Month: April 2025

A good day today- 63 miles and 2,355 ft of elevation gain going from Pittsburgh to Wheeling, West Virginia. Nice weather starting off in the high 60s and getting into the 70s, partly cloudy. It was a bit windy in stretches and it was a dead-on headwind, so a bit challenging! And there were some nice hills- first getting out of Pittsburgh to the south there was a big one, and then right after we got into West Virginia a couple pretty challenging 9% grades. After that we dropped into the Ohio valley and followed a nice bike trail the last 20 miles or so along the Ohio all the way to Wheeling. Below are the RidewithGPS stats.

It was a bit tricky getting out of Pittsburgh, we made some wrong turns, but sorted it out and after we got on that first big hill out of the city all was straight forward from then on. Some of us gathered at the border between PA and WVA to have some lunch and take a group photo, then off we went to tackle those two big hills. I have a Wahoo ELEMNT GPS with the downloaded RidewithGPS routes that Adventure Cycling provided to us and it works pretty well on the road. On complicated city routes it is a bit more sketchy.

We passed the Cardinal Powerplant on the Ohio River 10 miles North of Wheeling. It is actually three units, each burning coal, producing a total of 1.8GW of power. I didn’t realize that the US was still using coal fired plants, but this is West Virginia! Apparently they have invested quite a bit to make it as clean running as possible. Certainly not a ton of soot pouring out the smokestacks, as was the case in the 1800s when the Industrial Revolution was in full swing!

Just missed a huge thunderstorm that hit Wheeling today after 4PM. Fortunately we are staying in a church gymnasium so we are out of the weather and do not have to contend with tents flying all over the place!

I searched all over for pepperoni rolls, apparently a “thing” in West Virginia- everyone was sold out!

Here is video for the day.

It was nice to have a day off. The Travelers Rest hostel in South Pittsburgh is great. An old office building converted to a hotel. We mostly doubled up in the rooms, there were 5 separate bathrooms for everyone to use, each with a shower, very clean. The beds were comfortable and most important- no large amount of train noise and no fire sirens going off. I slept great last night! Today after breakfast, Mel, Chet and I walked several miles across the river to the Three Rivers Point State Park to the marker where the Great Allegheny Passage trail officially ends. Beautiful views from here of the football stadium across the river. This is where the three rivers- Ohio, Monongahela and the Allegheny meet. After that, Mel and I took an Uber to the Carnegie Museum area, walked through the University of Pittsburgh tower, the “Cathedral of Learning”. Really cool gothic architecture inside, built in the 1920’s. There are these interesting rooms used for classes on the 1st and 3rd floors called Nationality Rooms, built by the countries whose people contributed to building Pittsburgh. Each one features architecture and furniture representing some historical time period for each country. Really well done. We then headed over to the Carnegie Art Museum- some really nice modern art and impressionist paintings there. My Samsung phone crapped out on me at this time, so we headed over to a nearby Apple Store and I bought an iPhone. Wanted to make sure I have a reliable means of communication as we head westward! Over there in the Shadyside part of town we had a great lunch- I had Swiss cheese, mushroom and onions on a burger with a side of crispy French Fries and a cold beer. Ahhhh that was good. Then back to the Carnegie to the Natural History Museum. A really good collection of dinosaur fossils there including a cute baby Tyrannosaurus Rex.

We had our map meeting this evening to go over the route for tomorrow. A lot more hill climbing in front of us, and riding on roads for a significant amount of time, a change of pace from the last week riding on the C&O trail and the GAP trail. But everyone seems ready to go!

A short 33 miles from West Newton to Pittsburgh and the end of the Great Allegheny Passage! It was a beautiful cold sunny day- the cold front has moved in. We made good time getting to Pittsburgh and settling in at the Travelers Rest in the South of Pittsburgh, a hostel that caters to biking groups like ours. We have the whole place for 2 days. A rest day tomorrow and we get to sleep in real beds for two nights!

Here are the RidewithGPS stats for today’s ride.

