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Reader’s Digest review of Tom and Chuck’s GAP and C&O bicycle tour
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 Morning Report from the trail’s end
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.
Monocracy Aqueduct
White’s Ferry
Great Falls
Watergate parking lot in D.C.
Morning Report for Friday
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.
Dam 3 Remains on the Potomac
Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia
Lock House 28 @ Point of Rocks
Location:Lock house 28 @ Point of Rocks
Thursday morning report from the fields on Antietam
Good morning from the shores of the Potomac near the Antietam Battlefield in Maryland. Yesterday was a good but often bumpy ride from Fort Frederick. We were challenged by a 6 mile road detour though beautiful rolling farmland. Although beautiful it was tough on hybrid bikes loaded with 50 pounds of gear.
My pal Aaron who took us in last night cycled to Williamsport with us. We had a delightful lunch at Desert Rose Cafe. He turned and returned and we cycled on.
This morning we are off to Harper’s Ferry with Point of Rocks as our final destination of the day. We are approaching D.C.
Aaron and Chuck approaching dam 5
Dam 4 at the end of our road detour
Fort Frederick near Hancock, Maryland
Location:Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park,Sharpsburg,United States
Wednesday Morning Report from the Narrows
Coasting downhill cheered us up as we crossed the Eastern Continental Divide and made the descent into Cumberland through the mountain pass known as The Narrows. Our days of climbing will be replaced with pretty flat Towpath cycling.
We crossed several significant landmarks today. We cycled through the Big Savage, Brush and Borden tunnels. We crossed the Mason-Dixon line to become southerners. The views today were breathtaking.
Enjoy the pics and the video. See you tomorrow.
Eastern Continental Divide
End of GAP in Cumberland
Wednesday Morning Report
Tech Update from the Tour: Prepping the iPhone for touring
Tom's iPhone Apps
I am a techie guy and have been dabbling in social media for several years. It is only natural that I blog about our journey. It became pretty obvious early on that I was going to do this from my iPhone. During the tour I will be posting some tech updates from the trail where I’ll talk about how well my apps and the iPhone are working out for social networking. As I prepare to leave, I thought I would discuss the iPhone and apps that I will use.
Casual Research or Googling…
I’ve been doing casual research on Chuck and my journey. My definition of casual research is Googling bicycling touring, backpack camping, and bike trails. I’ve actually assembled nice list of dependable web resources that have been helping me get up to speed as a novice. I thought I would share them with folks who are considering bicycle touring.
A Wayward Journey
Courtesy of Microsoft Office On-line
People that know me know that I love inspirational stories. I learn so much from the trials and tribulations that others go though and emerge triumphantly and as a better person. I try to reflect that in my blog posts on Beariatric.com. I see my blog as somewhat of a teaching tool. I don’t think my experiences are news shattering, but I think they have some value to other folks on weight loss journeys.
The journey begins… sort of
Image courtesy of Microsoft Office Image Gallery
95 days… It’s hard to believe that Chuck and I will be departing on our Gap/C&O Canal Trail cycling journey in just a little over three months. The constant planner and organizer that I am, I’ve been reading just about any cycling touring journal on the Great Allegheny Passage and the C&O Canal Trail that I can find on-line. I’ve read the official printed trail guide a couple of times. I am becoming more comfortable with the ride as I become more knowledgeable.
This trip has really opened my eyes to touring by bicycle. There are some good web sites where people share their personal touring journals and their knowledge on touring. I like Crazy Guy on a Bike. Although not real glossy, it has some of the best journals. These web-base diaries are perhaps the most helpful thing I have found-to-date on traveling long distance via bicycle. There is nothing like reading a person’s real life experiences on the trail. Most people are brutally honest. I especially like journals where people admit to things they did wrong. It helps me not make the identical mistake.
