It’s OK to pamper yourself.
Pumphouse at Homestead
As you read through the posts and watch the You Tube videos from the past week, you can piece together our eight day bicycle tour on the GAP and C&O Canal Trails. We were pretty happy with how things turned out. We tried to prepare ourselves as best we could as novice bicycle tourists. That worked for many situations while others required us to work out issues on the road. The bottom line was that we had a great time and made it to Washington D.C.
On Saturday morning, we left the Waterfront shopping district in Pittsburgh under cloudy skies and began cycling east. The day was pretty uneventful, as was the trail. After passing through urban factory towns of Homestead, Duquesne and McKeesport, we found ourselves in a pretty solitary setting for the rest of the day. We stopped for lunch at the Trail’s Edge in West Newton. We settled in for a nice night at the River’s Edge Campground just west of Connellsville.
Saturday was a casual day for us to celebrate the end of our tour. We rode the Capitol Crescent Trail from Bethesda into Georgetown. Chuck had found directions to milepost 0 of the C&O Canal Trail. We rode right to it. Interesting enough, we were maybe 200 feet from it in the end of ride photo we took on Friday night. It is hidden behind a boat house in the weeds on a small island.
We rode into D.C. and The Mall. It was a busy spot being Independence Weekend. We visited the typical tourist spots including the memorials and the White House. The most significant events of the day were flat tires. Chuck’s bike had two flats. That actually gave us an excuse to enjoy the shade in the hot 90s weather. I found myself cycling back to Georgetown to pick up some tubes for his tires and we were on our way.
It was definitively a different type of day than we have experienced over the last eight days. We were so accustomed to a more solitary life. That was definitely not the case yesterday. Life in Georgetown, Bethesda and Washington D.C. are a far cry from life in Meyersdale, Williamsport and Point of Rocks.
Good morning from Washington D.C. Yesterday was a long cycling day for us. We cycled about 52 miles under a variety of trail conditions. After leaving Lock house 28 at Point of Rocks, we passed through an area of decent trail conditions.
We encountered poor trail conditions with standing water, mud and debris on the trail just east of White’s Ferry. It definitely slowed us down. It was a lonely stretch of trail with few people until we approached Great Falls. The trail conditions became pretty nice as we entered the metropolitan D.C. area. Some of the memorable sights for the day included the Monocracy Aqueduct, White’s Ferry, and the Great Falls Tavern.
We wanted to end the ride symbolically at C&O Milepost 0. Brett was waiting in Georgetown and was unable to find it. We cycled into a very busy Friday afternoon crowd on the waterfront. We soon realized that we needed to find Brett. We cycled to the parking lot adjacent to the Watergate complex where we met him. It was a less emotional end of the journey than I had thought it would be.
Today we will be cycling into Georgetown and The Mall. We plan on looking for milepost 0 and getting that symbolic photo. I hope that you enjoy today’s video and photos.
Thursday was a leisurely cycling day. We cycled 10 miles into Harper’s Ferry. it was a challenge getting the bikes up the iron stairs to cross the railroad bridge to the town. We actually did it easier then we anticipated. We had lunch and an enjoyable afternoon in the historic town.
We next cycled about 6 miIes to Brunswick, a quaint town on the Towpath. We had dinner at Beans in the Belfrey, a coffeehouse in an old church with delicious food. The owner and staff were so cordial and filled our coolers with ice free of charge. We lingered enjoying the conversation and free Wi-Fi,
It was only another 6 miles to our overnight stop, a restored lock house on the canal and Towpath.
Tomorrow morning we make our 48 mile run into Bethesda where we will spend the night before heading into Georgetown. As is custom, here’s some photos and today’s video.
Location:Lock house 28 @ Point of Rocks
