Rich City Rides launches $6 million fundraising campaign

Rich City Rides

Rich City Rides is racing to raise $6 million in the next four months to secure its future in Richmond and expand services.  The bike group launched a campaign in March to purchase three properties, including the longtime home of its bike shop at 1500 Macdonald Ave. The organization has received $1.2 million in donations…

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Agents of Change: Scenes of a city in motion

Andromeda Brooks (top left), Jonny Perez (top right), Menbere Aklilu (bottom left), and Najari Smith (bottom right) are four of Richmonds "Agents of Change" working to improve Richmond's community. (Photo by Brittany Kirstin)

Old opinions about Richmond often seem set in stone, but at least some of the worst may be on the way out.

That’s what we tried to document in “Agents of Change,” a series of photographs and feature stories by Richmond Confidential’s Brittany Kirstin, a photojournalism student at the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

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Creating a stronger community through bicycling

Najari Smith and Geovanni Levy work together at the Rich City Rides bike shop to properly measure and adjust a bike seat. (Photo by Brittany Kirstin)

When you walk into Rich City Rides you’re immediately met with the sweet smell of bicycle oil and the satisfying click-click-click of shifting gears. Najari Smith, the owner and founder of the nonprofit group that owns the shop, is working in the back along with mechanics Taye Roshni McGee and Rafael Fernandez.

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After three years of dreaming, Spokeshop bike lounge opens its doors

It’s not really about bikes for Brian Drayton.

This week, he’s opening what he calls Richmond’s first full service professional bike shop, the Spokeshop Bike Lounge. But, says Drayton, “I don’t want to be a bike shop owner. Retail’s not my thing.” Really, he’s out to change the world – or at least Richmond. Spend fifteen minutes with him, and you begin to think he might just pull it off.

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