Recap: The Bipolar Trail - North Bend Rail Trail
Ashley and I drove from Wheeling, WV to the trail head outside of Clarksburg, WV, a two hour drive. The plan was to ride from Clarksburg to Parkersburg, stay overnight, and return the next day.
The first few miles of the North Bend Rail Trail started out promisingly. From the Wolf Summit eastern terminus the double track trail is comprised of gravel. The trail soon turned into a challenging combination of flooded sections, flooded tunnels, single track, and finally the joy of riding on trail sections completely overgrown by grass (with ruts thrown in to make it interesting). We even interrupted a few people mowing the section of the trail that ran through their back yard.
We also experienced mechanical issues, unrelated to the trail, but none the less frustrating. Several flats and the loosening of the rack attachment points on my Lemond resulted in the rack clanking for 3/4 of the ride were annoyances that we could have done without.
After 29 miles we reached the town of Greenwood (and Ritchie County). The trail finally became what is my definition of a rail trail. Between gravel doubletrack and road width gravel sections the trail condition was looking up. Even the tunnels were in better condition.
We stopped for lunch in Pennsboro. I believe that it was P & H Family Restaurant. Back on the trail it was easier going. Next stop was Cairo, WV. Nice little town. We stopped at the bike store/general store. From Cairo to Parkersburg it is 25 miles. So, we loaded up on water/drinks and set off. As we got closer to Parkersburg the trail parallels the river. The river was up from the rains during the prior week, a lot of debris and very muddy.
The trail ends abruptly at a cross road. There really is no indication that you reach the end of the trail, because it continues on for a ways but becomes impassable. We met some other bikers finishing up their ride and they graciously offered to ride us to our hotel, approximately 10 miles away. If you are planning this ride and are staying overnight expect to travel several miles to accommadations.
On Sunday we headed east on Rt 50, since the motel was right off of the highway, with the plan to head south on some country roads to meet up with the trail. We turned off of 50 after about ten miles. We ran into a climb of 17% which was a little of a chore fully loaded with racks and panniers. Once we reached the top, the road became rollers and had nice scenery. We reached the trail and headed east. Again we stopped in Pennsboro for lunch.
Since we knew the trail conditions we decided to ride as far as possible on the best part of the trail and then finish the ride on Rt 50. With 20 miles left we left the trail and rode Rt 50. It is a divided highway that does allow bicyclists. We did not run into many issues riding on Rt 50 except there are some climbs and no shelter from the sun.
If you are planning to ride the North Bend Rail Trail I would recommend riding a mountain or cross bike with at least 32 - 35mm wide tires. Take a decent light for the tunnels. I had an older Vistalite with AA batteries and it was not enough. The tunnels range from smooth road bed to large gravel. In Doddridge and Harrison counties the tunnels also had drainage/runoff from the rains earlier in the week. The lengths vary from a few hundred feet to over 2200 feet long. We walked through the majority of the tunnels and it definitely added to the ride time.
It is a shame that the state of West Virginia does not embrace ecotourism. The North Bend Rail Trail is a state park, but it seemed as though Doddridge and Harrison counties did not care enough to maintain many sections of the trail. Ritchey and Wood counties seem to understand the importance of trail maintenance and it shows.
UPDATED
The trail conditions from another review in 2003 look pretty much the same except the bridges are completed.
