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!
Biking across the USA with Mike 
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