Mountain Biking the Emerald Outback Trail

For Thanksgiving, my wife’s family and I rented a cabin on Beech Mountain in North Carolina, which was great!

What was even better was having a morning out on the Emerald Outback Trail System with some fancy mountain bikes rented from Headquarters Bike & Outdoor. HQ Bike + Outdoor is a really great mountain biking shop at the base of Beech Mountain – they specialize in bikes, gear, repairs and rentals. After chatting with JC (who rented me the bike) I was bit nervous to tackle the trail as he noted that he had to walk his bike through various parts. Not having mountain biked in my adulthood, I was bit terrified hearing that coming from a veteran mountain biker. Regardless, we loaded up the bikes and traveled on.

Below are some shots from the day – we hit every trail except for the West Bowl Connector. And yes, we had to walk the bike through some parts. All in all, a great ride and fun day outside on the trail.