hitching out of richmond?

[ipoPua]

friend and i are getting in on a megabus early may, plan is to take the 95 down to florida and then the 10 out west. any good/bad thumb spots anyone feels like helping us out with? or just general richmond tips i guess, idk

 

[Raging Bird]

Just ride a train, you can get to Jacksonville in 10 hours. Or for that matter, I'm pretty sure Megabus goes down there. Hitching 95 sucks, in my experience.

 

[ipoPua]

i dont really wanna pay for another bus, i'd be down to hop but i dont know where to start.

 

[Raging Bird]

Well, I'm not gonna tell you to go about it yourself of you've never done it, but I say if you're there trying to hitch in May, you might as well walk around and look for people in town to jump in with if they're hopping out. Can't speak for everyone but I usually don't give a shit and feel like the more the merrier. Go look for people in Monroe park or around grace an Harrison.

 

[skitter]

what i learned in richmond:
the walking route from midlothian turnpike to forest hill avenue and back (and forth and back and back and forth...) is called Buford, and it is a straight shot and it feels like a HIKE (this was in high summer heat with a bunch of superfluous gear so ymmv), I think one of the major crossroads is Jahnke, it has a post office by it and goes by the hospital.
All the cheap fleatrap motels are on the turnpike but kind of an annoying walk to the nearest wa-wa.
Richmond is one of the few places where I have brazenly just slept in places where I felt was, out in the OPEN, and nary a police contact there. Just slept and roasted in the summer heat eating dumpstered 7-11 and swimming in the James river, fabulous! I have no idea what camping is like there but I did not really have a problem sleeping out in Richmond.

Not really relevent to your journey, but...we hiked the 64 and it was very long and very tedious and every shithole town I got dropped off in two exits down I regretted not taking the train... Avoid Goochland County on the 64 because the single east coast valero I found is staffed by a bunch of dried up bitch hags and creepy sheriffs.

Can someone confirm/deny the "megabus scam" still works, I copied it down at the time and have heard mostly secondhand reports that it works, but all the kids I talked to were riding for free (isn't it a dollar if you book way in advance anyway idk i don't use buses).

In fact, I don't recall seeing any other kids in Richmond or pretty much the entire route through the south and beyond because my dumbass goes south for the summer, hahah. There might still be an asshole bikecop on or around Cary Street that has a hardon for hassling... people like me and mine, ymmv. Also there is supposed to be some hippie rock in the middle of the James called Belle Isle with some grateful dead crap on it or something if you are into that, locals told me it's a good place to find a party of some sort. I don't know how seasonal that is.



v v v v
i always saw the "no thumb" signs when walking by OFF ramps, so even the drivers exiting the interstate don´t see them, just the hapless traveller walking by or something. like okay I am going to walk down an off ramp to get a ride, thanks but no?

 

[wehavethemap]

no thumb signs everywhere throughout the whole state, i walked out of roanoke once but luckily some one always comes to the rescue when you truly need it

 

[HUMANCONTRAST]

Yea... bus or hop. HItching out of richmond is nearly impossible. no one will pick you up and or the staties will roll you. I had to hitch out of richmond once due to various reasons stood on various ramps in the city for nearly a week and ended up catching out because my injury was hearled by that point hahaha

 

[Raging Bird]

Yeah, Richmond rules and most people are cool as shit. But it's just the way Virginia is - nobody has much reason to go more than a couple miles. People in Richmond have no reason to go to North Carolina. The state is kind of divided into several very different worlds with limited contact between them.

Skitter, sounds like you were kind of far out of town. There's plenty to see all around but if you're just rolling through, you probably want to be around the college. Things kind of revolve around the area even for people that neither go there nor particularly care for it.

 

[menu]

the hop south outa richmond is super easy. I know the jungle by the yard got busted up but Im sure its back on. that was last year august. never tried to hitch. although I did hitch from the jail back to the park. got a ride pretty quick. but again. it wasnt a distance. ha. I say hop.

 

[Monkeywrench]

Richmond is the shit. But if you don't get picked up fast, you're gonna get fucked with by police. They'll tell you get lost. They can ticket you, but usually won't. Good luck.

 

[Doobie_D]

At the least you could take the Petersburg express (city commuter bus) that will get you out of the city and south down the I-95. The bus number is ironically the 95. I think its only a couple bucks. Ive found that once you get outside a city more people tend to be going longer distances.

 

[ipoPua]

thats probably what i;ll do then. i wanna hop a train eventually, but i dont wanna do it just with my scrawny self and scrawny brodog. i've heard bussing out a bit is good but i'd forgotten, thanks for the reminder.

 

[Doobie_D]

But if your feeling adventurous you could build a trash raft and float down the James river aways south to Bellwood

 

[WingNnt]

ive never hitched out of richmond. just hop out

 

[WingNnt]

But if your feeling adventurous you could build a trash raft and float down the James river aways south to Bellwood

haha fuck yeah

 

[ipoPua]

considered that, but the next place i wanna hit is only 2 and a half hours drive south and i would have no idea how to get there by freight. i'll most likely follow doobie's first suggestion.