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Pictures from Steve's Camera
Pictures from Rob's Camera
Embedded maps, kml files, and gpx files
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Preamble
A couple months ago, my brother-in-law Steve posed the idea of biking the entirety of the C&O Canal on the way back from the Hardy Family (the family we married into) Reunion. I thought it sounded like a great idea, and after receiving clearance from the tower, agreed to join him on the epic expedition.
Preparation
After reading up on the C&O Canal (the building of which was a disastrous financial decision, though endorsed by George Washington) and reading other accounts of people biking the towpath, I decided there were a few things I needed to do in preparation. While I do a lot of biking, it is normally on one of the 3 bikes: road bike, tri bike, or spin bike; I didn't think any of these bikes would handle the beating of the tow path (the spin bike might, but I wouldn't get very far). I began to look at mountain bikes and hybrid bikes that would gives my the comfort that my body demands, the price that my wallet can afford, and the look that exudes an aura of awesomeness. I ended up choosing a hybrid off of bikesdirect.com, as it had the following features: shock absorber seat post, shock absorber front fork, fat but not knobby tires, capability to easily put on a rear rack, disc brakes, and matte black in color (my awesomeness factor went up by about 10 fold). I also was looking for a bike that I could ride around with the kids (now that all 3 are finally able to ride bikes), as I didn't want to wear spandex and road cleats for a little bike ride around the neighborhood with them.
After receiving the bike and getting it together, I bought a rear rack as well as new pedals that allow me to clip in on one side, and ride with street shoes on the other side. I ran into issues with the first rack that I bought as the disc brakes got in the way, but a quick trip back to Performance Bike and I had the rack that I needed to make it work. I pulled out my old panniers from my bike commuting days (I do miss those days, but value my life at this time) and began the process of packing the items I would need. Everything I needed appeared to fit in the panniers, including items of comfort ($4 Walmart crocs, a bag of potato chips, my evening wear), as well as the necessities: food, spare tubes, spare spokes, emergency tools & pump, etc. All that was needed was a double dose of vim and vigor and we were ready to be underway.
The Plan
Steve was handling all of the logistical items (much to my delight) of figuring out when we would have to start, where we could stop for food, where we could stay the night, and how we would survive along a tow path that likely had claimed many lives over the years (actually I don't know if it has claimed any, I just added that for dramatic effect). We both agreed that we'd rather stay in hotels, B&Bs, and hostels rather than camp or ride thru the night. Steve came up with the game plan to have our wives drop us off in Cumberland, MD (actually mile 185) on the way back from Hocking Hills, OH on Thursday afternoon. We would ride about 45 miles to the tiny little town (in reality it was like a small store/bar/restaurant called Bills, 2 houses, and a B&B) of Little Orlean to stay at a B&B for the night. On Friday morning we'd get up and bike about 85 miles to the thriving metropolis of Harper's Ferry, WV to stay in a hostel, and on Friday we'd leave Harper's Ferry and head down to Georgetown for the conclusion of our journey. Katrina would pick us up in Georgetown, and Gdog would come to pick me up from Steve and Katrina's place.
The Ride
Day 1 - Thursday - July 25th
After partying hard in Hocking Hills, OH for much of the week, we arrived in Cumberland, MD around 3pm on Thursday afternoon. I went into the train station and in quite possibly the smallest bathroom stall known to mankind, changed into the cycling clothes that I'd be wearing for the first 45 miles of our journey. Steve and I got our bikes off the cars, put some air in the tires, filled up the water bottles, took some pictures with the kids, bid adieu to our lovely brides, and were on our way. It was close to 3:30 by the time we took off, and we were a bit concerned about the time it would take to get to Little Orlean, as the only place to eat in town basically closed whenever the dude decided he wanted to go home. About .15 miles into the ride (that's right, like 30 seconds into it), Steve suggested that we stop at the little deli in Cumberland to get some food. I told him I wasn't too hungry, so to go ahead, but once he informed me that it may be the only food for the night, I had him grab me a sandwich as well. After packing the sandwich onto our panniers, we started for real, cranking pretty hard to ensure that we would reach Little Orlean before a) nightfall, b)Bill's place was closed, c)wild animals would come out to eat our innards. We passed a few folks around Cumberland, but pretty quickly it became pretty desolate. We were going thru a lot of mud puddles, and our rear ends were getting adjusted to the gravel trails that neither of us were used to riding.
