Greenbriar River Trail, West Virginia

It seems that most all of the rides that I have time to get together for with my brother end up being on or around holidays. This one was no different. We decided to meet up in West Virginia for the weekend after thanksgiving, which is half way between us driving. We took two different days to ride the lower part of the Greenbriar River trail. The first day we rode from the south end up about 13 miles and back. It was a good ride. The scenery is very good there since it is a rail to trail conversion which follows the river from north to south. The max grade is about 2% which made for a relaxing yet rewarding ride. It was just steep enough to get a good solid workout but just smooth enough you can rest a little. This is a little off the path for me since my normal ride is single track trails and wooded areas. The second day that we were there, we go dropped off about 30 miles north of the end of the trail. This we did for two reasons: The first being that the grade is mostly down from north to south, and the second being that there are a couple of old train tunnels along the trail and we got to catch one from this starting point. Also along the trails there are camp sites and stopping points where you can get water, use the restroom, or even swing from a tree branch into the river. I have to say that both the rides were good and I look forward to the spring when we plan to ride the entire 70+ miles on this trail. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good weekend ride to take in some fine views.