I just moved back to southern CA after 7 years in Blacksburg, VA and I miss it already. The mountains of Virginia and the Carolinas beat the hell out of southern CA for road riding. The mountain biking is pretty good too.
Besides Blacksburg, there's Charlottesville, Roanoke, Asheville, Boone, Greenville, and probably dozens of other small-medium-sized towns that are great for cycling, and have vibrant cycling communities. Blacksburg/Radford/Christiansburg is hard to beat for out-your-door riding. In some others you have to fight traffic to get to the good riding, or even put your bike in the car.
The climate in the mountains is much milder in summer, and winters aren't too bad (this winter has been abnormally cold). So you can ride year-round. I went 5 years without a car in Blacksburg, a big change after 20k mi/yr for 20 years in Orange County CA.
The best major metro area for a cyclist is the NC Triangle (Raleigh - Durham - Chapel Hill). It's a big sprawl like southern CA but surrounded by nice country roads, and has a large and vibrant cycling community, much like Orange County or San Diego. With a big techie/yuppie population the lifestyle and career opportunities are similar too.
Helmet cam videos of local riding:
If anyone wants to take over some web duties for the Virginia Bicycling Federation or Cycling Double Header, please let me know!