Tryon... meh

Dustin and I rode at Tryon Park this afternoon.  We started at the Tryon Road parking lot and rode our own paces with the plan to meet up at the green trail.  Knowing I'd ride faster, my plan was to add the purple loop to my route and then try to catch up.

I didn't really enjoy my ride as much as my recent rides.  I think I forgot how difficult some parts of Tryon are.  I dismounted more often than I like.  I also didn't really feel my strongest.  I've been staying up too late and  haven't been getting enough sleep lately, and today I went to Good Smoke for lunch and ate too much.  Mmmm... brisket burger.

In any case, after getting started in the parking lot Dustin and I separated.  After I rode the purple loop, I got back on course to catch up to Dustin.  Eventually I was at the green trail with no sign of Dustin.  He doesn't know Tryon well, so I figured he had likely made some wrong turns.  We had expected that might happen, but with cell phones we'd reconnect.  Unfortunately he didn't answer my calls.  I rode around the green for a bit and tried calling again.  Nothing.  I decided to backtrack.  I occasionally called for Dustin and tried calling again.

I ended up getting all the way back to the parking lot, and seeing his truck but no Dustin, I decided to head back again, this time taking some of the alternative trails.  Most likely he had tried to ride down some steep hill and fell off a cliff, landing on his back with his feet over his head.  It happens.

But then I wasn't far in when I got a text.  Yay!  He was alive.  Ultimately based on his descriptions of what he saw, I found him.  He had in fact taken a wrong turn, but rode some good trail nonetheless. His phone was just acting up and couldn't receive or make calls, but texts were working fine.  It was time to leave, so we rode back to our cars.

Next time we'll probably park where we can start at the green trail and ride from there.
Muni at Tryon - 2013-06-20 at EveryTrail