How's the cycling in Norfolk, VA?
 

I have an interview for a job in Norfolk, VA and I'm wandering how is the cycling in this area?
Thanks in advance!

This information is 30 years old so hopefully someone will chime in with more recent information. If you ride around the Norfolk and Virginia Beach it's a lot of wiggling around on meandering roads in housing developments trying to get somewhere while avoiding heavy traffic on arterial routes. But frequently you'll be on an arterial route because it's the only bridge over a river or inlet. If you're in a hurry you'll stay on the arterial road.

But there are lots of interesting nooks and cranies to explore. On a nice day I would go from Larchmont to Pungo in the Southeast corner. With a car you can start a ride further out into the countryside such as Suffolk. The countryside is oddly empty out there. There is a time of year where cycling near the Great Dismal Swamp will introduce you to some very fearsome insects.

Develop another activity that involves water because it's everywhere. Like sailing or windsurfing. There are not a lot of waves so you'll need a sail on that surfboard.

I work in Norfolk, but live in Chesapeake. Where I am, I can quickly get out on roads with little traffic that is mostly farmland. There is virtually no cycling infrastructure, so I keep my riding to outside the city.

There are some good wide roads in VA beach, which isn’t far from Norfolk. There is a group I follow on strava that do quite a bit of Cycling between Norfolk and Virginia Beach. I am located in Newport News, about to move to the Williamsburg Area.

Lots of cycling groups to get involved with down that way

That's basically what I have now so I'm ok with that. Thanks for the info! Hope to hear in a week or less about the job.

Based on what my nephew in Virginia Beach tells me, I'd say hot, humid, and flat.

As others have said: very humid, summers are hot, flat as a pancake, little to no cycling infrastructure, and we run into hostile rednecks with jacked up trucks when we ride out in farmland (I've literally had one get out of his truck and try and fight me).
But there are lots of good people and groups to get involved with.

Sounds like it hasn't changed since I was stationed in Fort Story in '95. I didn't have my bike with me then and wouldn't have wanted to ride anywhere around VA Beach although I would've done so on base (not sure if it's still open to the public but it was during my time because of the light house). Some of the roads out to Norfork was quiet but not friendly (no shoulders, narrow lanes, speedy vehicles, etc) and as other pointed out, bridges. Good luck.

Wasn't riding when I lived there back in the 70s, but I don't see Norfolk as that inviting. First, it's surrounded by water except to the east, and as mentioned, even in the city to get out of a neighborhood you have to get on a main road with a bridge. Back then other than the actual Virginia Beach town Va Beach was pretty wide open. Maybe a little built up around Kempsville that was it. Pungo or Princess Anne were really in the middle of nowhere. In the 90s had to go to Dam Neck now and then for work, and couldn't believe how built up it was. Flat as south Florida is true.

scott s.
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While largely flat there are good rides in the area surrounding Norfolk. There is a group called Team Portsmouth the does weekly rides out of Cycle Classics in Portsmouth - nice rides along the Portsmouth waterfront and out into rural Suffolk. They also participate in the Tour de Cure, a charity ride that rides south into North Carolina. Other shops in the area have shop rides. I haven't ridden with the shops for the past year or two for various reasons, but I do regular individual rides in southern Chesapeake. There are loops you can put together and get some real miles in. I don't ride in Virginia Beach but I see a lot of riders out in the rural southern part of the city. There are some new bridges, the Jordan Bridge from Norfolk to Portsmouth and the Veterans Bridge that crosses the Intercoastal waterway in Chesapeake, that offer some serious climbing practice. To the north there are good rides in the Newport News/Yorktown area, around Williamsburg and in and around Richmond (and terrain in these areas can be anything from rolling to hilly. Also, the area on the south side of the James River from Suffolk all the way to Richmond has some good rural roads.

Keep in mind the COVID has caused some shops to suspend rides for now.

I have ridden on to Fort Story to tour the lighthouse several times-- you have to sign in at the guard shack for a visitor pass, and leave your driver's license to pick up when you sign out-- Kind of a pain. When down in VB area we would ride around the Pongo/Back Bay area. Fat Frogs cycling in VB has some good routes on their website, and lots of options for group rides.

Check out Peninsula Bicycle Association PBA. It is sorta divided into local clubs. Some more active than others. On the site under the pull down menu is a page with links to their Facebook sites. Williamsburg has two active groups. Suffolk area has a group. There are some active people connected to the local bike shops. Also there is the Capital Trail from Williamsburg to Richmond. Over 50 miles one way.

https://www.pbabicycling.org/

For more mountain biking there is Eastern Virginia Bicycle Association EVMA. There are links to local trails. The group does trips to the western part of the state.

Edit: The PBA group site has link for suggested routes. If you do Facebook ask over there.

https://www.pbabicycling.org/Facebook-Groups

This one has VB and Norfolk people.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/HamptonRoadsCyclists/

Just 3.5 hours west is Wintergreen Resort and the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s not the Alps, but it’ll unmistakably demonstrate what it means to climb. There are no flat runs; you’re either ascending or descending. The Resort is short, steep, wooded and brutal. The Parkway is open and incredibly scenic with lower gradients that go on and on and on. Traffic is not an issue, but ramps up on weekends.