20th House District Democratic nominee Randall Wolf will tour the district this weekend to launch his outreach campaign.
During the three-day, 130-mile bike ride through Highland County, Augusta County and Nelson County, Wolf will make multiple stops to visit and speak with voters.
Wolf will start his tour Friday in the town of Monterey in Highland County, and finish Sunday afternoon at the Nelson County Heritage Center in Arrington.
On Day 1, Friday, Wolf will start at the Highland Center in Highland County where he will discuss his ideas on how to bring economic development throughout the district. The tour will travel from Monterey to Staunton with stops in McDowell, West Augusta, and Churchville.
In McDowell he will stop and visit Tonoloway Farm, hosted by Lauren and Christoph Herby. In Staunton he will stop at historic Montgomery Hall Park and visit downtown to talk about last year’s destructive flooding.
Day 2, Saturday, will start in Staunton at the Wharf Parking Lot near the Stadler Brothers Tribute. Wolf will talk about transparency in government and the need to strengthen the Sunshine Law, particularly in light of recent community concerns about access to Staunton City Council meetings. He’ll continue to the Frontier Cultural Museum to join the Juneteenth Celebration before riding on to Lyndhurst, and up the bucolic gravel of Howardsville Turnpike to the Blue Ridge Parkway to finish at Wintergreen.
Open space, family farms, and solar energy will be highlighted. This day will cover about 40 miles.
On Day 3, Sunday, Wolf will tour from Waynesboro to the Nelson Heritage Center in Nelson County with stops at the Crozet Tunnel and Rockfish Valley Community Center. This will day cover about 43 miles.
“My goal is to see as much of the district as I can and meet as many people as I can along the way,” Wolf said. “I can’t think of a better and more fun way to get this campaign really rolling. Throw up a hand and I’ll say hello. My bike has been a tool for adventure and discovery for nearly 50 years. When you travel by bike you hear, smell, and feel the place, but most of all it provides an opportunity to meet people throughout the entire district along the way.”
The ride will also provide an opportunity for people to support his campaign by donating on a per-mile basis through the Act Blue website at secure.actblue.com/donate/wolfbike .
Wolf has ridden more than 125,000 miles on a bike, his first extended tour was with five other high school friends who rode from suburban Pennsylvania to Nova Scotia and back when he was 16. That three-week trip was in June 1975 and a tipping point to adulthood. This three-day trip will begin on his 62 birthday and what a way to celebrate!
Wolf was deeply affected when a bike rider was killed in White Plain in 2009; he reported on this tragedy while a journalist living in New York. The cyclist was Merrill Cassell, who worked for the United Nations, and created a program to teach youth to swim in Sir Lanka because he was upset each time he’d hear about another drowning on the island nation.
In 10 years, he taught more than 10,000 kids to swim and saved many lives. An editorial Wolf suggested became the catalyst for legislation to establish a safe passing law; Merrill’s Law went into effect in 2010.
Merrill’s Law was a turning point for Wolf, moving him to become a bike advocate and to become involved in community work and committees, and now to run to represent the people of the 20th District.
Wolf is also a founding member of Bike Box of the Blue Ridge a local non-profit bike shop in the Waynesboro. Donated bikes are repaired and provided to the community at low or no cost. He has also been a board member of the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition for five years and played a key role in the 2019 Walk Bike Summit for Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County.
Wolf has photographed professional bike racing and worked with pro teams on national races and charity events. He is the Ride Director for the Valley Veterans Ride for Heroes the Valley’s VFWs, that will take place Sept. 11, starting at Stable Craft Brewing in Waynesboro, Virginia.
Wolf lives in Stuarts Draft and is proud to call the Valley home. He is ready to hear from and represent his community in Richmond and to deliver for people of the 20th.
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