A bit of The Met Branch Trail is visible in the picture I posted of the rail yard, to the left of the NY Ave. Metro station, Metro is the leftmost rail line in the picture, the trail is left of that. It will make my commute less direct, but I'm looking forward to using that bikeway.
According to what I read online, Jeff and Bryce are planning to follow the Atlantic Coast Bike Route which passes through Richmond. You can email them at flatland2florida@gmaildotcom if you want to offer them a place to spend the night.
I don't know these guys, but I don't think they would be blogging about their trip if they weren't legit. They are trying to raise funds for a skate park in their hometown. They seemed like good people based on our brief meeting.