![Virginia Capital Trail map [Rails to Trails]](https://philriggan.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/railstotrails_vctmap.jpg?w=300&h=192)
Virginia Capital Trail map [Rails to Trails]
As a rider on the trail, I’ve been more of a tourist than purely out for a ride. I’ve toured much of the 52-mile trail along Route 5 by car, but I’m fascinated by the possibilities for new perspectives from the seat of my bike. Clearly, I’m not alone, as the trail is bringing people by the thousands out for a spin (see numbers the VCT’s daily counter).
Filed under My life
Credit: Leslie Kehmeier
The Richmond region is a great place to ride a mountain bike. We’ve got huge parks with trails. We’ve got small parks with trails. We’ve got trails along both banks of the James River. We’ve got trails in the urban core of the city and plenty out in the counties too.
REI’s MTB Project sent writer/photographer Leslie Kehmeier to Richmond to find out what we’re all about for their Epicenter series, which was “created in partnership with PeopleForBikes, is a series highlighting communities that have invested in cycling infrastructure and grown into full-blown mountain bike destinations as a result.” Continue reading
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Credit: Dana Carolyn
The November 2016 issue of Planning magazine had a detailed and well-written article entitled “Bikes Across America” about the efforts to build a national cycling network across the United States.
Now that I’m a transportation planner at the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission, I can see how much coordination and work is behind this type of tall task. A national bike network will take decades to complete, but each locality and region can help speed things up with incremental improvements. Continue reading
Filed under Urban Planning
For the past couple of months, I’ve been hiking all over Central Virginia. My wife and two children have joined me several times, visiting some old favorites and several new ones, including some fantastic Virginia State Parks.
I love the outdoors, but this is “work,” as I’ve signed on to write a revision of the great book 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Richmond by Nathan Lott and published by Menasha Ridge Press.
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At long last, I finally read Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail. Since it was published in 1998, it only took me about two decades to check it off my reading list.
Bryson’s story telling was fantastic. It was easy to get a sense that for some the Appalachian Trail is a form of sadistic torture for those who have attempted to hike 2,200 miles up and down hundreds of mountains for weeks and months on end. Continue reading
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Rumble strip on NC 345 near Wanchese, N.C.
Have you ever drifted off the road while driving down a highway and been jolted to attention by quick bumps and a loud humming sound? Those were rumble strips, and they may have saved someone’s life.
According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, rumble strips cost between $7,000-$12,000 per mile. The estimated crash reduction varies between 36-64 percent. The Federal Highway Administration considers it to be a proven safety countermeasure. Continue reading
Filed under Urban Planning
This past week, my Why, Richmond, Why?!? column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch answered a reader question about the John Smith Trail in Richmond. I was a little curious too and took to my bike on a 30-mile ride to explore it a little more closely.
We’ve got all kinds of trails in Richmond these days. The Virginia Capital Trail, Garden Trail, Liberty Trail and even an RVA Beer Trail. None of them has been around as long as the John Smith Trail. Continue reading
Filed under Urban Planning
Phil Riggan 