Happy. Healthy. Heathen.

Home again, home again, jiggety jog…

Just wanted to do one last posting for the conclusion of our bike ride.  We’re back home now, back to jobs, home, asphalt, and wanted to wrap up our postings of our Ride 09:  Pittsburgh to DC.

We left our hotel in Georgetown Monday morning with a pretty weak plan:  Ride around town, find mile marker zero on the canal, see the sites at the mall, come up with bike boxes, ride to the airport, fly home.  Notice anything wrong with that plan??  Maybe the “find the bike boxes, ride bikes to airport” part?  How big is a bicycle box?  Remember the pictures from the beginning of the trip?  Coincidentally, you can fit a bicycle into a bike box, so riding with one balanced on one’s bike might not be the best idea…

Jesse spent the morning SHOWERING the bikes in the hotel room shower (true) and Gayle spent the morning, ummm, seeking and finding a Starbucks coffee shop (true).  As a side note, let me just tell you, our bags/dirty laundry REEKED.  We’d even done laundry at the halfway point, but we were still pretty stinky.  Too bad for the people downwind of us, and next to us on the airplane.

We found the historical marker in Georgetown,

and Mile Marker Zero (hint:  it’s very near the Watergate Hotel and the Kennedy Center)

Then we zipped into DC for the obligatory sights:

Then, because, believe it or not, Jesse had never been to Arlington, across the Lincoln Memorial Bridge we went.

By now we’ve called a bike shop or two and struck out finding boxes…why, there’ll be some at the airport we can buy, of course.  So off we go on the Mt. Vernon Bike Trail which leads straight into the Reagan National Airport – kinda cool.

Anyway , in the interest of making a long story longer, no bike boxes at airport.  Get out the handy iPhone, start calling bike shops, find one nearby with boxes, Jesse starts disassembling bikes, Gayle gets taxi to shop, shoves 2 full-size bike boxes into small-size taxi (!), pack up bikes, get on flight to BNA via ATL, fly two legs, drive home, crawl ever so gratefully into bed.

All in all, fabulous trip.  Would we do anything differently?  Minor things:

 if you must start from the Pittsburgh airport, enjoy the Montour trail with all its imperfections.  If you have sag support, or the ability to begin at a different location, lop off those 45 miles and begin in the town of McKeesport, Pennsylvania on the Great Allegany Passage.  That’s a great trip by itself (3 days). 

If you want to, go ahead with the 3 days on the C and O Canal Towpath, but be prepared for lots and lots of mud and harder effort.  If you want just the flavor of the trail, just do the last 60 of the 180 mile trail, starting in Harper’s Ferry, coming into Washington DC, seeing the working lock, the Great Falls, etc.

The Continental Divide cuts the trip in about half, and the smartest of riders would begin at the Divide and go one direction, the get sag support back to the Divide and go the other direction – all downhill!!

Happy Trails!!

Thanks for reading!

We are here.

What a day today was! 

We started out bright and early, mostly because of the extra hour of sleep (!), and as we left Harper’s Ferry and had to cross the Potomac and go down the spiral staircase with the bikes.

We had breakast in a little town, Brunswick, MD, where they were setting up for the Veteran’s Day Parade.  We couldn’t hang around til noon, so off we went.  We got to the Second Breakfast stop,

where we had some delicious fried chicken and Jesse called to check in with work about his schedule for tomorrow.  He’s on reserve, and Delta informed him that he had Long Call (he has 12 hours in which to position himself in Detroit for a trip), so we re-thought our day.  We had another 50 miles to go, and we had planned on humping pretty hard to get to the DC airport for a 7:30pm flight; with the news of the Long Call, we decided to not push so hard, go to about 15 miles or so out of DC, call it a day, and cruise in the remaining miles tomorrow morning.  Good Plan?  We’ll see…

We spent most of the day in swamp-like condition because of yesterday’s rains, so we gave up on maintaining any kind of speed at all, hitting 7 and 8 mph most of the day.  The slower speed allowed for a little more sightseeing, and that was kind of  fun.

