Ride the Trail and Help the American Lung Association

Have you ever wanted to ride the entire Greenbrier River Trail? Well, on Friday May 13^th there starts a three day trail ride to support the American Lung Association in West Virginia.

Chaste Barclay of the Lung Association explains about the race.

“It is the biggest fund raiser in West Virginia for the American Lung Association” said Barclay. “This will be our 29^th year on the Greenbrier River Trail. It’s a three day- one hundred mile ride. We start at Cass and ride all the way through Caldwell and actually double back on one section to get the even 100 miles.”

Chaste explains who the participants are.

“We have people coming from all over, about 6 or 7 states are represented” Barclay says. “A lot of people who support the American Lung Association here in West Virginia come. I think we have around 95 riders registered right now. Typically we have right around 100. And then about 20 different folks from that area help us out –volunteering and just supporting the riders. Each rider is paying a registration fee of $50.00 and then they are asked to raise a minimum of 500 dollars in pledges. All go towards supporting the American Lung Association.”

The Lung Association provides a lot of services to the riders, as Chaste explains.

“We make all transportation arrangements for your bikes and gear” Barclay says. “We make all the lodging arrangements for the hotels and we do camp one night at the Greenbrier Youth Camp at Camp Anthony. All meals, lodging and transportation are included from Thursday, May 12^{th –} that evening until Sunday, May 15^th. We have breakfast that day and then everyone departs the event at the end of their run on Sunday afternoon. Usually we finish up around noon or 1 (p.m.)”

Chaste talks about the support provided on the trail.

“We have Medics that ride with the Trek” Said Barclay. “We have a couple of mechanics that also ride with the group to help with flat tires or any pretty minor repairs that might be needed on the trail. We also have what we call a side wagon that follows the last rider on the trail and if anyone is struggling or having trouble or wants’ to stop for the day, they can put their bike on the car and hop into the car and they will be taken back to the hotel or the camp for the night.”

A good description of each day of the event is provided by Chaste.

Thursday (evening) we meet and everyone parks their car and brings their gear to the Greenbrier Youth Camp” says Barclay. “And then we transport everyone to the Inn At Snowshoe. On Friday morning, Snowshoe helps us with shuttles and we shuttle over to the trail at Cass and you ride from Cass to Marlinton, which I believe is 34 miles on Friday. We store the bikes at the ARC Building in Marlinton on Friday night –so everything is secure and locked up. And we go back to the hotel, spend the night there Friday night, and then Snowshoe shuttles us back over on Saturday morning and then we hop on the bikes and ride to Camp Anthony, where everyone spends the night and then they finish the ride on Sunday. The last 22 miles they will ride from Anthony to Caldwell and back. And that’s what gets you your 100 miles. And then everyone is there with their car and can leave whenever they are finished.”

So, if you are interested in participating, Chaste explains how to sign up.

“They can call me here at the American Lung Association” says Barclay. “And that number is 304-342-6600, and my name is Chaste Barclay. Or they can go to the website and sign-up directly at the website which is www.lunginfo.org\trek.”