Day 3, Wednesday, April 23: the day of moderately bad mistakes
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 pedal the Western Maryland Rail Trail. It is paved, so we thought we could fly the 18 miles until it hooked up with the C&O.
However, a maelstrom of some sort hit the area last Friday. We had seen debris from trees along the C&O, but federal workers were doing a great job clearing the trail. We had only one tree to cross in the first two days. Let's hope they get to keep their jobs.
John at the sole Day 1 tree, wondering why the hell I was shooting video instead of helping him
The state-run Rail Trail was a different story. There was no evidence the state was clearing debris, but given the severity of the storm I expect state workers have higher priorities.
We went perhaps five miles on the Rail Trail, crossing 8 or 10 fallen trees. Going over was better than around because poison oak is everywhere. John and I are anxiously waiting to see if we got into it today.
After five miles or so we found a way to get back on the Towpath. However, we had another unfortunate accident. We stopped clean our legs with hand sanitizer, then bikes over a mile, mostly downhill, before John realized a bag was open and his dopp kit missing. He went back to look for it, and if course it was right on the post where we stopped to clean up. (I rode back with him, but only to the foot of the hill where I had a rest in a bench with a Snickers bar.)
At milepost 155 we reached the Paw Paw Tunnel, built between 1836 and 1850 to avoid building 12 miles of canal along The Potomac.
The tunnel is over half a mile long. You have to walk your bikes because the path is so narrow. It is dark, wet, and rough, but it is much, much better than taking the trail over the hill. That is a deeper cyclists had to take for the past two years as they worked on the tunnel. The detour is two miles long and has some tricky single-track.
After that it was smooth sailing. We had a quick stop in Oldtown, Maryland at the School House Kitchen, a restaurant and small grocery in a school that closed in 2000. We bought Gatorade, candy bars, protein bars, and a huge slab of cake, but John shared shared only two bites with me.
Then it was just a few more miles to our campsite at Irons Mountain. It is quite peaceful until the trains go by 100 yards away. Maybe we should have stayed seven miles back at Pigman's Ferry
Despite the mistakes, the day was good. We made some good distance, and there were many good things as well: the people we met, the food, the showers, the weather. I hope every day with obstacles is as good as yesterday.
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