# VA Beach, Norfolk Area



## MaxCycles

Hello everyone!

My girlfriend and I are going to be moving from Northern CA to the VA Beach area at the end of the month. I'm a roadie/MTB/CX guy so I've been trying to do as much research as possible on the area for the past month. I've gotten a good idea of where the local MTB trails are, but would love to hear from some road/CX guys on where to ride. I am happy to see that there is CX racing in the fall. The road scene seems cool with lots of shop rides going on. I don't race road, but like to ride fast for fitness and fun. Would love to meet up with some riders once I'm there! Anyone willing to show me around?


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## kingkonajack

Road riding in VA stinks. Roads suck, drivers and tourist suck. Williamsburg and Yorktown further west is much better for road. Richmond and the Blue Ridge have got some good roads though. Drop a line when you move here. Jack


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## pdxtim

*what part of Va Beach you movin to?*

As noted in the previous post, cycling here ain't nothin to get excited about. First Landing State Park has some trails on which you can mtn bike, and some of the bike shops sponsor rides (Fat Frog's, Performance, BikeBeat), but there are very few bike lanes on the roads, so most roadies end up cycling out in the boonies where traffic is minimal. They do have some multi-use trails (I ride the one on Dam Neck to work a few times/week) but they're not very extensive. We lived in Portland and Eugene OR (I know, bike heaven) so I'm spoiled, but this area could do way better. I would bet that N. California is way better than here too. Maybe you'll like it here, I hope you do, but I wouldn't get your hopes up too high. Sorry.


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## Lifelover

An experienced roadie that has lived and ridden in many places recently compared the road scene in Virginia Beach to the Galapagos islands. It is unlike any where else in the world. It consist of a large community of riders of varying levels with no normal set of riding rules. The terrain is pancake flat. The ONLY hills are overpasses and bridges.

That said, there are fast groups that would rip the legs off of anyone in the country.

To safely ride on the road you need to head out to the rural parts of Va Beach. The largest group ride, by far, is on Saturday mornings leaving from the Va Beach Fat Frogs LBS. In fair weather it will easily consist of 100+ riders going out in groups of A++, A, B and C at a minimum. The groups do a 20 mile loop. The ride is very easily extended to as much as 75 miles and there are almost always smaller groups going long. You just need to be aware of where they break off. It really does pay to get to know some of the folks that ride often and try to get involved with smaller groups. The big groups can be chaotic. The A++ is almost all very good riders but their main (only) goal is to drop as many people as they can. At times the A pace can be a good, smooth controlled group and other times it can be littered with folks that can barely hang on and make it unsafe. Same with the B pace. The C pace is fine if you want to ride at 15-16 mph.

The MTB scene is completely non existent. The only real trails are in the Williamsburg area a good 2 hours away. There are effectively NO trials on the Southside.

The most underrated and under utilized riding in the city is the bike paths. If you are willing to ride you MTB on the bike paths you can get a decent workout and ride damn near anywhere in the city.

Here is a few older fat tire ride reports I have posted over the years.

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=211917

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=195671

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=188933

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=120652

I have been completely off my road bike for quite a while and only ride my Fat tires sparingly. If you are interested in taking a fairly slow paced Fat tire ride to get the lay of the land I would be more than happy to use you as an excuse to get off my A$$.


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## MaxCycles

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have been out here for about a week. So far I like the area for the scenery, but the riding situation is challenging. I'm staying out in Suffolk with family until we find a place in VA Beach. I did one MTB ride over at Carrolton Nike Park which was fun even though it's only one trail. I've done a couple road rides out in the country around Suffolk. One went through part of the dismal swamp. Riding in Suffolk truly seems just about non existent, although I've seen a couple guys riding road. The drivers have been fine but I do feel out of place out there. The swamp is decent if you want to get off the road, and the fact that Nike park even had a MTB trail is good. 

We really don't know where we'll live in VA Beach. Somewhere with a 2 bedroom apartment in a decent neighborhood would be ideal. We've been out there the last 3 days looking around. The scenery is awesome, but the riding does still seem limited. I've seen some road riders every day that we've been out there, so all hope is not lost. Went into Fat Frogs bikes today, and it seems like the best shop I've seen so far. I did check out First Landing state park and it was great, and False Cape wild life refuge was amazing as well. 

If any of you guys would like to ride, I'm certainly up for it. I'll be in VA Beach just about every day starting next week. Would really like to meet up with local riders. 

Lifelover- I'll check out those ride reports, thanks for posting them.


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## QQUIKM3

*Careful. .*



MaxCycles said:


> Went into Fat Frogs bikes today, and it seems like the best shop I've seen so far.


