Organizational Overview

Founded in August of 2012, RICH CITY Rides (RCR) is a not-for-profit bicycle advocacy organization that helps make Richmond a healthier city where our youth and families thrive. Our fiscal agent is Urban Tilth, a builder of agriculture and just food systems in and for Richmond and its surrounding communities.

RICH CITY Rides understands that sedentary lifestyles lead to debilitating, devastating and preventable chronic illnesses that plague our community with obesity, heart disease, diabetes and depression. We have worked tirelessly to combat these preventable slow death sentences by daring to redefine physical activity as cool, and by reconnecting disconnected neighborhoods instead of encouraging divisions.

The cure for an anti-social sedentary lifestyle is to get out and ride! Have pride in yourself and the strengths of your community. Meet people, see new places, and learn how things work so you too can create the changes you need to thrive in this world.

RICH CITY Rides builds real skills through our Earn-a-Bike Bicycle Mechanics Program; creates the culture for health, wellness, physical conditioning, nutrition, and camaraderie through our weekly Self Care Sunday Rides; and builds the inner and outer strengths of our youth by celebrating and activating their neighborhoods through organized Special Ride Events. Youths help with project planning and civic engagement through our bicycle infrastructure advocacy projects that also contribute to making riding a bike safer and more accessible for all Richmond residents.

Although our primary demographic is youth, RCR programs and activities gather people of all ages in fun, healthy activities that emphasize positive, collaborative outdoor social activity over screen time, competition and inactivity. Since its inception, RCR has hosted over 300 social rides gathering more than 20,000 participants. We have visited over 40 city, county, and regional parks introducing our riders to the assets of our community, increasing their sense of civic and personal pride. We have hosted 280 bike clinics and repair workshops serving over 8,400 community members and rescued over 3,000 bikes from a fate at the local landfill, redirecting them back into the community.

Two days a week, two hours a day, the Earn-a-Bike Program turns the RCR bike shop into a living lab where neighborhood kids can come and learn basic bicycle maintenance. The more skills each youth learns, the more hours they earn – these hours can be used to earn a bike of their choosing while learning how a bike works. The EAB program has served nearly 400 youth and provided more than 1,700 bikes, helmets and lights.

In addition to our youth and family programs for the past four years, RCR has hosted monthly park cleanups at their adopt-a-spot on the Richmond Greenway. RICH CITY Rides is dedicated to building the capacity of youth to lead in making Richmond a healthier and more sustainable city. Our approach has been to fully utilize every possible benefit that bicycles bring and share them with our community. We know that we ride stronger when we ride together and are committed to ensuring that no one is left out of this movement.

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