RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — For as long as Jesse McCauley can remember, he has loved nothing more than seeing the world from two wheels.
“Probably since the age of maybe 5 or 6 I got my first miniature bicycle and started wrecking it and trying to figure out how to repair it, and I never stopped riding,” McCauley says.
The historian, interpreter and freelance writer who grew up in Virginia Beach has lived in Richmond for the past eleven years. He has tracked down treasures from another time, restored them and helped others realize that bicycles tell a story.
“They’re passed around between family members, friends, societies, states, regions,” McCauley explains. “I want people to be able to appreciate every bicycle they see.”
The mechanics, how bicycles contributed to social norms, who rode them and why are all part of McCauley’s new exhibition. Balance in Motion: The Evolution of Cycling in America is now open at The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design.
“We were so thrilled to have Jesse come our way,” says The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design Executive Director Helene Dreiling. “We’re so grateful to him for his effort as our guest curator, and it’s been a wonderful partnership.”
The museum at the corner of Monument and Davis in Richmond is the 180-degree turn of the UCI Road World Championships course. Thousands of spectators are expected to gather at this corner during the nine-day event in September.
As the race paves the way for Richmond’s present and future cycling community, McCauley hopes visitors take a moment to look to the past and his life’s work to understand the role bicycles have always had here.
“This is the fruit of in some cases years of labor and restoration,” McCauley gestures to his historic bikes on the museum’s walls. “And this is a very fitting home for it.”
