exmechanic89

Ok time for another update for those of you waiting anxiously. We've put a deposit down on an apt in Chesterfield. Hopefully that was a good move.

Wulf

My son is a vegetarian and he found Richmond not very vegie friendly. Indian and Chinese restaurants are about it as everything else has meat in it. "Even the beans had meat in them" he said. The pork section of Ukrops is as big as the entire meat dept at my local Safeway.

thumpism 

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Just kidding. Whereabouts? Chesterfield is a big county.

hokie cycler

Ukrops has been closed for years so your statement is a little outdated. As for vegetarian reataurants, I have no idea.

exmechanic89

We'll be living in an apt complex called Sterling Glen on Southwind Dr. according to my wife. Seems like somewhat wooded area.

seypat

Ok. You will be about 20 miles from downtown Richmond.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/So...!4d-77.6966905

All of that area and to the West is being developed rapidly. Still fairly rural. Lots of roads into the boonies to ride on. Pocahontas Park is not far away. Traffic in Hampton Park area (where you will be) is bad during the 2 commuting periods. Commuting into the city from there requires some real planning. There are some big, busy streets you have to deal with. That area not really bike friendly. That being said, you are only 10 minutes from Rt. 288 which gives easy access to all points North, East, and South. Rt. 360 gives you easy access to the West. There will be tons of good biking/camping type day/weekend trips from your location, they just might have to start with a car ride.

seypat

If you look at the map, both sides of 360 from Sterling Glen going east is high developed. Shopping malls, eating places, etc. Going west on 360, the area becomes rural at about Skinquarter. There are some big developments out there though, so Rt. 360 has a lot of traffic. Same for Rt. 60 and Powhatan County.

seypat

Virginia State Parks

The High Bridge Trail is not far to the West.

exmechanic89

Thanks again for everyone's continuous contributions. My wife (Grace) is reading this thread as well and appreciates everyone's advice.

We're pretty excited to get going, feels like this month is just flying by!

CroMo Mike 

Welcome to Richmond! I've lived here most of my life and have enjoyed the people, environs, and activities. Especially biking. And kayaking the local whitewater. Just one caution that probably applies everywhere - don't get drawn into a pissin contest (road rage, etc.,) with the locals, because they are experts.

Spaghetti Legs 

Bring your sweat glands. It's Africa hot here this summer. It will a bit of an adjustment for a PNWester.

seypat

This is the cycling organization in the area:

Richmond Area Bicycling Association ? When it comes to cycling, RABA has something for everyone?

If you look at their calendar, there is a Wed. night ride that is close to you called the Chesterfield County ride. I believe there is also a Thursday night ride that leaves out of an office complex across from St. Francis Hospital. I pass that one coming home from work. I think there are some rides in Pocahontas State Park as well.

Despite the heat, I have been seeing a lot of cyclists in the morning/evening along Courthouse, Lucks Lane and Charter Colony. More than the usual amount. These streets are some of the main cycling arteries south of the river. It might be because of the TDF.

Speaking again about the heat/humidity, it is supposed to be a rough weekend! MTT is putting up extra SAGs and making the routes up to maximize the shady streets around Richmond. They have also sent out extra emails about running in extreme conditions. We will be doing double digits from here on out until about 3 weeks before the Marathon in November. It is HTFU time! I can deal with it. I was raised in a town with some of the worst weather in the country. If you are into heat/suffering, they have a bike ride for you. The Hotter N Hell 100. A really desolate/boring route in the heat/wind. I don't understand why it is so popular.

