Except for the individual time trial, the courses all start in downtown Richmond and they all finish in downtown so there are a lot of stop lights. The team time trial rides on roads that I frequently ride and are part of an annual century event called the Cap2Cap. It goes through a Civil War battlefied.

The cobbled sections of the road race are a windy steep uphill in a city park called Libbie Hill. From there it goes back down the hill and then up a one block section of 23rd street that is cobbled and is a real ball buster of a climb. Short but steep. I have climbed it once.....only once. The next section will be famous Monument Avenue which is not really cobbles but asphalt block pavers which are not too bad on which to ride. The last section of cobbles is Shockoe Slip which is two blocks of rough cobbles. The road race course is really very cool.

The individual time trial starts at Kings Dominion which is an amusement park 30 miles north of town. It winds past an area where our local club has weekly rides.

With regards to lodging, you may consider camping if you are starving college students. I doubt the crowds will be huge in May for the collegiate championships so that would be a good chance to scout out the area. The largest club is the Richmond Area Bicycle Association (RABA) and our website is http://www.raba.org