 We also made a stop at a ferry landing (where we ate YET again), and took this photo on the side of the building:

Because of the nature of the trail conditions, every now and then you hit a puddle that’s FAR deeper than you think, and you just launch yourself skyward – that’s what had happened here, and my bag went flying – tearing off the little velcro tabs that are supposed to keep that from happening!

So we’re working our plan, riding leisurely, then at about 20-something miles yet to the end, we stop to see one of the lockhouses on display, and we speak with a park ranger.  We ask him about upcoming points of road access to the trail where we might bail and start looking for a hostel, hotel, B and B, whatever.  Mr. Park Ranger Sir tells us that there is ABSOLUTELY no lodging until the trail feeds into the city and the very end.  Not good.  It’s 4:00, no Daylight Savings Time, and we have 20+ miles to go!  We know we can pick up our pace a bit, cuz we’re out of the worst of the mud, but not THAT fast.

This is the last pic we took of the river before we packed it in and put our heads down.

So we ride the last 19 miles as hard and as fast as we could, and even so, it was dark for the last 10 or so.  I don’t mean dusky, sunset-y, having-a-little-trouble-seeing-the-path, I mean full-on headlight/headlamp/red rear blinkie no moonlight frickin D-A-R-K.  We hated to miss getting our big moment coming into the city, but at that point we still have no place to stay, and we really don’t know where the trail feeds in along the Potomac (Georgetown). 

Anyway, all’s well, we’re in the Holiday Inn on Wisconsin (which is at the top of a BIG-ASS hill), showered, Jesse is snoring beside me, I’m watching the Series (Phillies in 6), and our trip has come to an end.  We haven’t checked the flights yet, but we go home sometime tomorrow, after we resolve our bike-box issue (airport?  bike shop?  build our own from cardboard we scavenge?).

We’ve had a great time, and I’ll try to do a follow-up post with what we would change if we did it again, or if someone else wanted to try it.  Thanks for sharing the adventure with us, expecially my Flat posse!

Thanks for reading!

Loooonnngggg Day today…

Started out with a great breakfast at a diner/bakery in the town of Hancock – I got my usual high protein bacon and eggs, Jesse got the most delicious, sticky, sweet, pecan-y rolls EVER.  We bought a whole pan full, ate a few, then wrapped up the rest to take with us. 

We did about 11 miles on the Western Maryland Rail Trail, which paralleled the C and O til we fed back onto the mule towpath.  We were trying to outrun the forecasted (?) rain, and did pretty well.

 The scenery was beautiful again today – we stopped and saw Fort Frederick, a revolutionary war Fort, and we saw a snake cross the path.  We also saw upwards of 50 deer between yesterday and today.

We ate lunch (and fixed Jesse’s leaking tube) in the town of Williamsport at a cute cafe called the Desert Rose.  It wasn’t long after that that it began to rain and the picture-taking was over for the day.

We’re in Harper’s Ferry, WV at a hostel/bed and breakfast on the hill.  We climbed an interesting spiral staircase to cross the river, but it was pouring down rain and we didn’t get the camera out, so if it’s clear tomorrow morning, we take a pic when we cross it again.

Last day tomorrow – 60 miles into DC…thanks for reading!

Another great day on the trails!

We started out in Cumberland, Maryland with a great breakfast at our Fairfield Inn.  Then back up the trail a bit for a picture of the C and O sculpture on the square.  We knew it was going to be a long day, and we were unsure of the trail conditions, so we were rolling by 9, which for us is early.

Today we began the C and O canal (stands for Chesapeake and Ohio).  The canal was conceived in the early 1800’s as a route to carry goods to and from Washington DC.  The railroads were also being developed at the same time and at times they ran parallel to one another.  The canal was built, complete with 75 locks, alongside the Potomac, and was used until 1925.  It was shut down and began to deteriorate and then-President Nixon signed a bill creating the C and O National Park in 1971.  Now many of the locks and lockhouses are visible and some are even functioning for public display, and the trail runs for 180 miles from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington DC.