Hotter'N Hell

Velocivixen

@exmechanic89 - Hi Grace! Congrats on your finally finding a place. Having lived in the great Pacific Northwest forever, and having visited Florida once in August, I hope the apartments there come with A/C standard. I couldn't live there.

seypat

One other thing you need to plan for. There are some toll roads in the area. Take a look at the Google map I listed above. The following are toll roads:

Rt. 76 from 288 across the river to Carytown.
Rt. 195 East/West from Rt. 76 to 95
The 895 bridge from Rt. 150 to 295
The Westover Hills Blvd. bridge between Westover Hills and Maymont

I think that is it. You can plan your routes to get around these tolls if you need to. However, if you think you might use them at all, get an EZPASS transponder. Cash/coin lanes are available, but the cash lanes might not be open at every toll location.

https://www.ezpassva.com/

exmechanic89

That's good to know - thanks.

exmechanic89

Boy the days are flying by now, we leave on the 16th of Aug. Poor Grace is has been out of town for much of our last few weeks, due to prior commitments she made long before we'd decided to move, so she only has a few days left to see friends and so forth. We're doing well though, I found a nice bike case on CL I picked a couple weeks ago, which my road bike will be transported in by our movers, and I've gotten rid of a ton of spare parts. So yeah I think we're good go.

LeicaLad 

I have a vegan daughter who is a student at VCU. There seem to be quite a few choices for vegan and vegetablearians around the VCU campus and the Fan District.

Other than the swampy weather conditions, you should really like Richmond. It is definitely an interesting city.

G'luck!

exmechanic89

Thanks, we'll definitely check out some of those restaurant options.

thumpism 

Rt. 76 from 288 across the river to Carytown, AKA the Powhite Parkway. Choose your pronunciation, either POW-hite or PO-white are equally cheered and reviled.

Rt. 195 East/West from Rt. 76 to 95, AKA the Downtown Expressway.

The 895 bridge from Rt. 150 to 295, AKA the Pocohontas Parkway.

The Westover Hills Blvd. bridge between Westover Hills and Maymont, AKA the Boulevard Bridge but colloquially known as the Nickel Bridge from the days when it only cost five cents for the toll. I remember those days but many do not.

dweenk

Seypat offered good advice about EZPass. In Maryland (where I live) it pays for itself quickly due to discounted tolls. I presume that VA offers similar discounts.

seypat

Have a safe trip!

Velocivixen

@exmechanic89 - I'm near Portland and would happily mail you and Grace a care package of nice vegan groceries. When's the big day (sorry if I missed it)?

exmechanic89

Hey thanks so much for the kind offer - Grace and I both really appreciate that. No need to send us anything though, I'm confident we'll have no problems with vegan and veggie food, and it would cost you a fortune to send us anything across the US as we all know. The offer is much appreciated though.

And to everyone involved with this thread, we leave tomorrow morning (8-16) at 8am. In fact the movers are here now and we're scrambling to get everything done. I like moving to new places - we've done it before several times - but I HATE process! I always forget that until we do it again.

thumpism 

We'll be waiting. With any luck the trip will take you until mid-September when it's likely to be a little more comfortable outside.

exmechanic89

Hey everyone, finally an update! A lot has happened in the last few weeks. Everything (thankfully) went pretty much as planned: our place sold quickly, we shipped my car, the movers got our stuff, and we packed up Grace's vehicle and her, I, and the cats drove across the US in 5 days. The drive went well but we were all glad when the journey was over, lol.

So far so good. Grace has been working steadily and I'm continuing my job search. We've also been visiting a lot of Civil War sites in our off time, which has been really enjoyable.
Both of us have been riding too - though me more than her. Traffic out here is nuts on many streets, with absoluely no bike lanes anywhere. Fortunately I've already learned a few decent (and reasonably safe) 25 mile or so routes which I've been doing every other day or so. The thing is although I have a bike rack for my car, I prefer not to drive someplace to ride, which kind of defeats the purpose of the ride to me.
Oh and I've really had to buckle down and ride harder too, since there are only mild hills here, nothing like the some of the steep ones I used to do to stay in shape in WA. But all that said riding is going reasonably well.

We're in Chesterfield btw. Right off 360, close to stores but not obnoxiously close, lol.