After starting off like a gunshot, we stopped after about 10 miles for our first break to stretch our backs and give the legs a bit of a rest. We had already passed a number of canal locks and lock houses, but at the break, we decided to take some pictures (it also gave us a convenient excuse to rest for a little bit longer. We both realized that on this type of trail (unlike riding road bikes), you couldn't give your legs a bit of a rest and coast for a few seconds...basically if you weren't pedaling, pretty quickly you wouldn't be moving. After stretching a bit, we got back onto the bikes with our tempo toned down a bit and continued on our way. Shortly after 6pm we came upon the Paw Paw tunnel which is a nearly 1000m (that's meters, not miles) tunnel into the side of a mountain. We both had read quite a bit about it, so we paused for pictures on the outside before entering into the bowels of the Earth, where the darkness was so thick around you, you could taste it even with your mouth closed. It was a pretty dang amazing engineering marvel, and it was a bit unnerving riding through there. Fortunately we both had lights, so we were able to make it through alive and continue on our way. After taking one more break, we were able to make it to Little Orlean shortly after 7pm.
Much to our glee, we found that Bill's Place was still open, so after locking the bikes up, we went inside to see what types of offerings they had. It was definitely a hole in the wall (which is totally my type of place), but the kitchen was open, I was hungry, and I had 44+ hard miles under my belt for the afternoon. I ended up getting a cheeseburger as well as half a pizza (Steve ate the other half), and by the time we were ready to leave, you probably could have rolled us out. I definitely would recommend a meal there if you ever happen upon the town of Little Orlean.
Steve and I set off to find the Little Orleans Lodge where we would be staying for the night. We actually ran into the proprietor (his name was Steve) not too far from Bill's Place, and he immediately assumed we were the crazy guys who had pedaled all the way from Cumberland in just over 4 hours. He told us where to go, and we were able to find the Little Orleans Lodge, a place that he had built back in 1998. It was a quaint little place to stay, and it ended up that there was another group of 3 that were also riding the C&O canal towpath over the course of 5 days. We showered, chatted with everyone, watched a little TV, called our wives (it was one of the first times that we had cell phone reception), and bedded down for the night. I slept very well, although Steve said that I ended up snoring a bit...which kept him awake...until he used his noggin and downloaded a white noise app for his phone and drowned out my snoring. In the morning we met everyone for breakfast (bacon and french toast), had some pleasant conversation, got our steeds ready to go, and we were then on our way.
Day 2 - Friday - July 25th, 2013
We didn't plan to rush quite so much on the second day, as we did have a lot of mileage to cover, but figured we had all day to do it. We did get started a little later than anticipated, but weren't too concerned as the day was still young. We also decided to detour slightly from the trail, as there was a recently completed Western Maryland Rails to Trails trail which paralleled the towpath for basically its entirety. We made some pretty good progress along that trail, and near the end of it we looked for the historical site of Fort Frederick. Steve seemed keenly interested in the history of the fort, while I was pretty interested in the sodas and ice cream that they sold in the gift shop on the grounds of the fort. It was a welcome respite, and we realized how fortunate we were under the protective canopy of the trees while on the towpath as the fort was out in the sunlight and we were cooking. After hanging out at the Fort for a little while we got back on our way and decided to stop in the little town of Williamsport, MD for some lunch at one of the 3 local haunts. We ended up lunching at the Scenic Rose which had some pretty good food. In reality, I could probably have eaten a horse, but fortunately for them (and the local horse population) they didn't serve horse. The food was good (half sandwich and a bowl of rice and beans), but the portion left a bit to be desired. Steve made his way down to the local pharmacy to pick up some ibuprofen to try and alleviate some of the aches and pains he was feeling. After getting squared away, we continued on our pilgrammage to the enchanted town of Harper's Ferry. With great forethought we continued to stop every 10 or so miles to stretch, snack, and ensure hydration. The towpath has hand pumping wells every 5 or 10 miles, so it is nice to not have to worry too much about water. When either of us would empty a bottle, we would usually find the next one and top it off to ensure we were never in danger of being without.
