Quote Originally Posted by squirrell View Post
Virginia is about the least bike-friendly state I know of. I'm a native and I'm ashamed of how little my state does to support/encourage cycling. There are few to no trails in the Hampton Roads area and the roads are horribly designed for cars much less bikes.

I'm on the Eastern Shore and rode up into the MD section of the Shore one day and was pleasantly surprised to find very wide shoulders marked "bike trail" on many of the roads or at least nice wide shoulders making it easy to cycle. Cycling from the no shoulder VA section of Rt. 113 into the MD section of what they call Rt. 12 or maybe Rt. 112 (I believe) is like night and day.

I agree about Hampton Roads, but not the whole state. I live in Richmond and while there are not marked bike lanes or paths, the county roads near my house are lovely for riding and I've found drivers polite and considerate (they move over for me). I do alot of riding in the Northern Neck, and enjoy it immensely.

Have you ridden any Bike Virginia rides? They are well-organized and lots of fun and a great way to see different parts of the state (or commonwealth--whatever).

I would love to see Richmond and Hampton Roads take a more active role in planning and constructing bike facilities, though. Hopefully in the coming years, bicycles will be seen as REAL transportation and the transportation planners and policy-makers will build accordingly (not just separte paths, but bike facilites that are integrated into the larger transportation system).