Report from the Saddle: Second Bicycle Tour 2015

The Ride is in two distinct parts: the C&O Canal and the Great Allegheny Passage.

Part 1 is along the towpath of the former Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, from Arlington, VA, to Cumberland, MD, a distance of 198 miles, paralleling the Potomac River, the water source for the canal. The towpath was constructed for the mules that pulled the barges along the canal. There are numerous locks to raise the barges from sea level at Washington to 605 ft above sea level at Cumberland, MD. Between locks the path is level. Once outside the environs of Washington, the cycle path is an unpaved “two tract”, wide enough for two bikes to travel abreast. The surface is not smooth, having been invaded by protruding tree roots and featuring numerous “pot-holes”.

This part with the towpath along the canal is the C&O Canal National Park http://www.nps.gov/choh/index.htm. There are numerous Park camp sites and commercial campgrounds along the entirety.

Part 2 is a rail-trail along the former rail bed of one of the lines through the Great Allegheny Passage from Cumberland, Md, to Pittsburgh, PA, an additional 152 miles http://www.atatrail.org/. Partially paved, and smoothly-graded and hard-packed where not paved, the rail-trail climbs steadily from Cumberland to the Eastern Continental Divide, a total climb of 2,392 ft from Washington. From the Divide, it is mostly downhill to Pittsburgh, PA, a net decline of 1670 feet from the Divide.

The total distance cycled from Arlington, VA, to Pittsburgh, PA was 350 mi. over seven consecutive days. And that, folks, is an average of 50 miles cycled per day!

The Tour Company we used is Adventure Cycling Association.

This was a fully-supported ride. There were 37 paying riders from 20 states plus us from Canada. There were seven support staff. We camped in our own tents and sleeping bags that were transported by truck to each campground. Bob Westgate was our Tour Leader. Chris was our luggage handler and truck driver. We rode with an experienced bicycle mechanic, Don. 

Various support roles were pleasantly filled by Sue, Karen, Val, and George. All the staff cycled for on-trail moral support and rotated responsibility for the twice a day “Nutrition Breaks”. There was always a staff member cycling at the end of the pack, to “sweep” the trail for stragglers (often Peter and Catherine) and recover the directional signage. On more than one afternoon we unapologetically used the “Sag Wagon” on the sometimes steep final approach to the campground.

Breakfast and dinner were catered at the campgrounds by Anne and Serge of “Culinary Insider”, traveling with an professional kitchen in an 18 ft trailer. The meals were spectacular, fresh and varied.   http://www.culinaryinsider.com/  

This tour was fast-paced, to put it mildly. In the mornings we followed a 6-7-8 schedule. Up at 6 AM to knock down tents and pack gear for the luggage truck. Breakfast at 7 AM. Make and pack our own lunch. In the saddle by 8 AM. In the evenings it was also a 6-7-8 schedule. Dinner at 6 PM after having set up tents. “Map talk” for the next day at 7 PM. In the tents by 8 PM to sleep deeply after the day's exertion.

Our group included riders more experienced than us. Several of them, even more aged than us, cycle well over 1000 miles per year. We were shamed by their fitness levels and their cycling performance. Their comfortable pace of riding brought them into camp much earlier than us, so they had more time for socializing in the afternoons than us laggards who frequently arrived just in time for dinner. This was our longest ride to date, and we are motivated to improve our fitness year-by-year, so as to increase our enjoyment of such tours as this.  "If we had known that we were going to live this long, we would have taken better care of ourselves."

Our co-rider, Ed Wojtaszek, has posted on his blog, Edek's Attic, a day-by-day description of the ride, ACA C&O Canal and GAP Tour 2015 http://ow.ly/TAvZY. We refer you to his post for that description, which we will not repeat here. Instead, in our post we describe what were highlights of the ride for us.

There was a mass start from the hotel in Arlington. The group rode together to the National Mall for the traditional “start photo” on the steps of The Lincoln Memorial.

Still in the Mall, riders dispersed to various monuments and memorials, including the Vietnam War Memorial, where Catherine is, of course, always drawn to the Memorial to the Military Nurse. This statue portrays two battlefield nurses, with wounded soldier, anxiously awaiting arrival of the medi-vac helicopter.

