The Greenbrier River Trail runs 78 miles from Cass, WV at the northern end to just outside of Lewisburg, WV at the southern end. From Cass it drops 732 feet to the southern end. This amounts to less than 1% grade. It is a multiuse trail with campsites and comfort stations along its length. The surface is mostly two track packed dirt with asphalt paving near the town of Marlington.
There are mile markers every mile starting with 4 on the Lewisburg end. Future plans are for the trail to extend into Lewisburg, thus the start at 4. The trail is operated by the West Virginia state park system. The trail includes two tunnels and 78 bridges. The Sharp's tunnel is 511 feet long followed by a 299 feet long bridge. This is at MM 65.2. The Droop Mountain tunnel at MM 30.9 is 402 feet long. This tunnel includes a bend so you won't see the opposite end until part way through. I suggest lights for both tunnels.
A somewhat unique feature is the "hump" at MM13. This is the result of a landslide in June of 2016. With a history of landslides in this area it was decided to not clear the slid and simple route the trail over the top of the slide.
I cycled the trail over three days supported by Wilderness Voyageurs outfitters. Our guides were Kathy and Gary.
I
was in San Antonio many years ago but only had a couple of hours to explore the
riverwalk. My wife had never been there, so we decided to spend a few days
there to explore the riverwalk and other nearby sights. We walked around the
riverwalk loop, ate along the river and generally explored the riverwalk. Texas
was a state I had never ridden in so I planned to ride along the riverwalk while
we were there.
The
next full day was planned for riding. My wife doesn’t ride much so she explored
the Alamo while I rented a bike a rode the southern part of the riverwalk where
bikes are allowed. I found a bike rental along the riverwalk that was less than
a mile from our hotel. I walked there, rented a hybrid bike and was off.
I
was wearing my helmet mount video camera to record my ride for my YouTube
channel. One drawback of my GoPro camera is poor battery life. As a result, I
generally only record highlights along the way. At about 3 or 4 miles into my
ride I encountered an interesting bridge for the trail to cross a small stream.
I decided that I would back up the trail to record the approach in addition to
the bridge itself.
When
I made my second U turn, I reached up to start my camera. Coming out of the u
turn with only my left hand on the handlebars I wanted to go slow. It was a downhill,
so I applied the brakes-with my left hand. The combination of using the front brake,
a less intuitive sense of the rental bike, the distraction of turning on the
camera and the turn resulted in me going over the handlebars.
I rolled
when I hit the ground and did not hit my head-I was wearing a helmet, always
do. I was a bit sore but not overly so. The bike was undamaged, so I continued
riding for another couple of hours. Near the end of the ride, I was starting to
feel it. Once I returned my rental bike I elected for an Uber instead of
walking back to the hotel.
Once
back at the hotel I showered and went for a slow walk to a nearby restaurant
for dinner. From the pain I figured I had bruised or broken a rib. I knew from
experience that doctors don’t do much for this injury except for some pain
meds.
The
next morning I was intermittently getting excruciating pain. It was time for
some medical care. My wife asked the front desk at the hotel about the nearest
emergency room. The clerk directed her to a particular hospital. We put the
hospital into Uber app and it came up as a children’s hospital. Went back to
the clerk who assured us that they had an adult wing.
When
we arrived at the hospital, we found out that they didn’t have that adult wing
as of 10 years ago. Nevertheless, they did an initial evaluation, gave me some morphine
and arranged transport to another hospital. I found out the other hospital was
not the nearest hospital, rather the nearest trauma center. The transportation
was an ambulance.
Upon
arrival a team of medical people descended upon me. One person was asking how
the accident happened. While the answer was being recorded another person was
asking about my medical history. At the same time someone was checking my
spine, someone else was starting an IV and another was taking an EKG. I am not
even sure what others were doing but there were about ten people working on me simultaneously.
After several exams, CAT scans, blood tests and other stuff it was concluded I
had two mildly displaced rib fractures with muscle spasms around the break. After
muscle relaxers, pain meds, an overnight in the hospital and much pleading they
allowed me to leave to catch my flight home.
I
crashed before getting the camera turned on, so I don’t have video from the
crash. In retrospect I think my broken ribs were from the end of the handlebars
hitting me after the fall. After years of riding this was the first fall that
required medical attention. Hopefully it will be the last.
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