On October 25, a new bike sculpture was unveiled at Henrico County’s Four Mile Creek Park trailhead for the Virginia Capital Trail. It was donated by HHHunt and Daniel T. Schmitt, the company’s president and chief operating officer.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported on the back story for how the metal bike sculpture became available.
Schmitt is the man. What a great story about how he got the sculpture for the trail, as told by the Times-Dispatch:
In July, the couple received an unusual note addressed to “The Big Bike Owner” from Daniel T. Schmitt…He wanted to know if they would be interested in selling the 12-foot-tall bike, so it could be refurbished as a commemorative art piece for the Virginia Capital Trail…“I’ve seen it for a year or two; I had this vision for the bike — it needed a special place,” said Schmitt, who pedals 150 miles a week in and around Richmond.
I’ve worked with Schmitt on projects and gotten the chance to speak with him a few times. Proud to say that this kind of gesture and gift from him to the trail and Henrico County is what I would expect from someone who is so dedicated to cycling and building strong communities in the region. Thank you Dan.
The sculpture has several logos and emblems on it, including HHHunt, Henrico County, Virginia Capital Trail. But on the down tube, there are the letters “RVA” with the color bands of the UCI Cycling World Championships, which the Richmond region hosted in 2015.
I was fortunate to serve as an intern with the Richmond 2015 committee while I was working on my master’s degree in urban planning at Virginia Commonwealth University. My time was brief and the scope of my efforts were limited due to wanting to avoid creating any conflicts of interest with my job as a writer/editor/producer for Richmond.com, which at the time was before our staff became a part of the Times-Dispatch newsroom.
One of the projects I tried to make happen was to get a lasting tribute to the Richmond 2015 effort installed either before the races (especially good for media during the UCI’s international broadcasts) or after the races. I interviewed sculptors, potential donors, Richmond 2015 staff, etc. We pondered a monument, but it was deemed too expensive and there was too little time to make it happen for an already overworked staff. My service as an intern was not going to be enough to make it happen, so it didn’t.
One of my favorite alternatives probably made a much better impact and was much more affordable. I loved the UCI-related murals that were painted on the faux brick walls in the Oregon Hill neighborhood along Belvidere Street along one of the courses.
I could not make it to the unveiling of the bike sculpture at Four Mile Creek, but got out there two days later (by car, unfortunately). It will be on my list of site-seeing discoveries to make on my next ride out that way on the Virginia Capital Trail.
Phil Riggan 