Link to the video is here

This was a rainy day, going from Confluence to West Newton, PA. A total of ~53 miles. We were hoping that the rain would stop by around 9, but it didn’t so we decided to press ahead! At least it was warm and raining, not cold and raining. About 40 miles into it it stopped, but started to get colder. I stopped at “The Ruins” about 10 miles from our destination campsite in West Newton and got a tour of the site. Very interesting. A lady artist purchased the place, it was originally a coal mining site. Her expertise is mosaics. She converted the office to a house, built an artist studio, and then started putting her mosaics up in the old ruins of the coal mine, inviting fellow local artists and international artists to do the same. The lady who gave the tour was very knowledgeable about the coal mining effort in this area. All along what is now the Great Allegheny passage, were coal mines with very good quality coal. Most of it was used to make coke for the Pittsburgh steel factories. They would mine it here, ship it by rail to Connellsville to convert into coke, then back to Pittsburgh to make steel. The rail line that ran along what is now the bike trail from Pittsburgh to Cumberland was operated by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie rail line and there were as many as four tracks running along. The lady was saying that it took 5 tons of coal to make 3 tons of coke, the rest going into the air. There were over 40,000 coke ovens in this area. Apparently the soot was so bad people would need to wipe down their walls in their houses every week, and do their wash on Mondays, the day after Sunday when the coal ovens were not operating. So much for the good ol’ days. The campsite at West Newton was very nice. The Gap Trail Campground caters to bikers like us. They had a bike wash, good hot showers, a nice covered meeting area for doing all our cooking and socializing, and nice grassy area alongside the river for pitching our tents. Everyone was quite cold, it had dropped into the 50s and going down to 39 in the evening. But after hot showers and bundling up in our winter clothes, and after a great spaghetti meal, we were all in fine spirits! The evening sleep was interupted with the occasional train going through (the tracks were right on the other side of the river) and a midnight fire alarm siren that went off, sounding like it was right next to my tent. My God, it was sooooo loud you would think it could be heard from 50 miles away! Apparently the volunteer firemen don’t live close to town! Anyway, I managed to get a pretty good nights sleep amazingly enough. I guess biking all day will do that to you.

Here are the RidewithGPS stats.

Here is a link to the video for the day

A day-63 miles from Cumberland climbing over the Allegheny Mountains and then down to Confluence PA.  The first 20 miles or so was a steady uphill 2% grade following the railroad tracks to Frostburg.  We got to the Mason Dixon line at mile 21.6, then the Continental Divide at 23 miles.  After that it was mostly downhill at a gentle grade. It was all mostly a smooth cinder path so we made good time, stopping of course at the Mason Dixon line and the Divide to take in the view and take some group photos.  It was a beautiful day starting out in the low 60s and getting into the 70s, with a bit of rain near the end.  We stopped at Rockwood as well where there were some nice ladies promoting the town and handing out watermelon (which was quite tasty! It was my turn to cook along with Terence, so we had to go do the shopping at 4, then come back and cook everything.  The weather was getting dicey with more rain, high winds and some thunder, so we lugged everything to a covered pavilion near by and cooked there.  Chicken with a tomato sauce with onions, mushrooms and peppers along with a green salad.  It was pretty good!  Unfortunately we were not allowed to drink alcohol at the campsite, so my plan of having some Cabernet Sauvignon with the meal fell through.  Oh well, hopefully tomorrow!

Here are the RidewithGPS GPS stats

Here is a link to the video for the day.

We take turns doing the cooking. There are currently 11 riders and the leaders select two at a time, so we will be rotating about once a week. During our time we are responsible for doing the food shopping for the day, then preparing the evening meal, the following days breakfast and lunch. This time around Terence and I decided to make Chicken Cacciatore. We prepared the chicken separately (for the two vegetarians in our group), and then made a tomato sauce mixed with onions, mushrooms and peppers. Served with a green salad on the side it was quite tasty! And the rule is, never make too little, so there was plenty to go around. Adventure Cycling realizes that biking every day works up the appetite and it is important to be properly fueled. I must say I have been able to eat a lot so far on this trip!

