Tag: #CandOCanal

This posting is a day delayed: I authored the post on our train ride home, but the Jetpack app hung and I lost my work.

Knowing we had a longer day and a train to catch, we got moving at first light and began our journey by headlight at around 6:30. We decided that we wanted to arrive at the National Mall as early as possible for two reasons: first, I’d we had any mechanical issues we would have some buffer time, and second because we wanted to do a little touring of the monuments before leaving.

The weather was nearly epic. We started out in the mid 60s and had no rain. Blue skies kept us company all the way to the end. The only tiny subtraction of epic points was that the sun did get rather hot by the end of the day.

I have biked the C&O three times before this trip. On my previous rides, the surface has been quite bumpy and muddy. The towpath was mostly just two tracks of dirt with a strip of grass between, and puddles… lots of puddles. I was happy to see that large portions of the path are now a groomed surface similar to the GAP. We had a few more miles of the improved surface as we left Brunswick today.

During our previous days, JB would stop and read nearly every historical sign. Knowing we wanted to arrive in DC quickly, we only took 2 longer breaks and skipped most of the signs.

Our first break came at just about 1/3 of our total distance of 20 miles. We stopped at White’s Ferry for a snack break and a short rest. There is a small deli at the ferry dock, but it wasn’t open yet. I’m always taken by the flood markings on this building.

The ferry is supposed to carry cars (and bikes) across to Leesburg, Virginia as it has done for many years. Due to some dispute between the owner of the ferry and the Virginia side, the ferry has no longer been operating. This cuts off one of the only ways to get back and forth across the Potomac for many miles. It effectively eliminates the possibility of a cyclist being able to overnight in Leesburg as I did on a previous trip.

Continuing eastward, we made quick time as the miles counted down. There are mileposts on the C&O that count down to zero when you reach DC. We started making note of them to pace off our remaining distance.

Our second long stop of the day was at the Great Falls overlook, conveniently located about 2/3 of our distance. The Potomac changes from a calm looking river to a massive set of falls in this area. We parked our bikes and walked out the boardwalk to take a look. I haven’t walked all the way to the main falls before and, wow, just wow! It is not only powerful, but very beautiful.

The end was now only about 20 miles away, a relatively short ride. We didn’t stop too many more times along the way, passing more locks and lock houses, birds and bird watchers, deer, and turtles.

I took us onto the Capital Crescent path for the last 3-4 miles. It parallels the C&O but does not end in Georgetown. Instead, we went to the mile 0 marker by meandering along the Potomac and going through the Thompson Boat Center parking lot. (Hint: If you want to find mile 0, you have to go to the boat center and go around the east side of the building!)

After a few snapshots at mile 0, we made our way to the National Mall on the Rock Creek trail, passing the Watergate Hotel, the Kennedy Center, and then arriving at the Lincoln Memorial. We arrive with plenty of time to spare, so after a brief stop we went in search of food. Some local food trucks were up by the Washington Monument, so we stopped there.

After lunch, we made a big loop. First was the Vietnam War memorial, then the Korean War memorial, the World War II memorial, and finishing off with a lap around the Washington Monument. We cruised up the south side of the mall and past Capitol Hill before making our way to Union Station. Stopping at these memorials was more emotional than I expected. I especially recalled my uncle Bill who served in Korea and my Grandpap who served in WW II. Neither died in service, but I felt especially close to both of them as I went to these memorials.

We took turns going into the men’s room to change into our travel clothes before boarding our train. The last time I traveled this route by train, the baggage car for bikes was “walk on” level. This time, we had to hand our bikes up to a luggage carrier who put the bikes into the car for us. Not quite as easy, but not a big deal.

The ride back to Pittsburgh was largely easy and uneventful. Before the sun went down, we were able to see many of the same miles we had just rode on our bikes, often overlooking the trail just a few feet away. It served as a nice recap of the trip.

As I boarded the train, the young man sitting next to me was a refugee from the Middle East. He was on his way to Texas to live with a friend until he could find work. I can’t imagine the stress of moving to a new country, with minimal understanding of the language, and starting anew. He asked me many questions, just trying to understand this new country he’d moved to.

Upon arrival in Pittsburgh, we collected our things and bikes, and rode back to the parking lot to retrieve the car. We stayed at a hotel about 30 minutes south of the city to get a more affordable choice.

I arrived home today in the afternoon and was happy to be greeted by my daughter. I’ve already unpacked, washed my clothes, washed my bike, and put away all of my touring gear. The tour is over and it is time to get back to work!

Day 7 Stats: 62 miles, 0 flats, 0 mechanical issues, and a beautiful day!

Overall Stats: 373.2 miles, 4 tubes, 1 tire, 1 shoe cleat

I hope all of you have enjoyed the virtual travel-along with us. Thanks for tracking along.

