Person of the Year

Most of us ride for ourselves. After all, the bike is designed for individual pursuits. It played a role in women achieving independence, and it has born many heroes of massive individual efforts, including nearly 100 years of Tour de France champions, and those competing in 24-hour solo races and Race Across America at break neck speeds. We depend on it for stress relief, exercise, adventure, competition. All fine, but I try not to get any grand ideas that other people are benefiting from my riding since it’s all essentially a personal high.


So when a cyclist comes along and makes much of his bike riding about those outside of himself, it is something to notice. Wes Cheney is awarded Time/ bikevoice's Person of the Year for his bike service to others. It seems that every move he makes on the bike is one of social consciousness and effort to make the world a better place. For example, he—

• Hauled camera equipment, shot, edited and submited to film festival a documentary film "Epic" of our Superbowl Sunday weekend. As Kevin said, you sacrifice a lot on rides when you concentrate on documenting others and not on the workout.


• Ran a C-pace ride for families from East Coast Bikes during summer months.


• Designed a Norfolk bike map to educate the public about safe passages. City officials contacted Wes about using his map to also help educate.
• Continued to work his bike ministry by building bikes for the poor and helping repair bikes at the Catholic Worker. (By the way, email Wes if you have a bike you want to donate.)


• Organized South Hampton Roads' first ever Critical Mass rides. These are rides that raise awareness about the number of people who ride bikes. (last Friday of each month).


• Organized several Alley Cat races this year including this one for charity.


• During races, focused on entertaining spectators and having fun rather than worrying about performance or placings.


• Wes commutes to work at Norfolk Southern daily, and he can be seen around town riding tandem with his wife Jenn and daughter Abby.

See 2007 Person of the Year

See 2006 Person of the Year