Old Men On Bikes

The storm that blasted through has left the whole region without power.  Finished the interrupted laundry cycle in the tub Cooking behind the hotel Drying everything in the room

Colliers, WV to Cadiz, Ohio 41 miles, 3200 feet of ascent We are hunkered down in a hotel room in Cadiz, Ohio, after a pretty brutal day. It started well enough. We rose at 6, packed up, and had coffee with our Warm Showers hosts before heading south along the east bank of the Ohio. The ideal crossing would have been a few minutes away in Steubenville, but the Market Street Bridge was closed in 2023, I believe, apparently unsafe for even pedestrians and cyclists. So we had to continue south to cross at Wellsburg. After crossing, we had a bit of a climb from there to New Alexandria, then things got bad. We had a steep scary descent to Mingo Junction Gould's Road, along McIntyre Creek. There we started looking for Dawson Road. GPS told us to make a turn on a particular road, but it was signed "No Outlet". While we discussed what to do a woman can by and asked what we were looking for. I said Dawson Road and she laughed a little. "It's just a few...

Sunday, April 27, 66 miles Monday, April 28, Pittsburgh PA to Colliers, WV Sunday was a true day of rest. Nobody really slept in, but we tried not to exert ourselves. We spent the morning dealing with things that are hard to do on tour, like laundry and bicycle maintenance. Then we had a day in Pittsburgh. Sue and I went for a walk in Frick Park. Then we all went shopping for odds and ends at Goodwill and REI, then rode the Duquesne Incline for great views of the city.  In fact, we had a view directly to "The Point" where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers become the Ohio. That is where the Great Allegheny Passage officially ends, just a few miles from where we turned off to go to Sue's.  Also included in the day was a trip to East End Brewing, Sue's favorite brewery in the city. And then, of course, Sure made us another great meal. We could not have had a better recovery day. But we had to leave Monday. We thought of ...

Miles ridden: 353 miles Time riding: 31 hours 37 minutes Ascent: 5728 feet Our total route is 3500 miles and change. So it might seem like we are a tenth of the way to Astoria. But every day we ride a few miles off route as we ride into towns to find food or a place to stay. Also, we apparently have 120,000 feet of ascent along the route and we have definitely not accomplished 10% of that.  Still, it feels like a real accomplishment to ride a bike from Washington to Pittsburgh. We rode the entirety of the C&O Canal and the Great Allegheny Passage. We rode across a large part of Maryland. We had some adversity that didn't really dampen our enthusiasm for this trip. We have also gotten a good rhythm: rise before sunrise, pack up, ride 10 or 20 miles, have a nice long break with some food and water, them push to the next camp with shorter breaks every now and then, set up camp, go to bed by 8:00. I can't speak for John, but accomplishing this first segment in six d...

Roundbottom campsite, Great Allegheny Passage, to Pittsburgh, PA, 49 miles This was unexpectedly the toughest day so far. I expected a quick, easy 50 miles to Pittsburgh, but it was fast the l from it. To begin with, sleep was fitful for both of us. It rained consistently, and the trains ran all night along the far side of the Youghiogheny. On top of that, sleeping in an open-sided shelter heightened our sensitivity to every little sound. There is nothing to be afraid of in the Allegheny Mountains beyond an audacious racoon that wants your Clif Bars, but at one point I woke up startled, my lizard brain convinced two animals were quarreling somewhere behind the shelter. I am still not sure what woke me but I think it was John moving in his sleep, his legs sliding around on his sleeping pad. We were both happy to see the night get a little lighter around 6 AM, which has become our normal time to get up  We packed up, had a cup of coffee and a bit to eat, and set off in th...

  On day 5, after we arrived at the Roundbottom Campground (Robert described why we arrived so early in the day in a different post), I knew I was going to get antsy with so many hours ahead of us.  As a result, I volunteered to see if there was a grocery store or convenience store in the area (well, within 3 miles) where I could buy some water and fun junk food. The guys who were working on the campsite recommended (already described by Robert) that I bike two miles further down the path, where I could cross the river on an old railroad bridge and enter the town of Layton, PA.  In the downtown area, I was told, I would find a small grocery story. I changed into shorts and a t-shirt, took the bags off my bike, and off I went. (Side observation: my goodness, I could just zoom without all the extra weight on the bike). Going across the one line railroad bridge, along with cars, was a bit scarier than I would have liked, but I successfully entered the “town” of Layton to dis...