Separating Pennsylvania from Maryland- this was just a couple miles from the Continental Divide which marks the boundary where water flows East to the Atlantic Ocean and West to the Pacifac Ocean. This was the high point of this leg.

It’s hard to keep track of the days, but today is Thursday supposedly. We got a late start today, only covered about 47 miles. It was supposed to be 57 but part of the C&O canal path was closed due to all the trees fallen, so we got driven by the van 10 miles to Little Orleans where we connected up with the Towpath again. Below is the RidewithGPS statistics- it is cut short because my GPS wasn’t working for a bit.

The trail was initially a bit rocky but the last 20 miles or so was sweet smooth cinder. The Paw Paw tunnel was about midway- that was cool. 3000 feet long, there is a narrow pathway along the canal through the tunnel where we walked our bikes with the headlights on. Take a look at the video! Why was this tunnel built you may ask? It saved building 6 more miles of canal by bypassing a section of the Potomac river with 5 horseshoe bends, called the “Paw Paw Bends”. It took 14 years to build!! After going through the tunnel, Than and I caught up with Tim and we made great time on a smooth cinder trail getting into Cumberland around 3:30. First thing we did was go get a beer while we waited for Tim to get his front derailleur adjusted at the local bike shop. Then off to the Cumberland YMCA where we will spend the night. After a nice hot shower (ahhhhhhh), we sat down to a great dinner of fish tacos prepared by Chef Mel. Very good. Unfortunately the campsite is literally 15 feet from the train tracks, but I trust trains will not be rolling by in the wee hours of the morning!

Here is a link to today’s video.

78 total miles today! Brunswick to Hancock MD.  Below is the Ridewith GPS map and ride statistics.

We followed the C&O canal towpath all the way, except for the last 15 miles or so we took the Western Maryland RAIL TRAIL.  This might have been a mistake-  a large storm had gone through this area and there were trees down all over the trail.  While the trail was nice smooth asphalt, it was littered with debris and there were trees down across the trail that forced us to dismount and carry the bikes around the trees.  Everyone arrived at the camp a bit later than we had anticipated, towards 4 PM.  The weather was perfect today.   We stopped at Harpers Ferry- beautiful spot.  Then Williamsport where we had lunch.  It was a major stop for the coal laden ships coming from Cumberland, to power the coal fired power plant there at Williamsport and for coal used elsewhere in the area.  Then we stopped at 4 Locks, an interesting place where there are 4 locks in a short distance.  Then Fort Frederick where they were preparing for a civil war festival over the weekend.  Weather has been fantastic. I feel great after this ride, but it did help to have a cold beer waiting for me at the Happy Hills Campsite. Unfortunately, this storm did some damage to the campsite area so there was no electricity or running water, so I had to take a shower by dumping a 1 gallon jug of water over me. Felt great!  

Bad news on two fronts. Michael, one of the 12 folks remaining in the group is bailing at Cumberland.  He has not been feeling very good for the past week and psychologically not prepared for the 2 ½ months of biking to go.  Too bad because he is a very experienced guy who has done a bunch of cycling tours in the past.  Then Theo, the guy in or group from the Netherlands, took a nasty fall on that debris strewn Western Maryland Rail Trail.  A stick got kicked up and wedged between his front fender and the bike frame locking up his front wheel and sending him over the bike on his face.  Simona took him to the hospital near Hancock and he got some stitches.  They cleaned him up good and we expect that he will be able to continue on with us.  His bike seems OK other than the front fender which is ruined.

As a result of Theo’s adventure, our schedule was all messed up for dinner so we go takeout pizza and called it a night.  Simona and Dennis along with Mel got back 12:30 in the evening from the hospital.  Kudos to them for the great job they did in making sure Theo was well taken care of.

So this is a three person tent. And I have a very large 30 inch wide 4 inch thick self inflating mattress and a REAL pillow. I have been sleeping very well, but needless to say I wouldn’t lug this stuff with me on a self supported trip!