The idiots who ride in the Fat Frogs groups are the biggest kooks in the beach area. They act like TDF contenders by riding three and four abreast, and have pissed off virtually every driver in Southern Virginia. We have some really nice roads in Pungo and out through chesapeake. Just avoid the retards in the stupid green jerseys.

FYI, the Fat Frog morons are responsible for the majority of the bad tensions. Read below.

Cyclists, drivers clash on use of scenic Pungo roads | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

Strewn thumbtacks create chaos for cyclists in Va. Beach | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

Va. Beach police boost traffic enforcement in Pungo | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

Tack attacks let the air out of cyclist vs. resident battle | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

Crime on the roads of Virginia Beach | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

Va. Beach tries to find balance amid bike incidents | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

No simple fix for Pungo road war | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

Virginia Beach faces uphill climb in call for more bike lanes | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

Who are the real road hogs: SUVs or cyclists? | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com


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## MaxCycles

QQUIKM3 said:


> The idiots who ride in the Fat Frogs groups are the biggest kooks in the beach area. They act like TDF contenders by riding three and four abreast, and have pissed off virtually every driver in Southern Virginia. We have some really nice roads in Pungo and out through chesapeake. Just avoid the retards in the stupid green jerseys.
> 
> FYI, the Fat Frog morons are responsible for the majority of the bad tensions. Read below.
> 
> Cyclists, drivers clash on use of scenic Pungo roads | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Strewn thumbtacks create chaos for cyclists in Va. Beach | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Va. Beach police boost traffic enforcement in Pungo | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Tack attacks let the air out of cyclist vs. resident battle | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Crime on the roads of Virginia Beach | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Va. Beach tries to find balance amid bike incidents | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> No simple fix for Pungo road war | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Virginia Beach faces uphill climb in call for more bike lanes | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Who are the real road hogs: SUVs or cyclists? | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com


Thanks for the heads up. I've read most if not all of those articles and they certainly were alarming. I doubt I'll really get involved with any big shop group rides, but it's good to know which to avoid. As far as shops go, I've been into Conte's a couple times now and they are probably the shop I'll generally support. Went on a ride through First Landing state park on the MTB yesterday and had a great time. Still learning the area. The bike paths in VB look promising for commuting. Thanks again for all the info!


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## bigbill

I lived in Va Beach from 2000-2004 and it has some of the fastest riders I've ever been in a paceline with. Before Fat Frogs, we rode from the courthouse and would do the Tues/Thurs Pungo Death Rides leaving at 6pm, returning at 8pm after covering 50 miles. After Fat Frogs, the evening groups got larger and more dangerous. I used to do them but in typical roadie fashion, they would leave 10 or so minutes late. I made a point of leaving at 6pm sharp and usually a few people would go with me. We would usually get into a team time trial and could typically make it to the turnaround before we'd get caught by the 50-60 riders chasing us. On the way back, the safest place was staying in the front 5-6 riders. Before the sprints at the end, I would either take a flyer and try to make it stick or more often, I would drop off the back. I wanted no part of the pack sprint. So many times we would get a paceline going at 30+ mph and one guy would rotate through only to stop pedaling when he got on the front, causing everyone to grab their brakes. There were many pileups and many times when the riders in the back of the pack would be 4-5 wide on a two lane road blocking cars and just pissing people off. The best bet is to find a small group of guys you trust and just do your own rides.


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## Lifelover

QQUIKM3 said:


> The idiots who ride in the Fat Frogs groups are the biggest kooks in the beach area. They act like TDF contenders by riding three and four abreast, and have pissed off virtually every driver in Southern Virginia. We have some really nice roads in Pungo and out through chesapeake. Just avoid the retards in the stupid green jerseys.
> 
> FYI, the Fat Frog morons are responsible for the majority of the bad tensions. Read below.
> 
> Cyclists, drivers clash on use of scenic Pungo roads | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Strewn thumbtacks create chaos for cyclists in Va. Beach | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Va. Beach police boost traffic enforcement in Pungo | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Tack attacks let the air out of cyclist vs. resident battle | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Crime on the roads of Virginia Beach | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Va. Beach tries to find balance amid bike incidents | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> No simple fix for Pungo road war | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Virginia Beach faces uphill climb in call for more bike lanes | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
> 
> Who are the real road hogs: SUVs or cyclists? | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com


You sound like someone that regularly gets dropped on the FF ride and then finds something to ***** about. Back off and do one of the slower paces. Maybe even try to lead one of the slower and help provide some order.


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## pepeelcaballo

Norfolk is worse then Virginia Beach IMO. I ride to and from the Norfolk Naval Base to my house by the Salem area in Virginia Beach. Usually ends up either 19 or 22 miles depending on which route I take. Sundays Ill do a 30-40 mile ride around Virginia Beach, going to places like the Ocean Front, Damneck Base, Courthouse, Amphitheather, etc. The point is, with my 1000+ miles so far, I have learned that I hate riding in Norfolk the most. Virginia Beach has some A-Holes, but not as bad as Norfolk. They really just dont care about you at all. And the roads are horrible. It is really and absolutely horrible to ride no more then 2 feet off the curb or edge of the street because the roads in Norfolk are just cluttered with holes, etc. Virginia Beach though, not to bad.


