Pizza crawl unites bikers and pizza lovers

Carytown Bicycle Company and Pamparius.com hosted their first ever pizza crawl Friday night, prompting approximately 30 cyclists to ride around Richmond sampling the sauciest slices the city could serve up.

The group was made up of employees of Carytown Bicycle Company, members of the VCU cycling team as well as others.

“We got guys from the bike team and a couple mass comm kids and some random people that found out about it through Facebook,” said event organizer and Pamparius.com co-founder Andy Stites.

Computer science alumnus Brett Ashford said the combination of cycling and eating could prove to be a problem.

“(Digestion) is my top concern at the moment,” Ashford said. “(Vomiting) could be rough. I’ll probably keep riding but I’ll part with it.”

The swarm of cyclists descended on four pizza joints for small, hot portions before saddling back up in search of the next helping.

The first destination, Strawberry Street’s 8 1/2, welcomed the bikers around 7:30 p.m. and they sampled the restaurant’s two flavors: red and white.

Business major Johnny Phan said the pizza’s spiciness won him over.

“I liked the zest. It had a little kick to it,” Phan said. “It was good, thin pizza.”

The next stop on the high-speed crawl was Tarrantino’s on East Broad Street. Copious amounts of piping-hot cheese typified this pizza, and judging by the smiles and the speed with which the larger slices disappeared, many were pleased with the results.

Two blocks away awaited the following restaurant, Romanza Pizza on North Second Street.

Stites spoke highly of the bargain pizza this shop offered up.

“$8.99 for a 14-inch large? You can’t beat that,” Stites said.

Romanza’s pizza was certainly fresh and crunchy, and not too far off from the typical Assante’s slice. The sauce was certainly tastier and less sugary however.

The fourth and final pizza sampling of the night was Piccola Italy at North Harrison and West Main streets.

“It was quite rubbery and salty,” Ashford said. “It felt like it was sitting out awhile.”

Overall, many felt the event was a huge success.

“It’s neat to get everybody out and gathering for food. I think that’s a cool combination,” said art education major Donna Miller. “It warms the soul on a warm night like tonight,”

One person even said the pizza crawl was “dream come true.”

“I can’t tell you how many times in college I was walking down the street high wishing I could find people on the corner giving away free pizza,” said a man who called himself John Johnson.