In the vicinity of Washington, the towpath is busy with walkers, runners, bicyclists, backpackers, and families with dogs and strollers. There was even a group doing Yoga on stand-up paddle-boards in one of the Canal Lakes. It was pleasing to see so many enjoying the Great Outdoors! During the first day, as we pedaled northwest, the towpath traffic thinned out quickly and we soon found ourselves in a more rural habitat.

We enjoyed the remnants of the locks and the well-preserved lock keepers houses, some in very attractive locations between the Potomac River and the Canal.

There was socializing at the Nutrition Breaks and along the towpath at various highlights such as dams, bridges, and aqueducts.

Don drew our attention to a patch of Paw Paw trees with fruit just ripening. Very tasty! Catherine remembers learning the song, "The Paw Paw Patch" as a child.

The ride along the towpath was spectacularly scenic. We pedaled through a lovely hardwood forest, in the early stages of fall colours, often quite close to the Potomac River. By this point the bike traffic was very light, so we often had the forest to ourselves.

It was obvious that the remains of the canal provide a wonderful natural habitat for deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds, turtles, fish, and frogs.

Each evening we re-built our tent city. 

We gathered with beer or wine to share our experiences of the day's ride while dinner was in preparation. There was much conversation of features of bike models, but we still don't know who makes the best shifter! Meanwhile, Don, our mechanic was busy with cleaning, lubricating and repairing bicycles. There were numerous flat tires experienced in our group, but fortunately, our puncture-resistant tires performed as advertised (or we were just lucky).

The Paw Paw tunnel was a highlight. National Park Service Ranger Rita Knox gave us a nice summary of the construction and history of this 3,118-foot (950 m) long tunnel allowing the canal passage through the mountain. We walked our bikes, using head and tail lights, along the towpath through the tunnel as it was too narrow and dark to ride. Just imagine the mule handler and mules pulling the barges years ago, hoping no one is entering at the other end. There must have been some way to coordinate traffic in those days before cell phones!

Among historic sites along the C&O Canal are Harpers Ferry http://www.nps.gov/hafe/index.htm and The Antietam National Battlefield http://www.nps.gov/anti/index.htm . As we have previously visited these sites, we did not linger this time.

The C&O Canal terminates at Cumberland, MD, where we enjoyed a night in a hotel, especially the tub full of hot water! Riders dispersed in small groups to numerous nearby restaurants.

The next morning we made the transition from C&O towpath to Great Allegheny Passage rail-trail. The rail-trail passes through, or near, more communities than does the C&O towpath. These communities provide a multitude of services, including commercial and free campgrounds, bicycle rental/repair, canoe/kayak rental, lodging, grocery stores, and restaurants. The GAP rail-trail would be doable as a B&B to B&B ride.

The first day on the rail-trail was the toughest, an ascent of 1785 feet to the Eastern Continental Divide. Advertised as a “modest” grade, we found it exhausting, and were pleased that the later afternoon was a steady descent to our campground.

There is still much rail traffic close to, sometimes very close to, the rail-trail. In particular, this made for some noisy campgrounds, with trains being made up or passing throughout the night.

However, all the campgrounds were scenic and we had some very pleasant evenings.

Click on this video for a sample of campfire entertainment. Yes, the video is too dark, but the sound track of the live music is terrific.

The scenery along the rail-trail was simply splendid. There were many attractive long views where we rode alone or in small groups. 

There were also lovely forested sections.

Particularly attractive were the numerous rail bridges converted for use by bicyclists. Click on this video for a sample.

Near Ohiopyle, there was a side trip to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home “Falling Waters”, famous for it's spectacular cantilevers over a natural watercourse. The tour of the interior (no photos allowed) was well-presented and highly informative.

http://www.waterlandlife.org/43/fallingwaters

Eventually, we arrived in Pittsburgh, where bikes, luggage and riders boarded trucks and buses for the return to Arlington.

We definitely recommend this ride and, in particular, were pleased to have done the trip with Adventure Cycling Association, which met our expectations in every way. Check out their various tours at www.AdventureCycling.org and consider taking a tour with them. We will again!

"Recreational biking by those over age 50 increased 62% between 2001 and 2009, as compared to a 22% increase in the general population."

Peter Zarzecki and Catherine Gallagher, now wintering in the Eastern Caribbean www.svcharlotted.blogspot.com