Your Guide to Biking Richmond
May is National Bike Month, and we’ve got everything you need to know about biking around RVA, like: where to buy a bike or get repairs, a roundup of city bike lanes, the best mountain-biking trails, bike meetups, and more! So, strap on your helmet, check your tire pressure, and get ready to ride!
— Updated by Alie McArdle, Contributing Writer (and the brains behind This Little Life. Follow her work @thislittle_lifeblog!)
Bike & repair shops
Agee’s Bicycles
Best for leisurely or serious riders looking for high-quality road and mountain bikes; tons of bike accessories available, free estimates to diagnose issues, repairs made in store with quick turnaround times
Locations: 7439 W Broad St (Henrico), 3116 W Cary St (Carytown), and 11020 Midlothian Tpke (North Chesterfield)
Carytown Bicycle Co
Best for everyday bikes, specialty road and mountain bikes; free estimates to diagnose issues, inspection and tune-up options available, plus free coffee and beer while you wait; bike assembly available for around $70
Location: 3112 W Cary St (Carytown)
Outpost Richmond
Best for serious riders looking for high-quality road and mountain bikes; offers three different tune-ups that go from general maintenance all the way up to a tune-up that gets your bike as close to its original condition as possible
Location: 4813 Forest Hill Ave (Forest Hill)
Pedal Power
Best for kids bikes, hybrid bikes, comfort bikes, all types of mountain bikes, and road bicycles for sport and performance riders; free estimates to diagnose issues, inspection, and tune-up options available
Location: 1904 Staples Mill Rd (Near West End)
Riverside Cycling
Best for newbies and inexperienced riders; offers guided road and mountain bike tours, plus daily and weekly bike rentals; full-service bicycle repairs
Location: 3 Manchester Rd (Manchester)
Wheel Simple Bicycle Repair
Best for repair and service; lean selection of product and a small sales floor in front displaying 25 or so used and new bikes; all used bikes and a few new ones are available as repair loaners; all new bikes are demo models for trying before buying; and don’t forget to check out the E-Bike Mini Library
Location: 2225 E Clay St (Church Hill)
City bikeways
Richmond offers many on-street bikeways and paved multi-use trails so you can navigate the city on two wheels! Check out this interactive map by Sports Backers showing the location of each bikeway, their different types of associated facilities, and information about them.
And here are some other bike lanes at a glance:
Floyd Ave
Forest Hill Ave
Franklin St
Grayland Ave
Hermitage Rd/Brookland Pkwy
E Leigh St
W Leigh St
Lombardy St
Oliver Hill Way/18th St
Semmes Ave
Virginia Capital Trail
Mountain-biking trails
Everything you could ever want or need to know about mountain biking in Richmond is available through Trailforks — plus, they have an app! Get maps of trails, trail conditions, levels of difficulty, photos and videos, and even a customizable route planner.
Then, for even more good-to-know info, peep our City Guide TWO-WHEEL TRAILS TO CHECK OUT AROUND RICHMOND.
Bike meetups, tours & special events
RVA Bike Month
Every May, Bike Walk RVA partners with local volunteers, bike shops, businesses, and other organizations to coordinate a full month of fun biking-related events that encourage everyone, from first-time bike riders to seasoned cyclists, to get out and ride. Read more about it here.
Basket & Bike
This bicycle tour and rental company is devoted to engaging the lover of cycling, nature, history, conservation, and style (plus great food!). Explore downtown, the city’s street art, and more, or plan a customized tour — all on two very cute wheels.
Breakaway RV
Breakaway is a free, community-organized group that gets together once a month for a fun bike meetup with a surprise destination! Before you register for the event of the month, you’ll find out the general neighborhood where the meetup will happen, the expected mileage, and the route’s level of difficulty (easy, medium, or hard-ish). Once you are registered to ride a route, you will get the exact starting location sent to you a few hours before the ride. The destination remains a secret until you arrive (but usually involves food and drink, because we’re in Richmond, after all).
Broad Street Bullies
You won’t find a more diverse biking group in RVA than the Broad Street Bullies. Nearly 300 people of all ages, races, and walks of life bike with this group so they can safely ride the same route. Every Thursday, they start their biking journey the Kroger in Carytown and end at the Oregon Hill Overlook.
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