# Rides around Sandbridge, VA



## ldh6

Headed to Sandbridge in August with the family. Any good road routes in the area? Any roads/areas to avoid?


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## tornado

On vacation there a couple of times in the past few years, I did the morning ride from the Fat Frog Shop.

Home - fatfrogsbikes.com

Very nice people. I think I rode 3 or 4 weekday mornings at 7:30. The rides were flat and 20-25 miles as I recall on mostly lightly trafficked roads.


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## jsophoto

the road leading in and out of sandbridge is not one to ride on. sandbridge itself is a good place to ride, and the fat frogs shop isn't far from sandbridge if you choose to ride with them.


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## Winters

The trails in First Landing State Park are nice. Park at the east end of 64th St.
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You'll get to see lots that most tourists don't. Cross over Shore Drive and ride through the campground for views of the Bridge Tunnel.
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Many years ago Princess Anne Rd. was the favorite training ride. Nowdays it may be too busy. 
Ask the folks at the bike shop about riding PA road south of Pungo Ferry Rd. ...


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## Lifelover

The riding @ Sandbridge and the last 3 miles or so on Sandbridge road leading there sucks but are doable.

Below is the basic portion of the Fat Frogs loop around the Pungo area. Anywhere around here is pretty good but flat as a pancake.

gmap-pedometer.com

Let me know how long of a ride you want and I'll map it out for you. Anything from 20 - 80 miles would be pretty easy to manage.


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## ldh6

What's Princess Anne Rd like? Ridable or a death-trap?


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## Lifelover

ldh6 said:


> What's Princess Anne Rd like? Ridable or a death-trap?


The further south you go the better it gets and if you are trying to get all the way south to Knotts island it is the only option.

Short runs (1-2 miles) to get from one road to the other is not bad but I would never plan a ride that included an intentional long stretch of it.

If you wanted to go long (50+ miles) from Sandbridge, I would suggest weaving your way back to Pungo Ferry Rd, crossing the bridge and riding towards Northwest River park. Pretty open riding back there.

Of course all this depends on the time of day and even the week of the day. Go out early on a Sunday morning and anything is fair game.


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## pdxtim

*I'd vote death trap*



ldh6 said:


> What's Princess Anne Rd like? Ridable or a death-trap?


PA Road is 2 lanes, very narrow, lots of turns, no shoulders, deep ditches, cars going 45 mph. I wouldn't recommend it.


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## tsunayoshi

jsophoto said:


> the road leading in and out of sandbridge is not one to ride on.


I did this over Memorial Day weekend...worst biking experience of my life (and I live in the DC Metro area). Cars had no frickin' idea how to pass safely, they would pass me, crossing over the double yellow, while cars were oncoming in the other direction. On the return trip, one guy honked at me, then the guy behind him intentionally buzzed me WAY too close, I had to pull off into a neighborhood and spin around for a few minutes to de-stress after that.

Riding through the beach area itself down to Back Bay was cool, plenty of shoulder (other than all the sand and trash cans in the way). Next trip down there I will drive to one of the Sandbridge lots, and then take my cx bike with file treads down to Back Bay and explore the preserve, lots of gravel trails back there. Back Bay is $2 for bikes to enter, only about 1 mile of paved road to the parking lot, rest is all dead-flat gravel trails through the preserve.

Bill's to Back Bay (and back) - A bike ride in Virginia Beach, Virginia, US (i didn't do the back bay loop once I realized it was gravel, and went north to the back entrance of the naval base before heading back down the psycho road).

Bring sunscreen, no shade anywhere, and you are either in a headwind or tailwind the whole time. There are public water and restrooms in various areas along the beach.


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## mike77

I rode from Sandbridge down across the NC border and back last summer while I was there on vacation. I had only been road biking for about 3 months at that point, but I had no problems at all on a Sunday morning. (Route on MMR.)

I had a number of people warn me about Sandbridge Rd, but I rode that stretch a couple times during the week and experienced no problems. There is a pretty good shoulder along a good part of it. I also rode on Princess Anne down near the border. There were no problems there, but I wouldn't do it solo again except early on the weekend. In a group, it would probably be fine.

That being said - I'm looking for a group ride or two (~20mph pace) in the area the second week of July. I know Fat Frogs has daily rides, but their website is not very helpful at the moment. Sunday morning I'll be riding for sure, and hopefully at least one or two more mornings during the week.


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## rssllboyd

Mike77
I'll be heading to Sandbridge the same week you'll be there. Maybe we can meet up for a ride sometime. 
Russ


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## MaxCycles

I agree with what others have said so far. Sandbridge road itself is not safe during the day. Once in Sandbridge, you're good to ride around there. Backs Bay is fun to explore, but it's all gravel/dirt/sand. A cross bike is ride-able there but wouldn't ride 23mm slicks. 

The general Fat-Frogs route in Pungo is probably the best thing in Va Beach. Very little traffic. Princess Anne road is a no-go as far as I'm concerned. It does get better the further south you go, but I wouldn't ride it if you can avoid it. The Bridge on Pungo Ferry Rd. has a shoulder and sees little traffic. This leads to southern Chesapeake, which is pretty safe and common for riding. If you head that way, just steer clear of the centerville turnpike. Blackwater road is OK further south. This is a pretty broad route description but if you look at a map, it probably makes more sense.


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## skhan007

I'm bumping this old thread because I found it very helpful. I'm visiting Sandbridge this week and went on the Fat Frog Bike Shop's group ride this AM. Super nice bunch of people and a very good/flat route, averaging about 22 mph for about 20 miles. Great ride and I would not have known about it without the posts above. I'll plan to get another group ride in this week, while I'm here visiting.


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