Blue Ridge Country Sept/Oct 2023 - 7

Riding (Farther) to Lunch
THE BEAUTY OF RAIL TRAILS
FROM THE EDITOR
T
hey're a relatively
recent
enon,
rail
phenomtrails.
The
first came
to be in the midwest in the
1960s, but it was not until
1980's Staggers Act allowed
railroads to abandon unprofitable
routes, followed by
1983's amendments to
the
Trails System Act to allow
" railbanking, " that trails along old railbeds
began to proliferate.
Railbanking, according to the Rails-toTrails
Conservancy, is a " voluntary agreement
between a railroad company and a
trail sponsor (such as a trail organization
or government agency) to use an out-ofservice
rail corridor as a trail until a railroad
might need the corridor again for
rail service. "
The happy result, these few decades
later, is more than 2,400 rail trails nationwide,
with more than 25,000 total miles.
Malee Oot's story on page 30 explores
seven of these flat, scenic wonders, including
two in the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's
very select hall of fame-the 34-mile
Virginia Creeper Trail and West Virginia's
78-mile Greenbrier River Trail.
And while Gail and I have biked or
walked on both of those, if we had a vote
we'd nominate Virginia's
River Trail for hall-of-fame consideration.
Our technique for traveling its miles is
akin to our pattern with hikes: The most
important part is where we pause for a
great lunch, whether it's one of Gail's
gourmet home-maders or a stop at a nice
restaurant.
The latter was the focus of our excitement
on our first jaunt on the New River
Trail, a few years back: We'd start at Foster
Falls, ride north just under 18 miles to
Draper, have lunch at the eclectic Draper
57-mile New
CONTRIBUTORS
KURT
RHEINHEIMER
Mercantile and ride back.
Along the way we enjoyed
the flat surface, the
trestles, the nice views of
the river and the properties
along its banks, at
one of which we paused
to admire a beautifully
green lawn with people
unloading stark white
chairs onto it.
A few miles later, we pulled into the exit
spot for Draper Merc, with worry quickly
mounting over what appeared to be an
empty parking lot. Early into a Saturday
afternoon!
We got off the bikes, looked around and
eventually found a sign announcing that
the Merc was closed for the day for a family
event.
Anticipating that wonderful lunch,
we'd carried nothing but water.
Looking at the map, we discerned that
our best and maybe only bet if we wanted
lunch was to continue north for just under
seven more miles to Pulaski.
Now seven miles on a bicycle is certainly
not seven miles on foot, but once you've
done your 17.8, the idea of another seven
before lunch-increasing your round-trip
total from about 36 to about 50-hits a
hungry person a little hard.
We were, in the end, rewarded with
a fine and satisfying lunch in downtown
Pulaski.
And on our return trip, we paused
briefly to watch lots of people in white
and lots of other people sitting in white
chairs apparently celebrating a wedding,
which we've told ourselves ever since was
lovely enough to make up for the extra
distance pedalled and also-true or
not-to assume that the Draper Merc
family had a wonderful celebration on its
closed Saturday.
Angela minor
(Our Signature Trees)
is a contributing editor
and writer of travel
and nature articles for
regional and national
publications. She's the " Park Watch "
Beat Writer for 10,000 Birds; and she
created and authors the Bird Watcher's
Digest state park birding series.
paul woody
(Hitting Apples) is a
Roanoke native who
spent 40 years as a
sports writer, sports
columnist and staff writer
for The Richmond News Leader and
Richmond Times-Dispatch. He covered
everything from high schools to Final
Fours and Super Bowls (24), earning
numerous state and national writing
awards along the way. He is an admirer
of Molly Dugger Brennan's " Mill Creek
Stories " and of her and her husband's
giving so many lost dogs a home.
MAlee baker Oot
(Rail Trails) was born
in Bangkok and raised
partially near Nairobi.
Now based in Northern
Virginia, she seeks out the
East Coast's wild spaces, usually
with her hound dog, Ruthie. Her work
has been featured in Africa Geographic,
Blue Ridge Outdoors, Earth Island
Journal and elsewhere. She spends
her free time hiking, biking and trail
running.
Ray Hardee
(1929-2021)
(F. Scott Fitzgerald),
a lifelong Asheville
resident, loved the history
of the area and spent some
time in retirement as a docent at
the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, where
he enjoyed meeting and chatting
with visitors, including authors Kurt
Vonnegut and Pat Conroy. He swam
almost daily at the Asheville YMCA for
decades, which contributed to living
a robust life until the age of 91. He
passed away January 1, 2021.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 7
Blue Ridge Country Sept/Oct 2023

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