One article in my Google Alerts, about a two-mile section of a Virginia trail called the Seaboard Coastline Trail, sends me down a rabbit hole.
It’s a trail I hadn’t heard of, in a town called Suffolk, in a part of Virginia I’ve never visited, so of course I want to know where it is and whether it’s part of the East Coast Greenway‘s coastal route (I think so, because another part of the trail is). To boot, this year’s week-long fundraising ride for the East Coast Greenway is mostly in Virginia.
But it gets better. Another article says the trail will eventually be 11.5 miles long and part of something bigger called the South Hampton Roads Trail, eventually a 41-mile trail between Suffolk and Virginia Beach. This same page from the regional planning commission describes two other trails that will go through the area, including one called the Beaches to Bluegrass Trail (B2B) that will traverse the entire state. And it’s supposed to be more than 400 miles long, though not necessarily all trail. It’s seen as one of six trunkline trails in Virginia (the East Coast Greenway is another).
The conceptual plan for that one was finalized late last year. Now I know these things take an awfully long time before they become reality. But linking trails makes each one more powerful — and would get someone like me to spend more time exploring the state on a bike (and boosting small-town economies.) I’ll be watching for updates and one day planning my ride.
Exploring by bicycle 
One problem I’m not sure that Hampton Roads leaders have discussed or figured out–how cyclists can cross Hampton Roads itself. It’s a huge body of water with only three crossings, and two prohibit pedaling across. If you’re in Hampton, how do you get to Norfolk, other than putting your bike on a bus? Seems like that answer is a long way off.
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