Peace,
— Dcn. Matt

We intentionally made this a shorter day so that we would have time to tour Antietam battlefield and Harpers Ferry. Antietam is only about 6 miles from Shepherdstown, so we arrived mid morning after a lazy start.

We started at the visitors center to get an overview of the battlefield and events of that dreadful day when over 100,000 troops clashed and nearly 23,000 men were counted as casualties. Think of that: 23,000 men died or seriously injured as a result of a single day’s battle. It is a very somber place to be. It seems so serene and peaceful today. The visitors center has a very good movie and then the park ranger gave an excellent orientation – each about 30 minutes. I found myself really thinking about how so many human lives were lost. How do we measure the cost of those lost to slavery and its many injustices? How do we measure the cost of those lost to the war? I’m sure it made our Lord very sad to see how we treated our sisters and brothers, and still do in many ways.

The battlefield is not very large when you consider 100,000 troops were in the battle. I imagine it was quite full of people. There is an 8 mile loop that you can drive around the perimeter and down a couple of roads within the battlefield. Along the way there are stops to read various details about the battle. It is the blue route in the map below. We rode our bikes around the loop and stopped a few times to see the details. There are many monuments along the route built to the various battalions that were involved.

It was getting warm and we were ready for lunch, so after completing the loop, we stopped for lunch before heading back to the C&O Canal path and resuming our journey. We arrived at the bridge to Harpers Ferry by late afternoon. We locked up the bikes and walked across into town. We wandered a little while and found a little ice cream shop to get out of the sun. We also found a really neat little shop that has lots of things to support the hikers that are coming through on the Appalachian Trail. We popped in and bought a few Clif bars for our breakfast tomorrow.

After returning to our bikes, we made the last few miles to arrive in Brunswick MD for the night. After getting cleaned up, we all ordered the same thing for dinner: spaghetti and meatballs. It was filling and yummy.

I had my second run-in with the cleat of my right shoe today when riding at Antietam. It was a very good thing I bought spares in Hancock. My right cleat lost a screw and it would have been very difficult to finish the tour without that cleat working. In less than 5 minutes, I had the new cleat mounted and resumed the trip. So, in case you’re wondering, yes, I will always pack a spare cleat or two in my repair kit!

Tomorrow we have a tight schedule. We need to arrive for a 4PM Amtrak back to Pittsburgh. We have 60 miles to go and are conservatively estimating 6 hours at 10 MPH. We talked it over and we’d like to get to the Washington mall as early as possible and then have the time to look around a little. That way, if we have any issues along the way, we have buffer time.

Time to head to bed. It’s going to be an early morning!

Stats for today: 35 miles, +1 cleat replacement, no other issues.

May the Lord shine His face upon you and give you peace.
— Dcn. Matt

Our accommodations in Hancock were definitely sub-par, but we did have a safe roof over our heads. We walked around town last night and noticed how few businesses are left. Hancock’s heyday has long past and I wonder how much longer it might be able to hang on.

We left Hancock to beautiful weather this morning. We finished out the Western Maryland rail trail and jumped back on the C&O Canal a few miles west of Fort Frederick. We went into the fort park for a little visit and wandered around.

Nothing was open, but there was one park employee who answered a few questions as we wandered about.

There’s a common occurrence on these bike trips: we run into the same people over the days. There are 4-5 different groups of people we’ve bumped into more than once. Perhaps the most fun is the “Tiara and Tutus” group of friends. We met them a few days ago and keep crossing paths. This group of friends has been doing the GAP + C&O every year for the last 9 years. They wear tutus and have outfitted their helmets with pipe cleaners and decorations to be “tiaras”. They are a hoot! Every time we’ve seen them, they are laughing and having a great time. I have truly enjoyed crossing their paths because their joy is contagious.

Half way in our ride today was Williamsport. We went into town in search of lunch. After cruising up the street, we decided on “Still Smokin’ BBQ”. It was very good. Fueled up, we set our sites on Shepherdstown.

This next section of the trail is really pretty and the trail surface is uncharacteristically smooth and awesome! I had been told that the Parks service has been resurfacing the trail. We found one of the new sections. This section was so smooth, JB thought it might have been paved. He even stopped to look at it more closely.

There are many really nice views from riding right along the Potomac river. One section of the trail is right on the river itself with a man-made concrete path hugging the wall for a couple of miles.

We arrived at Shepherdstown in the late afternoon. The town is on the south side of the river. To get there, you take a set of switchbacks up to the bridge level, then take the bridge across the river and into town. I’ve been in Shepherdstown before but I didn’t have time to wander around. Our AirBNB is on the east side of town, so we took a slow roll through the college campus and enjoyed it. This is a really nice town with a very funky vibe. A mix of historical buildings with a hip college town.