The day continued to progress and it seemed that Harper's Ferry wasn't getting a lot closer. I've done numerous century rides, but I'm usually moving about 18-20mph on those, and with the weight of our bikes, our gear, the type of tires, the type of trail, and everything else, it was a challenge to sustain a fast speed which would take us to Harper's Ferry much faster than we were going. One thing that excited the both of us, was that we knew Harper's Ferry was a big town so there would be a large selection of restaurants and places to get various sundries. As we finally were closer to Harpers Ferry, we began to look for the right mile markers to see where we needed to get off the trail to get to the Hostel where we would be spending the night. Steve called the hostel and they gave us directions on how to get to them...we quickly realized that where we were headed was a bit more podunk than we anticipated. We also came to find that we would need to do a mile climb to get to the hostel...not exactly what we'd envisioned, but all part of the rich experience that was letting us suck the marrow out of life.
We got to the hostel around 7ish, got checked in, and asked if there were any restaurants around. The dude said there wasn't, but he did give us a menu for a place that he thought delivered to the hostel. Steve called and placed an order (foot long Steak & Cheese sub and fries for me) that they were going to deliver. We showered and met our hostel bunkmates...there were a number of kids that were biking a portion of the C&O canal towpath with their father who was a paraplegic and was using a hand cycle. There was another group with a grandma and grandpa who had about 9 of their grandkids with them (the Grandma commuted to work via a Razor Scooter). Steve and I were a little unsure what to expect with a large number of kids under the age of 10, but they were all very respectful and conscientious of the other patrons at the hostel, so it ended up rather nice. Dinner showed up, and I was glad to see that the foot long sub was about the size of my leg, so I knew that I would survive to see the morning. The fries were decent, although they didn't survive the delivery quite as well as I had hoped; I was in no state to be picky, so I wolfed them down with reckless abandon.
The room that we bunked in smelled like a locker room and stale running shoes...it was nearly overwhelming when you first walked in. We had the AC unit going, but it did little to move the air around...Steve ended up sleeping on the couch in another room part way thru the night (due to the heat in the room, as well as the intense snoring of another dude in the room). I ended up falling asleep pretty quickly as I just laid down around 10 pm and ended up falling asleep with my Crocs on. I can't say I had a totally awesome night of sleep, but it was far from the worst night of sleep I've ever had.
In the morning, Steve took a quick shower, and we took advantage of the pancake batter that the hostel provided. I made two ginormous pancakes that took me back to my days of being a missionary in Latvia, and I believe that Steve had a 4 stack of medium sized griddle cakes. After breakfast, we got our stuff packed up, and began the final leg of our journey.
Day 3 - Saturday- 7/27/2013
As we got underway (by a little after 8 if I recall correctly), we were both a little bit sore, but we welcomed the opening mile away from the hostel with the downhill side of the huge hill we had ridden up the night before. We made our way back to the C&O Canal towpath (which at this point was also part of the Appalachian Trail), pointed our steeds due east, and cycled off into the daybreak of the morning. While we were going slightly less than the day before, we still had 60+ miles to cover on legs that were starting to feel a bit beat up. It was kind of nice that we had some flexibility with time, as Katrina's only plan for the entire day, was to be at our beckon call to come retrieve us at our final destination (this is probably not true, but in our mind's eyes we knew that our wives were going to be super excited to greet 2 sweaty, dirty, and smelly men).
Logistically we had a slight challenge, as Steve found that the best place for lunch was probably going to be on the Maryland side of Leesburg; if we pushed the pace too hard we'd be having our lunch at about 10am, which neither of us really wanted. We took time to check out some of the different locks as well as some of the aqueducts, which were really pretty amazing. I had read about them a little bit, but until I saw a picture of how they were used, I didn't have a great understanding. After checking out the Catoctin Aqueduct, I was no longer foolish about the amazing world of aqueducts, for they had some great descriptions, as well as pictures (which is what I really need to understand some things).
We continued on our way stopping at Point of Rocks, MD for a brief respite, where I showed Steve where I had had lunch with a bunch of church youth just a few weeks earlier when we were kayaking down the Potomac. We pressed on to check out the Monacacy Aqueduct, which had recently been refurbished (and was also what I kayaked under a few weeks prior). I took a leak not too far off the trail from the Monacacy Aqueduct (careful where you walk if you're near there), but I was glad to see that I was still "clear", for fear that after 3 days of cycling without my normal hydration techniques (100+ ounces of Diet Dr. Pepper) would leave me in a dehydrated state. We paused for a few pictures and to marvel at the engineering feat, and then decided that we were ready to find an oasis of food and fine drink (or so we thought) in the small city known as Leesburg.
