# Richmond Area Ride Suggestions?



## cantdog (Apr 29, 2005)

I spend most of my weekends in Richmond and have been looking for some good rides to do while I'm there. I stay off of Old Gun and Robious, so anything leaving from that general area and heading towards Powhite would be great. So far I've just made circuits through Winterfield and some of the surrounding developments, but havent gotten much farther out.


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## rellimreeb (Jul 29, 2007)

cantdog said:


> I spend most of my weekends in Richmond and have been looking for some good rides to do while I'm there. I stay off of Old Gun and Robious, so anything leaving from that general area and heading towards Powhite would be great. So far I've just made circuits through Winterfield and some of the surrounding developments, but havent gotten much farther out.


Morning - there are several rides available. Mon-Friday evenings, many people (me included) loop through Westcreek parkway off the 288 - it's a 6 mile loop w/ very little traffic, so it's fine to ride on year round.
Saturday's there is a TNP/Conte's ride that departs three-sports (forrest hill blvd) around 8:40 AM. - 62 miles
On the south side, there's a Spin Mafia ride that departs Sat AM at 8:00 AM from the intersection of Lucks lane and Charter colony - 46 miles
here's a link - http://www.teamnaturespath.com/rides.html
the downside is Old Gun is about the only hill to climb in the Richmond Area, I ride futher south towards Petersburg, and there are some hills to climb down there. 
Cheers


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## cantdog (Apr 29, 2005)

Thanks, Miller-- are there any websites with cue sheets/routes? Not really looking for group rides.


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## rellimreeb (Jul 29, 2007)

cantdog said:


> Thanks, Miller-- are there any websites with cue sheets/routes? Not really looking for group rides.


here's a loop I like to ride on weekends. There's a "Glory Days" restaurant on Hull street that can be used as start/finish

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=5693971369584979522,37.394437,-77.648277%3B1108660827491680021,37.370908,-77.742691%3B8051644279618252827,37.342321,-77.760630%3B17291406249271817067,37.281429,-77.569656%3B5880652467026676450,37.280376,-77.495574%3B13907223911634314755,37.317479,-77.514725%3B8852600162827407606,37.380252,-77.606735%3B16797119578656759462,37.402619,-77.574463%3B17017167308133777128,37.413255,-77.565880%3B9687352822777346612,37.456328,-77.589912%3B7198608500629024263,37.533143,-77.639866%3B4587222045097872501,37.502372,-77.662525%3B11389708451621802725,37.453909,-77.654457%3B16797993823603955051,37.457214,-77.665358%3B10833484688000061366,37.435135,-77.648191%3B15982047318543800841,37.420481,-77.637463%3B8446691263807818371,37.409628,-77.649299&saddr=37.409608,-77.649264&daddr=Secretariat+Dr+%4037.394620,+-77.648060+to:Beach+Rd+%4037.370790,+-77.742520+to:Taylor+Rd+%4037.342310,+-77.760560+to:River+Rd+%4037.281550,+-77.569240+to:Sandy+Ford+Rd+%4037.280376,+-77.495574+to:VA-626%2FWoodpecker+Rd+%4037.317370,+-77.516730+to:Spring+Run+Rd+%4037.380420,+-77.606660+to:Newbys+Bridge+Rd+%4037.403280,+-77.576940+to:Courthouse+Rd%2FVA-604+N+%4037.411860,+-77.566700+to:Courthouse+Rd%2FVA-653+N+%4037.456560,+-77.589420+to:Salisbury+Rd+%4037.533020,+-77.639680+to:Le+Gordon+Dr+%4037.502370,+-77.662510+to:Carriage+Creek+Ln+%4037.453730,+-77.654290+to:Sandyridge+Pkwy+%4037.457110,+-77.665220+to:Millridge+Pkwy+%4037.435220,+-77.647950+to:Hull+St+Rd%2FUS-360+W+%4037.420450,+-77.637420+to:Harbourside+Centre+Ct+%4037.409628,+-77.649299&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=0&sz=15&sll=37.411789,-77.651196&sspn=0.015339,0.028925&ie=UTF8&ll=37.363199,-77.647419&spn=0.061397,0.1157&z=13

The key here is start early - some of these roads can be busy if you're not off of them by noon or so.

I also cut off this loop a couple of different ways - I can take the southern part of the loop - along river/woodpecker, etc. Most of beach road is not bike worthy, except for the chunk highlighted on the loop here. 

another loop I like to do is out to qualla, up courthouse/hugenot, west along robious, cut through winterpark. I include old gun in that loop (to the river and back for some hills) and it's a nice 45 mile loop.


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## cantdog (Apr 29, 2005)

I'll give it a shot. And I admire your bravery for riding on both Old Gun and Huguenot.


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## rellimreeb (Jul 29, 2007)

cantdog said:


> I'll give it a shot. And I admire your bravery for riding on both Old Gun and Huguenot.


old gun's not too bad. the drivers, in my experience, are used to seeing cyclists on the road, so they're fairly courteous. It's a nice climb. Certainly avoid it during rush hour, or when church is begining or ending. Climbing Huguenot can be interesting, no doubt. I don't do that a whole lot. 

sounds like you live in salisbury - a nice loop for you would be winterfield south, catch charter colony parkway south to genito, West on Genito to Courthouse, North on Courthouse to Robious, then West on Robious to 
Salsbury to winterfield - probably 35 or so miles, and one of the few routes with bike trails in the area.


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## cantdog (Apr 29, 2005)

Honestly I'm not sure what its called--girlfriend lives here. Its Old Gun and Robious. 

I see bikes on Old Gun each time I'm here, but I'm still bothered by the amount of people who fly on that road. Just a few weeks ago while driving my gf had a car coming towards her going to fast, saw her, got spooked, overcorrected, hit the ditch, and rolled the car. Young kid. I just use other roads to avoid Old Gun, although I've been tempted to ride it, as its pretty much a perfect road(minus not having any shoulder).

Unfortunately you know as well as me that it only takes one bad driver to cut your day short...


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## rellimreeb (Jul 29, 2007)

Traffic can be spooky in the Richmond area, no doubt. Old Gun's not too bad on weekends because of the large number of cyclists, there can be 5-10 cyclists climbing the hill at any given time, so car's tend to notice and slow down. I've never had any trouble on old gun - I've had more issues riding the roads well south of town towards Petersburg. Driver's there are flying along those little two-lane roads and aren't especially bike friendly. I don't like riding some of those loops these days, but not because of the drivers - it's the damn dogs that cause problems. 
If the traffic continues to give you concern, consider cycling laps at Westcreek (exit off the 288 hwy, between I-64 and the river), traffic there is very light, can be kinda boring (6 mile loop), but relatively safe.


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## cantdog (Apr 29, 2005)

Rode Old Gun---Cherokee--Riverside and then across the bridge that goes over Belle Island, and then through downtown to Grove St, through UR campus to Hugeunot and back to Cherokee---Old Gun. Old Gun/Cherokee was practically empty in both directions, saw more bikes than cars really. All in all a pretty good loop, minus almost getting doored by the westend(?) movie theater on Grove. Feels like I'm back home in Boston.


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## mattotoole (Jan 3, 2008)

cantdog said:


> I spend most of my weekends in Richmond and have been looking for some good rides to do while I'm there. I stay off of Old Gun and Robious, so anything leaving from that general area and heading towards Powhite would be great. So far I've just made circuits through Winterfield and some of the surrounding developments, but havent gotten much farther out.


Get in touch with RABA. They're a terrific club, with something for everyone. Tell Bud Vye I sent you!


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