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Racial Unity Bike Ride Hopes To Bring People Together

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Organizer Keith Ramsey says he isn't expecting a critical mass of bike riders. He hopes the gathering of people will bring conversation about social change while honoring the life of George Floyd. (Photo: Pixaby)

At the start of each week, Keith Ramsey hops on his bike and goes for a ride with friends.  They’ve been calling these weekly meetups, for the past two years, “Bike Monday Bros.” 

“What can we do in this moment, to bring people together a little bit. To open up that dialogue if people have questions and want to talk–we’re willing to talk to people about anything, from race to jobs to art, to anything,” Ramsey said.

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The local artist and VCU alum says that with all the marches for social justice, he decided he wanted to do something to promote unity.

“Just because we do it all the time, we have kind of a little bit of a following. So I was like, we could just put it out there, and be like hey, you know, we’re doing this for social justice, community and just hanging with people we don’t normally hang out with,” Ramsey said.

The bike ride through Richmond will be 8-point-46 miles long. Ramsey says each mile signifies the number of minutes a Minneapolis police officer pressed down on George Floyd’s neck before he died. 

 

Ian M. Stewart previously was the transportation reporter and fill-in anchor for VPM News. He also produced and hosted the World Music Show for VPM Music during its 16 seasons.

Stewart won multiple Regional Edward R. Murrow and Virginias AP Broadcasters awards for reporting and sound editing. He graduated from San Francisco State University with degrees in journalism and creative writing.

You can often find him riding his bike around Chesterfield County or on the Virginia Capital Trail.

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