Places to Ride around Charlottesville

The Charlottesville area is home to some of the best road and mountain biking on the east coast. We are fortunate to have an abundance of rural acreage around the city that allows for some nice mountain bike trails and plenty of country roads for road bike rides.

Keep in mind a few basic precautions while riding:

1. Wear a helmet! Don’t be a jerk and think that you are too cool for a helmet. I can assure you that, if you ride bikes, you will eventually crash. You will be very unhappy if your melon hits the pavement at any speed. If you still feel too cool for a helmet, swing by and Paul will be happy to tell you about the time he was “too cool” for a helmet.

2. For dirt and paved road bike rides, of course there will be cars. Pick a time of day that has less traffic (ie avoid morning and evening rush hour. People in the country have to get to work too). Stay to the right and follow traffic rules.

3. For mtb rides, always be prepared. That means be able to fix a flat, find your way back to the vehicle, and choose a ride that matches your ability level.

4. Stay off trails immediately after rain, to minimize erosion. If you bring your mountain bike in and it is covered in mud, we will scold you.

5. Know the weather conditions expected on your ride, and dress accordingly. The Charlottesville area gets in the 100’s sometimes in the summer and into the single digits in the winter. We have a little bit of everything, and it changes quickly due to the Blue Ridge mountains to our west.

6. LIGHTS AT NIGHT! Both a rear and front light. ‘Nuff said.

7. If, and when, someone “buzzes” you out on the road (flies by you aggressively in their motor vehicle), be the bigger person; don’t yell at them or make obscene hand gestures. This gives us all a bad name. Plus, when it comes down to it, they have a bigger, heavier vehicle than your bike that they can use as a weapon.

8. Use common sense. I don’t care what Virginia Law says or doesn’t say about bicycling. If it seems stupid or careless, don’t do it.