trail system down there. He's created what a lot of people view as the best urban-access trail system in the Mid-Atlantic."

Champe Burnley, president of the Virginia Bicycle Federation, showed Walker around when he came to town. He echoed Govoni's feelings.

"When Don first looked at Richmond, he was curious about the cycling scene," Burnley said. "We estimate that there are probably 3,000-4,000 serious cyclists in town. This is a way to put the spotlight on Richmond and what a great place it is for cycling. There's a real buzz about it."

Govoni and Burrell agree that much remains to do for Richmond to reach its full potential as a cycling town. The show's arrival may be more a shot in the arm than an affirmation - evidence that we're on our way.

"The fact that they would choose Richmond as a place to come, that is a pretty big deal," Burrell said. "It definitely means that people outside of our little region here are starting to take note of all the good things that have been happening and the progress we've been making. It's starting to snowball."

Projects like expanded trails in James River Park, Forest Hill Park and elsewhere; a new rail-to-trail corridor in South Richmond; the continued development of the Virginia Capital Trail; greenways connecting city parks. All these efforts suggest a city transforming itself. The arrival of the North American Handmade Bicycle show is recognition of that transformation, and, hopefully, an impetus to keep it going.

"There's still a lot that the city could be doing infrastructure-wise," Govoni said, to promote cycling. "But I think that things are definitely going in the right direction, and having the handmade bicycle show here reaffirms that."

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