Rockwood, PA, to Roundbottom Campsite, Great Allegheny Passage, 58 miles We got up a little earlier today. Even with John having to do a bit of work (poor fellow) we were able to get out of the hostel before 7:00 AM, our earliest start yet. After a quick stop at the local convenience store (run by two people so surly some locals will not go there, according to a bartender) we were on the trail. I wasn't sure how I would feel on the bike today since my legs were a little sore from the climb yesterday. But I was feeling pretty good and we blasted the 18 miles to the next town, Confluence, at the confluence (get it?) of the Casselman and Youghiogheny Rivers, where we stopped for a coffee and some snacks.  We were in a bit of a rush because we wanted to get to Roundbottom Campsite, 55 miles or so down the trail, before the predicted rain hit. The GAP has four free campsites with Adirondack shelters, and we wanted to be in one for the rain tonight. It was mostly ...

Irons Mountain campsite, C&O Canal Towpath to Rockwood, Pennsylvania, 54 miles This was a day of milestones. We reached the end of the C&O Canal Towpath in Cumberland, Maryland, crossed the Mason-Dixon line from Maryland to Pennsylvania, and climbed over the Eastern Continental Divide. We had camped about ten miles from Cumberland, so it was an easy ride to complete the C&O and have breakfast. That fueled us to begin the Great Allegheny Passage, the 150-mile rail trail that will take us all the way to Pittsburgh. The GAP begins with a 22-mile climb to the Continental Divide. The maximum grade is about 2%, which is not steep at all, but the length is the climb makes it a grueling affair. The mileposts seem to get further apart the higher you climb. At some point on the climb we crossed the Mason Dixon Line into Pennsylvania. A few miles after that we reached the high point of the day, the Eastern Continental Divide.  From t...

North Mountain campsite to Irons Mountain campsite, C&O Canal Towpath, 67 miles As daunting as biking across the continent seems, it does not compare to the man we shared the campsite with last night. He started walking across the country a year and a half ago from Seattle, pushing a buggy. I noted he's almost done, being just 110 miles from DC, but when he gets there he's walking the East Coast Greenway to Florida to complete his corner-to-corner walk.  Godspeed, Darren.  This morning we packed up and took the time to have a cup of coffee before departing (Mt. Hagan instant, which is surprisingly good). We rode 14 miles to the town of Hancock, Maryland where we had another great breakfast. More importantly, we showered at C&O Bicycle. At ten dollars, a shower it is worth every penny. Don't let the doors fool you. It was a great shower. At Hancock we made an unfortunate decision: we decided to leave the C&O Canal Towpath and p...

Huckleberry Hill campsite to North Mountain campsite, C&O Canal Towpath We woke up around 6:00 AM, after going too sleep soon after 8:00 PM. It rained hard during the night, so we had to put our tents away wet. Clothes we had washed never dried. Mine went under a cargo net stretched over my rear panniers. With the great weather we had they were mostly dry by the time we reached the next camp. I made my first mistake of the trip (first of many, I suppose) by leaving one of my panniers open in the rain. Fortunately everything inside was ok with a little moisture. I just last them out to dry at the next camp. We left camp at 7:30. Being hungry and without much water we headed for Shepardstown for breakfast, 10 miles and an hour away. Shepardstown is across the river from Sharpsburg, the site of Antietam. I would have enjoyed visiting it but we have a long way to go. After refueling it was back to the green tunnel. We had a break at Honeywood Dam. At some point ...

Reagan National Economy Parking to Huckleberry Hill campsite, C&O Canal Towpath It took us a while to get going, but we finally departed around 10:15. It was sad to be leaving Lynn for what could be three months. I'm so happy she's been supportive of this. I have a fantastic wife. Getting out of DC was a bit of a nightmare. We took the Mount Vernon Trail to the Lincoln Memorial, then the Rock Creek Trail to Georgetown. There we got a little turned around by bad signage on multiple detours around construction, but eventually we made it to the tranquility of the C&O Canal Towpath. I suppose we let our exuberance get the better of us: we pedalled over 70 miles on our first day. The towpath rises, of course, but gradually. We climbed only 955 feet the entire da. Much of that was climbing up and down the hills of Georgetown trying to find the trail. There is definitely something of a green tunnel effect, but the trail has it's moments....

Earlier this month my wife and I drove across the US in our van. We made an overnight stop in Nashville to see John (my partner in this misadventure) and picked up his bike. It took some finagling to fit his bike in the van with mine, but we managed. We had to remove his front fender, and I eventually removed my front rack so it would no longer rattle against the back door of the van. This means we will have some rebuilding to do before we start our ride in Washington, DC, but it shouldn't be too bad. We left John's house and drove to Mount Airy, NC, to see my mom. We took a scenic route through the mountains of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, where people are still recovering from Hurricane Helene. Keep them in your thoughts. We also drove through Boone, where I went to school for four years. The student body has doubled since I was there, and I hardly recognized it. It is disconcerting to drive through a town I knew well at one time without being sure exactly ...