PHOTOS: Richmond to Ashland on U.S. Bike Route 1
Check out U.S. Bike Route 1 on your bike, moped, scooter, or car with the windows down: getting there and back is a perfect piece of living in Richmond.
One of the great things about living in Richmond is how quickly you can get out of the city.
U.S. Bike Route 1 is a great point-to-point bicycle ride from Richmond to Ashland, out through Lakeside and the gentle sprawl of central Henrico, into rural Hanover County, and then the town of Ashland. From the old Bill’s BBQ north of The Diamond to Ashland Coffee and Tea, then back again, is about 30 miles.
I’ve been riding this route just about weekly since August, and over the last week the whole experience has shifted from end of summer to fall. The corn has been harvested, the leaves are changing, and the sky is a different, clearer blue. If you’re compelled to go outside right now to get your fill of the season, hit the road. Check out U.S. Bike Route 1 on your bike, moped, scooter, or car with the windows down: getting there and back is a perfect piece of living in Richmond.
The Richmond Area Bicycle Association (RABA) does a Henrico to Ashland portion of this ride on Saturday mornings if you’re looking for company.
I have not been able to find a detailed official map of the local trail, so I offer this Google map. The route is marked fairly well, though it is kind of easy to miss a turn.
— ∮∮∮ —
Lakeside
This is the hill back into Richmond by Bryan Park. After going out and back 30 miles it is not pleasant; I’ve named it “Big Fucker.”
— ∮∮∮ —
Henrico
— ∮∮∮ —
Hanover
— ∮∮∮ —
Ashland
— ∮∮∮ —
The full set from the ride is on Flickr, including the banned opossum photo, this possibly NSFW road graffiti, and maybe the geekiest photo that I’ve ever taken.
-
Recommend this
on Facebook -
Report an error
-
Subscribe to our
Weekly Digest
John Murden
John Murden covers Church Hill, the Fan, Carytown/Museum District , Northside, and random Richmond stuff for RVA News.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
I like this Murden. Did the RABA folks leave you behind while you took all these cool shots?
Well done. I live in north side and have family in Ashland and you managed to capture both the comfortably familiar and the intriguingly unfamiliar.
This was a great article. It really makes me want to get on my road bike again.
How does this compare to the route for the East Coast Greenway?
http://greenway.org/index.shtml
Love your post. Good work making the trek every week. Ashland Coffee & Tea helps out, doesn’t it?
Nice photos. We ride that route a lot and it was fun to recognize those spots.
Zeke – it really is a great place to get to. I’ve got to stop getting the damn cinnamon rolls, though, they’re too good.
I used to take part of this route out of the city to commute to class at J Sarge – Parham campus. The thought of cycling to Ashland is appealing but I’m not sure I would want to bike Woodman Road again. There is no bike lane, shoulder, or sidewalk, just a road flanked by ditches and guard rails; and vehicular traffic whizzes by at 35+ mph (it’s not a sparsely populated area either).
Great photos! The East Coast Greenway follows this route, I think. You can compare by downloading the ECG guide at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/recreational_planning/tr-sbiib2a.shtml
What a nice journey. Thanks for taking us all along for the ride. I hope the dude finds his “good woman”.