After getting scrubbed down, we decided on a local taqueria. I got a fantastic burrito and it really hit the spot. After dinner, we took a big walk around town to stretch our legs.

Laundry done, belly full, blog done, and bed made for tonight. It’s time to turn in! Tomorrow we have a shorter day. We’ll spend time touring Antietam, Harpers Ferry, and wherever we wander along the way. We should be about 35-40 miles, leaving enough time to see things and let our legs regroup a little before our last day of 60+ miles in to Washington DC.

I also want to give a shout-out to some friends from Indiana who are on a quest to finish out their 50-state map of places they’ve cycled. They’re currently in New Mexico having a great time on two wheels. You may want to check them out at: keepcalmandpedalonblog.com!

Stats for Today:
Miles: 56
Mechanical issues: 0
Flats: 0

One last thought: two of my friends have lost parents in the last week. Hug your kids and let your parents know you love them. Mom & Dad – I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for me over the years. I love you both very much.

Peace!
— Dcn. Matt

Yesterday we finished the GAP part of our trip and today we began the C&O Canal towpath. It rained a lot last night and I was anticipating the C&O path to be very muddy with lots of puddles. It certainly was muddy, but not as bad as previous times I’ve been on the canal.

The C&O is much more rustic than the GAP. I’ve heard that they’ve done some significant work on the path down towards D.C. but for the most part, the towpath is packed mud with some patches of light gravel. My recollection was that this first 60 miles heading east were the worst. It honestly wasn’t too bad. I was covered in light mud by the end of the day, but it was not nearly as bad as some previous rides.

There are not many towns between Cumberland and Hancock, so if you travel this way, make sure to bring plenty of water and food to get you past those 60 miles.

About mid way is a town called Paw Paw, WV. I had arranged to meet a fellow rider from Paw Paw along the way. He is a volunteer for the National Parks and lives in Paw Paw. When we found him, he introduced himself and shared some local Paw Paw fruits with us, teaching us how to open and eat them. I enjoyed the fruit. It tasted like a mix between a cantaloupe and mango. I tried find a few more ripe ones, unsuccessfully.

Before reaching Paw Paw, we had to navigate over three downed trees. We helped lift each others’ bikes over the large trees and resumed our travel.

The Paw Paw tunnel is located on the north edge of the town. It was built to take the canal through a mountain instead of going around. The project was much bigger than anticipated and it took nearly 14 years to complete. Over the last few years, the National Parks engineering team was doing a scaling project just outside the south entrance to the tunnel and had the towpath blocked off. I have not done the detour, but I’ve heard that it can be challenging. Fortunately, they just finished and reopened the towpath a few weeks ago! So we were able to go through the tunnel without the bypass!

Dan bid us a farewell as we pointed towards Hancock. The next stop along the way is the tiny town of Little Orleans. I sort of remember looking it up a few years back and seeing that the population was less than 40 people. We stopped at “Bill’s” place – a little biker and bicycler place that serves food, drinks, and some basic groceries. I picked up some sweet teas and a bag of chips to tide me over. There’s a tradition of putting a dollar bill on the ceiling at Bill’s place. Someplace on the ceiling, I have two bills. I couldn’t find either of them today – perhaps I’ll have another trip here and more time to look.

My bike had been collecting a lot of mud under the fenders so I was happy to clear some of the mud and then we joined up with the Western Maryland rail trail. This paved path parallels the C&O from a few miles east of Little Orleans all the way to Fort Fredrick. JB felt like it was cheating to jump off the C&O, but I welcomed the non-muddy surface for the 14 miles into Hancock. Flat digital Billy made a few appearances as well, including tumbling down a fallen rock zone. Poor Billy…

I also saw this super cool little guy along the trail. He seemed completely nonplussed about us. He didn’t move an inch while we took pictures.

I had my first mechanical failure of the ride today right after getting on the WM trail: the cleat on my right shoe was twisting. One of the two screws had backed out of my shoe. It made it rather hard to get it out of my pedal! Once we freed it up, I was able to screw it back in and resume. I also decided to buy a spare set of cleats to put in my spare parts kit – it hasn’t been on my packing list prior, but I realized today that if I had lost a screw, it would be very difficult to pedal. So when we got to Hancock, I purchased a spare set just to be safe.

We arrived in Hancock in the early afternoon. A beautiful day of riding in the books. We hosed our bikes down at the local bike shop. Wow, so much mud. We arrived at our AirBNB and settled in. I’ve stayed at my fair share of AirBNBs – this one was the only place I could find with availability. Uh, let’s just say it was cheap and leave it at that…

Dinner at a local place was good and now we’re ready for bed. Tomorrow’s destination: Shepherdstown WV.

Today’s Stats: 61 miles. No rain. One loose cleat. No tubes or tires used.

May the Lord grant us, and you, a restful night and a peaceful death. Amen.
— Dcn. Matt