A great day! Beautiful weather, partly cloudy, breezy and in the high 60s.   Washington DC to Brunswick MD- 63 miles total today. We are finally heading West!!  It was a chore to find Mile Marker 0 on the C&O Canal trail.  But found it we did. It is by the Thompson Boat Center. You have to actually go in the Boat Center- it is where they store Crew rowing shells for rowing groups that use the Potomac.  There is a small plaque by this first lock which marks the beginning of the Canal.  After that, it was a bit difficult to get on the trail itself because they were doing construction and the first part was closed off. So after wandering around on surface streets in Georgetown trying to follow the detour signs, we finally got on the trail  and started to make some good time.  It was nice to get out of the city- it is amazing how quickly the city disappears, to be replacing by the bright green of spring with all the newly leafed trees and spring flowers popping up all alongside the towpath.   We stopped at Great Falls- a magnificent system of gorges where the Potomac falls dramatically 76 feet in less then a mile.   You can see why they had to build these canals- the Potomac is not navigable at all upstream of DC.  

The trail was in very good condition- there has not been heavy rain for awhile so it was dry with no big potholes or muddy spots as it was when I did the trail back in 2019.  We got to White’s Ferry at 12:15 where we had lunch. By that time the trail was smooth as asphalt. It continued that way for the last 20 miles to our campsite in New Brunswick.  It is right between the trail and the Potomac, and unfortunately right next to the New Brunswick rail yard, and the rail line that runs along the Potomac at this point.  Hopefully the trains stop running in the evening. As I recall from past experience, it seems they keep the engines running in the yard all night- I’ll let you know how I sleep tonight!  I did bring my earplugs.  

Forecast for tonight is mild, in the 60s and no rain, same for tomorrow so we are looking forward to a good day tomorrow- 77 miles ugh!

Total mileage for today was 63 miles at a leisurely pace of 12 mph.  It was all fairly flat but we are slowly gaining altitude as we make our way to Cumberland.  The trail was fairly bumpy and rough until after Great Falls so we were going rather slow at first, but the pace picked up after that. But no one is going for speed anyway. We will stop if there is something interesting to see, and we have all day anyway to enjoy the sights. That is except those who are assigned cooking duties for the day! They need to do the shopping as well as cooking for the evening and the following breakfast, so they need to make sure they get to our camping area at a reasonable hour!  My first cooking duties are Friday.

Link to the day’s video

Today was a good checkout for everybody, making sure we and our bikes are ready for the journey. It was a short day from our hotel down to Mt. Vernon, then back up to DC where we had lunch under the arriving flight path of jets landing at Reagan International. Always cool to see these huge metal birds fly over your head at 200 feet. How the hell can those things fly? It still amazes me after 60 plus years of watching airplanes. We then continued up to DC and did a quick tour of the city, led by Terence who used to live in Manassas and worked in the city for many years. This town is amazingly bike friendly with the multitude of bike paths and really wide sidewalks. We got back to the hotel by 3:30, so having started at 8, it was a nice relaxing 8 hour day!

Here is a short video of today’s ride.

Below is the GPS route of the ride. 43 miles at a leisurely average pace of 11 mph. As you can imagine, in the city amongst all the strollers and pedestrians we went very carefully slow!

Ready to head out West tomorrow for the real start of our journey. It will be a 60 mile day going leisurely uphill as we follow the Potomac up towards Cumberland, MD. Our first camping will be at Brunswick MD- enough of this posh hotel living!

Arrived at the Marriott Courtyard in Crystal City, Washington DC around noon. After lunch with my wife, we said our good-byes and she was off to back home in Williamsburg VA. Reality is now beginning to sink in!

We had a group meeting at 16:00 to introduce everyone and talk about logistics for the ride. Our group is down to 12 plus the two ride leaders. A good group- 10 guys and 2 women. One guy from Australia and another from the Netherlands. Everyone else is American hailing from all over- from California to New York. Ages appear to be in the late 60s and the 70s. We went over the ride for tomorrow- just 37 miles mainly on the Mt Vernon trail along the Potomac. Easy peasy!