GAP & C&O Trail Day 7

The Gang of Eight are officially a rock band because they are all Rock Stars after today.  They literally rose to the challenge of a long 65 mile day by rising out of bed early for a 7:30am start to get to DC before the rush hour traffic to our hotel across town.

The early morning sunrise lit up the Potomac as we made our way up the train trestle yet again to get back to the C&O trail which was now also the Appalachian Trail to be shared with backpackers.  

The steps back to the trail were easier and quicker to manage going down this time by modulating our front wheel brake on the steps in a slowly controlled fall. Luckily none of us fell!

We had some beautiful views of the still Potomac and the opposing woods to the south.  

Our first of 2 stops with expected services was Whites Ferry, the last operating ferry on the Potomac.  Far above Chester you can see the high water marks of floods in 1972, 1985 and 1992.  Unfortunately the historic ferry was forced to shut down when a hedge fund bought the land on the Virginia side of the river and wouldn’t allow them to continuing using it as they had since the late 1700’s.

 

We had quite a few detours and construction zones today.  This one appears to be particularly worrisome for Donna!

Terry and Chester wait patiently to pass the bulldozers and workers who are applying and compacting a new surface. While the trail surface was generally very good today, about 10 miles of the last 15 of the day were rough with small and large stones and certainly could use some rework.  

A narrow passage by a one of two dump trucks along the way.

Our 2nd and last stop with services was thought to be Great Falls about 50 miles into the ride but the concession stand was shut down for the season. However the falls themselves did not disappoint at all.  They were amazing and a huge juxtaposition to the mostly calm and slow moving river we’d been following for the last 150 miles. 

By 3pm we had all arrived in DC and unanimously decided that ice cream was called for on this warm autumn day before we trundled a few miles across DC to our hotel.  Annette and Terry would depart the Gang of  Eight to their B&B to the east of the capital so we said our good byes and congratulations and parted. 

It was an exciting trip across town as I tried to use my Google Maps to get us safely to our hotel.  Somehow we made it safely with only one lost soul separated from the group. Angela was cut off at a light by car turning left a few blocks from the hotel and lost site of us and bad husband me never noticed until after I checked us in.  She used her phone to MacGyver her way back to our bosom and we had a relaxing and tasty dinner at the Diplomate with Len and Chester before crashing for a good nights sleep. 

GAP & C&O Trail Day 6

You know it’s gonna be a good day when you find a bathroom in the first 30 or 40 minutes of starting your ride!!!

The trail has been good to us this morning.  Especially this 4 mi section of the C&O where the canal actually diverges into the Potomac River and they dug out the mule trail from the bluffs to the left.   It was smooth and the river view, so seldom seen closely by us, was in its glory. 

The canal rout diverts back to its canal just ahead of Dam #4 which also included a power house. 

About 25 miles into our day we detoured onto these things called “roads” about 3 miles to pay a visit and respects at Antietam. 

We had had a great morning of riding and a visit to Antietam was a nice break as well as historic. 

We watched a “Talk with a Ranger” on the battle and watched about a 30 minute movie on the strategies and criticality of this area in the Civil war, including Harpers Ferry. Approximately 23,000 men died in the one major day of the battle on September 17, 1862.  The battle was back and forth but in the end, out numbered 2 to 1 to the Union, Robert E. Lee was forced to retreat across the Potomac in a significant and strategic loss to the Confederates cause. 

After a convenience store lunch in Sharpsburg, we rode on to our accommodations in Harpers Ferry where we are forced to hike our bikes up some steep and spirally stairs to an old train trestle across the Potomac. Sue is happy she has nothing to carry up this last trip!


Angela crosses the Potomac with Harpers Ferry in sight. 

Five of us who weren’t still too full from lunch walked about a mile to The Rabbit Hole Gastro Pub for fine dining on the patio overlooking the town and the train station.  Another good day on the trail. Tomorrow we finish in Washington, DC!

GAP & C&O Trail Day 5

The “Beauty Spot of Maryland” didn’t disappoint with its sunrise spectacle over the clouded valley below. 

Lisa at the Town B&B served a spectacular breakfast buffet for us on this splendid Sunday morning and lots of valuable info and suggestion for our ride today.  Great host!

So we’d been hearing from others on the trail, our first day in the C&O would be the worst part of the trail and it would be much better as we go towards DC and it exactly was!  Much smoother and almost no mud. 

I’ve seen several of these aqueducts along the canal and I’m amazed every time at the challenge of building a long distance waterway across other bodies of water.  It’s amazing what great shape the structures are 160 years later.  

Len, Terry and Annette ride along on another blue sky day.  Lots of people out and about on the trail enjoying the weather and views.  

Even the local old and overweight dogs were out enjoying a stroll. 

A little after 11 we arrive at the Hancock C&O Bike Shop where busy and able handed Paul replaces my spoke and re-trues the wheel. He also sold us a lot of nice merch.  In an hour we had things fixed, things bought and food ordered to go for our upcoming picnic lunch. 

This AM Lisa had suggested Fort Frederick, about 10 miles past Hancock would be a nice place to picnic so we turned out our take-a-way lunches in the shade at the 280 year old and greatly restored Fort Frederick.

There was a beautiful place to stop at the Potomac Dam 5 built in 1830 to hold back water for the C&O canal.  We’ve been following the Potomac today and will continue to the rest of the way to DC. 

We rode into our destination for our night in Williamsport around 4 as Annette leads us to our Bayfarm B&B.  It was a great, central location with several restaurants walkable. 

