Interview by Dianna Stiles
With 260 miles of bike lanes and trails, Portland, Ore., is frequently listed among America’s most bicycle-friendly cities. If Michael Gilbert has his way, Richmond will be joining Portland on that list.
“I think a healthy city is a diverse city, and a diverse city offers multiple if not equal transportation options to its citizens,” says Gilbert.
Gilbert, an assistant economist at Chmura Economics & Analytics, began cycling while attending Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) out of convenience. “For the city [having a car] is a very inefficient means of transportation. You have to park, pay the meter…
and finally I decided, hey, I’m going to get a bike,” explains Gilbert. “And once I started riding I never wanted to stop.”
Gilbert’s passion for biking spawned a Richmond bicycle club called Saddle Sores. The club’s goal was twofold: expand the cycling culture in Richmond and give back to the community. Along with hosting social events for bike enthusiasts, the club adopted Marshall Street and began a monthly trash pick-up day and organized cycling events, donating the proceeds to local charities.
While proud of the club’s efforts, Gilbert wanted to push it farther. In 2010, Gilbert and Zach Archibald, co-owner of Lamplighter Roasting Company, founded RideRichmond. A non-profit organization, RideRichmond promotes local cycling activities, social events, community service projects and bike safety. Gilbert’s and Archibald’s intent is to make RideRichmond the voice of the cycling community—to “advocate, activate and educate Richmond.”
To promote cycling, in 2011 RideRichmond organized the first annual Richmond Bike Week. Purposefully scheduled before final exams at VCU and University of Richmond, Bike Week features one cycling event a day. From film festivals to a pizza ride, where cyclists pay $10 and ride from one pizzeria to another, the activities are fun and focused on getting “people stoked on bicycles,” says Gilbert. This year Bike Week kicks off on April 21 with a ride to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens and ends April 28 with a midnight screening of a film at The Byrd.
When not working as an economist, promoting an upcoming cycling event, or teaching a workshop on bike safety, Gilbert can be found attending City of Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones’s Pedestrian, Bicycling and Trails Planning Commission meetings. Working with local leaders, he strives to “make Richmond a better city overall and do it in a way where we’re not wasting money by putting in bike lanes, routes and corridors … that no one ever uses.”
With the appointment of Jakob C. Helmboldt as Richmond’s first Bicycle, Pedestrian and Trails Coordinator, Gilbert believes the city is on the right path toward achieving his ultimate goal—transforming Richmond’s infrastructure into one that “makes other cities jealous.”
Look out, Portland!
In His Words
The benefit of biking is… it allows you to get out of the box and interact with the world in a way that you can’t if you’re driving.
Cities need…to revolve around the pedestrian again. After the interstate highway system was developed, cities revolved around the car. When I look at it I think, it’s a city, it’s meant to be slow. I’m not driving through here to get in and out as fast as possible. If I want to go fast I’ll get on the interstate.
A common misconception is… that the safest lane position for a cyclist is to be a curb hugger. That actually puts you at greater risk because you are less visible to cars and it puts you in the door zone—a space extending about four feet from parallel-parked cars. Door zones are dangerous because a cyclist can be seriously injured when a car door unexpectedly opens. For safety, ride so that one-third of the lane is to your right, two-thirds is to your left.
Biking is… my passion. It adds to my happiness and enjoyment of life. It completes me, which I know sounds kind of cheesy, but it gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling inside.
For fun I enjoy… sleeping! Work and RideRichmond take up so much of my time that I don’t do much else. I don’t own a television or a car. I don’t go out to the movies or bars too often. I guess in that sense I’m kind of a Luddite.
In the future I’d consider… a foray into local politics. I can relate to people and I think I could make a positive difference. At some point I’d like to put my energy into making Richmond the type of city that not just I want to stay in, but everybody wants to stay in.
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AGE: 24
OCCUPATION: Assistant Economist at Chmura Economics & Analytics
HOMETOWN: A military brat, but calls Richmond home
CURRENT RESIDENCE: Richmond, Va.
FAMILY: Single
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree in both Economics and Philosophy from VCU
VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES: Founder, Saddle Sores Bicycle Club; co-founder, RideRichmond (riderichmond.net); Board of Directors, Potomac Area Council of Hostelling International; Board of Directors, Virginia Bicycle Federation
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS: League Certified Instructor with the League of American Bicyclists, Virginia Bicycle Federation
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