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## bigbill

pepeelcaballo said:


> Norfolk is worse then Virginia Beach IMO. I ride to and from the Norfolk Naval Base to my house by the Salem area in Virginia Beach. Usually ends up either 19 or 22 miles depending on which route I take. Sundays Ill do a 30-40 mile ride around Virginia Beach, going to places like the Ocean Front, Damneck Base, Courthouse, Amphitheather, etc. The point is, with my 1000+ miles so far, I have learned that I hate riding in Norfolk the most. Virginia Beach has some A-Holes, but not as bad as Norfolk. They really just dont care about you at all. And the roads are horrible. It is really and absolutely horrible to ride no more then 2 feet off the curb or edge of the street because the roads in Norfolk are just cluttered with holes, etc. Virginia Beach though, not to bad.


I commuted from Kempsville to NOB. I took Providence to Indian River past the old Ford plant and crossed the Campostella Bridge, past Norfolk State U to Church Street, north on Granby and came in through gate 22. For me, the worst part was on base heading towards the piers. Some mornings I would cut over to VA Beach blvd and go that way. It was the scariest commute of my life. Right at 20 miles using either route. When my ship was in the yard at Portsmouth, I would commute via the Jordan Bridge, but I guess that's gone now. That wasn't a bad commute, a few idiots in the afternoon, mostly on Providence. I figured out a few back streets to avoid the busy roads.


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## QQUIKM3

*Nice try. . .*



Lifelover said:


> You sound like someone that regularly gets dropped on the FF ride and then finds something to ***** about. Back off and do one of the slower paces. Maybe even try to lead one of the slower and help provide some order.


But I'm not a pansy who has to big ride in groups to feel safe. I ride a lone by choice. The FF group is full of retards, and I wouldn't ride with them if they paid me.:thumbsup:


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## DG62

I live off Princess Anne Rd. near the courthouse area and regularly ride down West Neck and into Pungo. Occassionally, eithier intentionally or unintentionally, I have an issue with a motorist that passes a little close for comfort, but I suspect it is no worse or better than any other area. I ride in the early evenings during the week and late afternoons on the weekend when traffic is minimal. I also ride alone due to both schedule and a desire to avoid being associated with the local group rides. I try to keep my line, respect the traffic lights (only two) and acknowledge, with a wave, drivers who pause to let me pass. Most seem okay. The roads are in relatively good condition. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to get out into the rural coastal country side on a summer evening or afternoon with little to no traffic to cause concern. Especially when the ever-present wind is at your back.


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## MaxCycles

Good to hear that VA Beach should be decent for road riding. Still living out in Suffolk currently but trying to find a place in VB. Been way busy, but things are starting to fall into place. I'm looking forward to living in VB just for the ability to commute by bike. Making the 35 mile drive from Suffolk four mornings per week got old quick. I've really just been MTBing as much as possible. 3-4 times a week usually. Went on a few long road rides as well in Rural Suffolk and Isle of Wight. Looking forward to Doing some road riding in Pungo once I live within riding distance. Done a couple rides through First Landing State Park as well, which will be another key area that I ride through in VB frequently. 

Anyways, thanks again to everyone for the info. I'll keep posting updates about my riding experiences out here.


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## theburrills

Just came across this post. Not sure if you are still living in Suffolk but I just moved here myself. I live in northern Suffolk (over near Churchland) and have found some nice 25 mile loops on nice roads. Let me know if your interested.


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## MaxCycles

theburrills said:


> Just came across this post. Not sure if you are still living in Suffolk but I just moved here myself. I live in northern Suffolk (over near Churchland) and have found some nice 25 mile loops on nice roads. Let me know if your interested.


I am still in Suffolk and would definitely be interested! I'll shoot you a PM.


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## Jimmynickelz

Fat Frogs Chesapeake is a totally different group. You should really come out and ride one Wed, Sat, or Sunday. I know people who live in Va Beach near FF Virginia Beach and come out to Chesapeake to ride. It's an awesome ride and you will be lucky to encounter 8 cars on the 21 mile loop. The groups aren't too large. A+ has about 10 to 15 people..all fast, but no stupid egos lookin to drop people. A is a good 20 to 22 mph pace and the other groups are all really sane. They enforce the pace limits so nobody goes out in A and tries to be king kong. They will actually request for you to move up if you show up and make long pulls in a certain group week after week. Give it a try and you wont be disappointed.


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