The 3rd Base Bar across the street was our closest place for Annette and I to get some Yuenglings to celebrate the day with.  Well Mike here took right to us, helps us find our beer and orders us up the official drink of the house, the Horse Killer. After we drank it we were invited to sign our name anywhere on the wall or ceiling with hundreds, if not thousands of other names and we did so. The people we meet continue to be fun and nice to us. 

Unfortunately it’s Sunday so our only choice for dinner tonight was Tony’s. However the menus, food and services were excellent and we had a great dinner and sauntered back to our B&B to rest our weary bones and full tummies.  

GAP & C&O Day 4

SLIP SLIDING AWAY… our first day on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal path was filled with lots of surprises, challenges, good times and a fair amount of mud. 

The Erie Canal is no longer a canal but a series of very long stagnant ponds separated by dirt.  It’s good to see Len feeling his oats again as he leads the way into the morning dew. 

Angela coasts down one of the many old canal locks remnant structure. 

Chester hurries down the path, trying to catch his brother Len. 

Sue waves to get Angela’s attention to ask if there’s a nearby restroom. 

Len struggles to stay ahead of Donna as she presses him to go faster with her smile.  

The trail mud was a little rough on our bikes and my brand new ‘Scott’ Colorado license plate. 

The roots, rocks and sticks were especially tough on my wheels today, breaking one of my rear spokes.  I thought I could replace it

myself 12 miles down the road at our B&B but it looks like the cassette and maybe the disk will need to be removed first, more than I can handle with my tool kit. I’ve got 35 more spokes left to get me to the next bike shop. 

The ugly mouth of the Paw Paw Tunnel, 3300 feet of dank darkness along the canal.  I had thought we could ride our bikes through it but weekend walkers and the very uneven path surface encouraged us to walk instead. Glad we did. 

After about 15 minutes we entered into the day again.  

While I couldn’t use my tools to repair my spoke I could use them to remove Angela’s mangled front fender.  Somehow she caught a good size stick between the wheel and the fender, locked up her wheel, and destroyed the mounting hardware.  She’ll be traveling just a little bit lighter now. 

45 miles later at the end of our day we make it to the only place I know of where we can get dinner before we get hauled up to the Town B&B 7 miles away.  Bill’s place is infamous as a biker bar but apparently they welcome cyclist too!  Jack, who is the new Bill, told me 37 real “bikers” had just left on their Harley’s a few minute before we arrived.  I was glad because I didn’t want our spandexed appearance to make them feel uncomfortable! 

We had our fair share of Yuenglings and food to get us though the night, and a good time too. 

Oh yea, I almost forgot to mention, Angela had a little spill down the slope towards the river as she was avoiding one of the many mud puddles today. The grassy edge on the side of the path where she went to avoid the mud quickly gave way to a slippery slope that tossed her off her bike. She’s a tough woman, and with the help of the Gang coming behind her. gathered her wits, her scattered parts and pieces and headed on down the trail.  

We had to separate our group to squeeze into the shuttle and therefore had to leave some people behind until the next shuttle.  Len and Terry didn’t seem too happy about waiting?

All’s well that ends well as we have a beautiful sunset view of the valleys from whence we came.  

And the night ended well with card playing, lots of laughter and getting to know other cyclists on there own GAP/C&O journey.  

The GAP & C&O Trail Day 3

We say good bye to Francis on the porch of her Hanna House B&B and start our 60+ mile day to Cumberland, MD.  

We had a beautiful day to ride into, lots of blue skies, mild winds and temps in the low 60’s for most of the morning.  We’re looking over the trestle to our latest river to ride alongside, the Casselman. 

Back in Confluence Larry told us they had a couple of smallish tornadoes about a month ago that chewed up a lot of the forrest but the volunteers and the county had done a great job of clearing and repairing the path. 

For lunch we swarmed into the G.I. Dayroom and Coffee shop in Myersdale for an old style, down home lunch.  They even had Jello salad with whip cream like our moms & grand moms made. I’m guessing that the G.I. in the name might stand stand for “Geriatric Infirmary Dayroom” because a good part of the “regular” clientele looked much older than our crew!

The ever present thick forests that limited our long views the last two days are starting to give way to more agricultural land and panoramic vistas like this one. 


On our trip we have one major goal, to ride to Washington, DC but we have lots of less ambitious ones that just get us through the day or the even next hour, like where are we having lunch today.  One significant interim  goal was to climb to the Eastern Continental divide.  You can see by the way we have overwhelmed the tunnel, which marked the divide, with our bodies scattered over the trail in celebration and talk with other cyclists we are excited. 

Just a few short miles (downhill!!) after the Divide we come upon the marker for the intersection of the GAP with the 233 mile long Mason-Dixon Line that was measured and marked every mile in the late 1700’s. Mason’s skill was surveying the sun and stars and Dixon’s was the traditional surveyor. Their story and the story of the Penns and Calverts dispute about what was the demarcation between present day Pennsylvania and Maryland is an amazing story. Donna decides to not pick favorites and puts her bike squarely on the surveyor chain that marks the line.  

Our blue skies and early stages of autumn leaves continues throughout the afternoon  

By 4:30 we had reached our interim goal, to ride the 150 miles from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland and Mile 0 of the GAP where we now stand.  The GAP has been a great ride and also a great time!! Tomorrow we embrace the C&O Canal Tow Path to DC. It should be interesting!