JAJ0404

Still a ways to go, but looking to start visiting some places in search of a retirement spot. Looking for somewhere within 60/90 minutes drive of the coast, anywhere from Va Beach to Jacksonville FL. Looking for lots of quieter roads, plenty of variety, but no mountains, rolling hills at most. Tried to look at various routes on RidewithGPS, but hard to tell just how busy the roads are, etc. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Baldy1953

There are a lot of quiet less traveled places around Jacksonville, Fl. The local bike club , North Florida Bicycle Club, has a fairly large group that has rides every day of the week. You can look on their website NFBC.us and see some of their routes.

Also there is a club just north of the state line in Camden county, Ga. I would do a google search on them also. Cannot remember the name of the club. The area around Jax and south Georgia is pretty flat.
Going West around I-75 and I-10, just north of that junction are several small towns that are active in bicycling. You can get into some rolling hills in that area.

JAJ0404

Thanks, the bike club sites help, I'll check them out.

Rogerogeroge

You want gentle hills - some spots 90 minutes from the coast are pancake flat and wouldn't be what I consider good riding area. (e.g, the further south you go in your range you say to Jax) I would think that more north, in Virginia and North Carolina would have much better biking terrain. Then I google mapped, and was drawn to Charlottesville, VA. I remember reading in the past year that this is a great place to retire. That's my answer. I do ride in the SW corner of VA a couple of times a year, and it's a very nice area with some prime rails to trails options.

JAJ0404

I can deal with a flat ride but you're right, I don't want a steady diet of it every ride. I realize living that close to the coast it is going to be flatter, I guess in my mind I'm living 60-90 minutes away and riding more to the west of where I live most days. Who knows, so far this is all in my head any way. I am more drawn to the NC area, I wouldn't object to Southern VA, I lived in DC for about a decade so I'm familiar with NOVA and that's not what I'm looking for, I'm looking for much quieter day-today living. I'll definitely add Charlottesville to my list of places to check out, thanks for the suggestion.

Baldy1953

We might be really flat here in N. Fl. ,but we have steady wind. I prefer a short rolling hill to battling a 10 mph wind for 10 or more miles. Being retired and having a camper, I can go places and ride , then take a nap in the camper. Move if I want and do it all over again the next day.

Fullcount

JAJ0404

VIRGINIA is a prime riding area. I would bee looking at either SUFFOLK, Va or Emporia, Va. you are going to find quite country roads, very active cycling communities, several long distance trails if that is your pleasure (Virginia capital trail is 52 miles of segregated asphalt between Richmond and Jamestown). You have flats near the coast, gentle rolls as you near I-95. SUFFOLK is part of Hampton Roads, and Va Beach is part of that community. Plus, a hop and a skip, and you are in the rural area of NC. Check out the Richmond Area Bicyclist clubs and the Peninsula Bicycleling Association. They both have plenty of members and group rides if that is what you are looking for...or two very active Rando groups in Tidewater and Raleigh.

Good luck on your search, but really think you have the best of several types of terrain in SE Virginia as you can ride in the flats, rolling hills or a 90 minute drive you can be in the Blue Ridge.

DeadGrandpa

I moved to Oriental, NC last year and love it. The bicycling is fantastic. That is, we can go riding from our driveway; traffic is infrequent and light. A 37 mile loop is our short ride. A 50 mile loop is fun/challenging, depending on the wind strength and direction. The worst thing I can say is that the chip seal pavement on one road is a little rough. The terrain is flat but the wind serves as an invisible hill, at times. The headwinds are always "character building", though.

TheLizard

How many boats do you have? Looks like a place where you would really need a boat...

DeadGrandpa

Of course, the correct answer is, "Not Enough". Just like our bicycle inventories, there is a different tool for each purpose. We must learn to moderate our hobbies. I struggle with this task.

Vintage Schwinn

You might want to consider buying a lakefront home on Lake Murray in COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA, near the Dreher Shoals Dam.
Columbia is the state capital and not very big such that is easy to get around. The year round weather is great. It is much better weather wise than anything in NC or VA.
It does get hot as hell and really humid between May 20th and Sept 25th, but living on the lake, you can enjoy Lake Murray during that time.
The cost for a very nice lakefront home is ridiculously inexpensive compared to many other major cities. Property taxes are low. The great thing about Lake Murray is that unlike in many other major cities, the lake (Lake Murray) is close to everything, essentially right there. The cycling community in the Columbia area is fairly large.
There are plenty of areas to ride and there are some rolling hills but as with other cities it's size, there are roads where traffic is too heavy at most times to be ridden.
The South Carolina beaches are among the nicest in the country. Isle of Palms is superb as is Hilton Head Island, Myrtle Beach isn't as upscale but it is really vibrant and populated in Summer and still has some very nice places there and all the golf courses are good. Edisto Beach is like a time warp where things are like they were seventy years ago, and a unique beach where you'll find a large number of sea shells on the beach. Pawleys Island, Litchfield Beach are also nice sleepy, slow motion coastal areas. Those are just a few of the great beach areas in SC. All of them are within three hours of Columbia, some of them are about two hours away or less if you drive the left-lane traffic flow speed which violates the posted speed limit.
Columbia SC has year-round weather that is about 3 degrees hotter at all times than Atlanta Georgia, and Columbia has year round weather that is approximately 1 degree Colder at all times than Augusta GA---where The Masters Tournament is--------Augusta is 70 miles west, actually slightly south and west of Columbia along Interstate 20.