The trail conditions here were different than the Rails-To-Trails we’ve been on up to now.  It’s far muddier, and more “natural” (read roots, stones, puddles), but it was no less beautiful.  Jesse took a little spill, but the leaves cushioned his fall a bit, and we fully expect this won’t be the last time, as we expect a bit of rain tomorrow, making the trails even juicier.

We ate twice today at colorful places along the trail:  the first, and we took no photos of this for reasons we don’t know, was formerly a high school and there is now a diner in the old lunchroom; the second, Bill’s place, kind of a sketchy place right off the trail that is open when Bill says it’s open.

We also went through the PawPaw Tunnel – a 3000 foot-long tunnel that was to have saved a couple of miles around a mountain when it was built.  A little creepy, drippy, and dark, but interesting.  Took 14 years to build and has a million bricks in its internal arch.

We rolled into the town of Hancock around 6, checked into our cozy hotel, took steaming hot showers, snacked on trail snacks and vending machine soft drinks, and are reading about tomorrow’s ride.

Thanks for reading!

Okay, if you clicked on this link to find out what the hell Butt Butter is, skip to the end of the post.  If you can wait, read on to find out how today’s miles on the Pittsburgh to DC adventure unfolded.

Hump Day, and in this case that’s appropriate in more than one way.

Today began with a 20-mile haul toward the Eastern Continental Divide, which as everyone knows is the geological feature that determines watershed direction; hence, the slow uphill pull we’ve been making since leaving Pittsburgh.  We are following a rail bed, so all the big hills and curves are smoothed out, even in areas where it’s very hilly. 

Along the way we passed a couple of beautiful trestles and a wind farm.

The remaining 26 miles that brought us into our overnight town of Cumberland, Maryland were fabulous.  We could have technically done them without pedalling, but we were enjoying getting the speed up a bit since we’ve been cruising around 10-12 mph.  Jesse’s computer showed 22 as top speed.

We also crossed from Pennsylvania into Maryland at the Mason Dixon Line – trivia question on Facebook photo album.

This little town in Maryland is the start of the C and O canal, and is a very quaint, homey, bike-oriented town.  We went out for Mexican food here, and then stopped at a bike shop on the canal.  We have camera problems (I left the charger at the first night bed and breakfast, and we’re just about out of the last charge), but we hope to resolve that before tomorrow night’s blog/pictures.

Butt Butter:  this is a bike-riding-specific ass lubricant (!) that serves to reduce any area of friction in the saddle.  Our Ragbrai team has long discussions about application technique:  some choose to apply just a tiny amount to the inside chamois of the riding shorts, others of us want to feel as if we are sitting in apple pie as we ride (that would be me).    It’s an indispensable piece of riding paraphernalia, and I am glad to share this information with you.  Now you know.

Thanks for reading

 We knew it would happen.  There’s just no way you can plan a 7-day biking trip for the month of October ANYWHERE and not anticipate at least one rain day.  This was at least one rain day.

We started the morning with another great meal – breakfast at a nearby diner – Jesse plate was actual called the Garbage Plate – it had just about everything in it – eggs, bacon, ham, potatoes, onions, green peppers.  We went back to the room to repack and prepare for a rainy ride.  The forecast was for rain to stop at midday, so we waited as long as we felt like we could, put on the rain gear and took off (keep in mind this blog is coming to you from my laptop, so I’m carrying that in the saddlebags too).

It was a treacherous ride from the hotel to the trail – busy road, downpour, no shoulder or sidewalk, unsure of exactly the route.  We finally picked it up and then started our 50 mile day. 