We cranked along the trail, and popped out at an intersection that put us right next to White's Ferry, the Maryland side of Leesburg. There was a bit of a sudden realization that this, much like our stay the night before, was not the oasis of food and drink I envisioned, but more a single store/restaurant. Compared to the limited amount of human contact we'd had over the past couple days, this was a junction of commerce and excitement, as numerous cars were there to take the ferry across the river, and other road cyclists were there as well (I guess it was a popular stopping point). Steve and I took some pictures of the ferry crossing and then went inside to see what this local establishment had for the weary travelers. I grabbed a Coke Zero from the fridge and decided on a bacon-egg-and-cheese on wheat with a serving of french fries, while Steve ventured out and tried some sort of vegetarian burger made out of beans. I went back to the fridge for a can of Diet Dr. Pepper, and enjoyed with near divine pleasure, the combination of bacon, eggs, and cheese that presented itself to my taste buds. It was truly a heavenly experience.
Steve and I continued onward with our final destination still a few hours away. As we progressed, and started getting closer to the DC metro area, we began to become familiar with several spots along the river. We also found that this portion of the trail was far more populated that the previous areas where we had ridden just a day before. We passed numerous points with parking lots that brought "day tourists" (I felt like I could call them that, even with slight disdain , as we were grizzled veterans of the towpath at this point), so that they could enjoy their couple hours of nature. We soldiered forward, as the next stop on the trip was to be at Great Falls; Steve hinted that there might be ice cream and soda at a small shop located there. While I normally don't eat sweets at all, the entire week I had let my diet go and was really looking forward to a chipwich ice cream sandwich. This kept my mind occupied as the pedals cranked, the wheels spun, the dust flew, and the sweat poured.
We got down towards Great Falls, and the trail became a virtual parking lot with all of the day tourists. Steve and I were reduced to traveling at 3-4 mph, Steve ringing his bell an inordinate number of times, and me yelling a near constant, "Coming up on your left!...Left side...Heads up!". We did finally make it to the small shop, and I was pretty dissappointed in not only the prices of the items, but also the quality and portions. This, of course, didn't keep me from purchasing a diet pepsi and small ice cream sandwich, but my hopes of a chipwich were dashed. We hung out by the store for 5-10 minutes, and then waded our way back into the sea of people, who it seemed, were determined to not let us reach our final destination by continuously getting in our way. This continued for about 2 miles, until we got to the east side of the Billy Goat Trail, where the pathway suddenly opened up again...dang day tourists! (In reality, I'm just kidding about being frustrated by the day folks. I'm always excited to see folks outside and enjoying the Earth...even if they are completely oblivious to their surroundings)
We pressed onward as the end, mile 0 in Georgetown, was now in sight (figuratively, not literally). An unexpected highlight was the fact that just a mile or two past Great Falls, we found ourselves under 495 right near the American Legion bridge. I guess it makes sense that it goes right above the towpath, but I never had really given it much thought...all these years I've been driving atop history without really even knowing it. We paused for some pictures, and then looked at our watches to realize we only had about an hour of riding left until we hit Georgetown. We cranked hard at some stretches, and paused at other stretches...we watched some of the riders who were riding along the Capital Crescent trail which ran parallel to the towpath for several miles. Before we knew it, we saw a flag waving in the distance at what turned out to be the Key Bridge, and we found ourselves looking at some large buildings across the Potomac which were in Rosslyn. We paused for a few pictures, and then soldiered on...passed the now graffiti-ed underbelly of Georgetown, past the last canal locks of the trail, and after a few wacky turns and what not, on to mile post 0 of the ride. 184.5 miles (plus some additional miles for our off the trail excursions) of gravel, adventure, and history were in the books. We paused for celebratory and congratulatory pictures, and then made our way over to the local Starbucks where Katrina would be picking us up. We hung out and did some people watching...I'm sure some people may have been people watching us as well. Everyone was done up nicely for an afternoon/evening in Georgetown, except of course, for two seasoned journeymen of the trail, caked in mud, grime, sweat, blood, possibly even tears, who had spent the better part of 2.5 days riding the entirety of our great Nation's treasure, the C&O Canal towpath.
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