Getting around Mathews County by Bicycle
Mathews County has several dedicated bicyclists who ride for work, errands and pleasure on county roads on a regular basis. In general, there seems to be some agreement about the best routes for getting to and from the various outlying areas of Mathews County to “downtown” Mathews.
The first rule of thumb is that Route 14 is a little safer to ride on than Route 198, though both are passable for someone who is experienced at riding with traffic. The traffic speeds on both roads tend to be high and there are no bicycle lanes. It is just easier for automobiles to pass on Rt. 14 so the frustration level doesn’t rise as high in drivers who must tail a bicycle for awhile. Also, the shoulders are a little more forgiving on Rt. 14 for those times when it really is necessary to bail out and give up the road to someone who decides to pass other cars and your bicycle at the same time or just seems to forget that passing a foot or so off your left side might be risking your life on the off chance you weren’t paying attention or happened to hit an object in the road.
There is good reason to ride Route 14 from Mathews Court House to Foster. A left turn at Foster puts you on the roads around Mobjack, several interconnecting loops with low traffic counts that are usually a nice riding experience and provide 15 to 20 miles of cycling without too much overlap.
Most of the bicyclists I know avoid Route 3 between Dutton and Rt. 14 entirely. An alternative route if you have to get from the Cobbs Creek/Dixie region to Rt 14 is to travel down Route 198 into Gloucester County and to turn left on Burkes Pond Road and follow it to Route 14.
Pretty much the entire area East and South of the Courthouse area is OK for bicycling - the roads can be narrow and the ditches can be deep but the traffic count is generally low and most drivers are pretty good about bicyclists on the back roads. Riding from the Courthouse to New Point Comfort lighthouse is a beautiful ride, especially if you head towards Moon and take in the beaches along the way. The new Wayne Hudgins memorial pavilion at the Bayside park is a great place to stop and see the lighthouse views. Don’t ask a native which way to the water, though — in Mathews County if you head down almost any side road you are going to find water. You might have to turn around and backtrack from there but the view is usually worth it.
There are publicly available toilet facilities at the new Courthouse complex, at the old Courthouse green, at several of the restaurants and fast food spots (OK, we really only have Hardees and Subway for fast food chains), at Food Lion, as well as at Williams Wharf (not reliably) and many spots along the way for the more adventurous who find a nice size tree adequate cover. Watch out for poison ivy. We have lots of it.
Bicycle racks are few and far between in Mathews. There are bike racks at the Mathews Memorial Library if you feel a strong need to chain your bicycle. Bicycle theft isn’t a big problem in Mathews County and most of us feel OK about leaving our bicycles outside the grocery store or a local restaurant when necessary.
If you want to ride with a group the first time around, there is a regular ride from Liberty Square (the new courthouse complex) on Sundays starting at 2 PM. Usually there are riders who want to go various speeds and distances and the group adjusts to accommodate everyone whenever possible — a slow group and fast group might form, some folks leave the longer rides at easy points for returning back to the courthouse, etc.