The rain was intermittent throughout the day, but because we had such an arborial canapy it was filtered somewhat.  Today was the most picturesque so far – it’s all been beautiful, but today was just gorgeous.  There is still a lot of color in the trees and the trail goes right beside the river; except for the few small towns we traveled through, we saw maybe 8 people the whole day.  It’s really past the season, or rather between bike season and cross-country skiing seasons.  The diner/bike shop merchants we visited chatted with us about the folks they see come through.  We spent a good portion of today’s mileage traversing a state park, and the trestles crossing the river are spectacular.

This particular tunnel had had a fire, then an internal collapse, so the trail goes around it for a mile or two.

Lunch was at a little diner in the town of Confluence (guess what happens in that town), but before that we had this wonderful treat in the town of Ohiopyle – a chocolate/peanut extravaganza that even I, a non-chocoholic, gobbled up.  You’ve deduced by now, between this blog and the Ragbrai blog, that these bike rides are primarily about the food.  First, you really do have a voracious appetitie after riding all those miles, and second, you really enjoy all the local flavor, literally.

Tonight’s meal was in a bar in the town of Rockwood (Town of No Internet or Cell Service) and they actually put slaw AND french fries on my burger.  What’s up with that?  Jesse had a turkey Panini that he said was great.  I ate the burger and the fries and the cole slaw but passed on the bun, since I’m ever so carb-conscious (see chocolate/peanut wad, above).

Tonight’s lodging is different yet – we’re in a hostel on Main Street.  We’re the only ones here, but it could hold up to 24 in bunks.  It’s a general store that has been restored, and we’ve even gotten laundry done here.

This post will be late; I hope to get it posted at the first opportunity we get a signal tomorrow morning.  Our waitress tonight told us that the whole town is without any cell service…go figure.

Tomorrow’s highlight promises to be the crossing of the Eastern Continental Divide.  This means we’ve been on a gradual uphill for 3 days; 20 miles tomorrow will take us to the Divide, then shortly thereafter we’ll transition from a Rails-To-Trails project to the mule towpath of the C and O Canal.  This also means we go from 4 days in Pennsylvania to the state of Maryland, and it means that we begin a gradual downhill!  The surface is reputed to be much more gravelly, so it may be a bit of a tradeoff.

Watching the World Series in the hostel living room – Phillies fan.  Bottom of the 4^th, 1-0, won’t make it all the way through the game.

Flat Family traveled snug in my BentoBox on my crossbar all day long – I’ll reattach them to the seat post again tomorrow so they can sightsee and view the Continental Divide – I wish all those folks were here with us for real!

Thanks for reading!

Wow – another fabulous day on the bikes.

We were much more interested in the story of the B and B after a huge meal, a hot shower, and a good night’s sleep.  It really was as charming as it could be, and the breakfast that Betty fixed…OMG.

We were on the bikes by around 9:30.  The Montour trail is a Rails-To-Trails project and some sections are incomplete, so occasionally you have to leave the trail, get on the main road and then find the trail again.  Sound easy?  Sometimes, and sometimes not.  They have great signage at the trailheads, not so much when you leave the trail.  We spent a while today wandering (read: dodging cars, backtracking, cursing (me, not Jesse), looking at the map, dodging trucks, more cursing) and seeking trailhead signs.  We went through an industrial section too.

When the Montour ended, we picked up the Great Allegheny Passage, which runs for about 150-ish miles, and it runs right along the Youghiogheny River.  It was really pretty today, even as the day became more overcast.  We made much better time today, and rolled into town around 5:30.

Immediately after checking in, we hopped back on the bikes, rode to a nearby restaurant, ate (again), and now we’re skyping the kids, checking emails, watching the weather (gonna RAIN tomorrow).  Day 3 is a shorter mileage day, but we do have the weather to deal with. 

We miss everyone at home, and we’re still on schedule to come home Monday.  We’re attempting to put more technical details about the trip on another blog:  more info to come on site and address.

Thanks for reading!