Leader Times: WORKING VACATION – Bike packing 334 miles from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh
The following the second installment of a first-person account from Armstrong County Commissioner Anthony Shea regarding his recent bike trip from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh:
In my last article, I told of my bike trip starting in Washington DC and ultimately finishing 334 in Pittsburgh, PA using the C & O and GAP Trails. The goal of this series of articles is to highlight how bike trails reinvigorate the towns they traverse, and to promote our county’s own Armstrong Trails.
We left off in our last article finishing the day in Williamsport, MD completing 99 miles of the 334 mile bike trip.
We will now pick up the thread on day four.
Day four
July 25, the morning started with breakfast at the Waffle House next to the Williamsport Red Roof Inn.
After breakfast, it got real interesting, I agreed to do a live radio interview on 1020 KDKA AM and 100.1 FM hosted by Larry Richert and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) CEO, Rich Fitzgerald.
In our interview, I talked to Larry and Rich about the bike trip to that point, plus our plans for the upcoming day.
I also explained how the towns along the C & O Trail had truly benefitted from the trail, becoming conduits for business activity.
All in all, the interview went well.
This day would be an easy one for us, my wife, Kerry, daughter, Abby, and I, only had 24 miles on the itinerary to get from Williamsburg to Hancock, Md.
The C & O Trail again followed the old canal towpath with its familiar locks and aqueducts.
In places, the canal water was very green with algae; I truly hoped we did not have to purify this water in a pinch.
While biking, I received a call from my wife, Kerry who was a little behind us; she said she was stuck. I asked if she had an issue with her bike, a flat tire perhaps.
She said, “no, there’s a snake on the trail”.
I said, “just ride around it”. She said it was big enough to cross the entire width of the trail.
Eventually, the snake moved on and Kerry was able to proceed.
We arrived in Hancock, Mile Marker 124.1, relatively early in the day.
As we entered Hancock, we saw a large bike outfitter, C & O Bicycle, based right along the trail.
The business offered many services, and was a magnet for the passing bikers.
One of the services offered was a shuttle; Kerry and Abby opted to skip the 60 mile bike ride the next day and reserve a shuttle from Hancock to Cumberland, Md., instead.
Being saddle sore, I purchased padded bike shorts and a Cloud 9 bike seat; the seat supposedly sported the widest girth available at the shop.
Extra real estate for this part of the body, in the form of a padded seat, is a good thing.
That night, we stayed at a Super 8 in Hancock.
Luckily, there were no hills getting to the hotel. We had dinner that night at the close by Potomac Grill on U.S. Route 522.
Day five
July 26, Kerry and Abby parted ways with me in the morning taking the shuttle from Hancock to Cumberland, as I started my 60 plus mile bike trek to Cumberland on the C & O Trail.
The weather was perfect this morning with zero humidity and cool air.
The trail was perfect, albeit very remote, and I was moving along just enjoying the scenery.
That all changed in an instant when at about five miles into the ride, my back tire blew out.
Fortuitously, I broke down next to a picnic bench, if that is a consolation.
I easily took off the tire and changed the inner tube and re-inflated it.
The problem came when I tried to re-attach the back gear mechanism; I hope only the trees heard some of the expletives that I blurted out in the heat of the moment.
Right in the middle of wrangling with the chain, I received a call from my colleague, John Strate, who wanted to ask how the trip was going; I guess timing is everything.
I also received a call from my daughter, Abby who saw that I had not moved in almost an hour on her family locator.
She called to ensure I was alive and not in a ditch somewhere along the trail with buzzards circling over the carcass.
I finally got the bike all back together, though the wheel looked somewhat crooked.
It reminded me of the car repair scene in the National Lampoon’s Vacation movie where Clark Griswold jumped the family truckster and had it repaired at the shady garage.
Since I was able to proceed, I made my way down the trail.
The big casualty in all of this were my hands and arms up to my elbows were completely black with bicycle grease.
When I came to one of the hand pumped water wells (non-potable water), I tried to pump the water and wash up.
Let me tell you, using the pump for this type of operation is a two person job.
This would have been quite comical to watch if it weren’t me.
I also realized I did not have any soap, so I tried using dirt as a substitute with no success.
Things got worse when I wiped the sweat from my face as I biked down the trail and the dirt and grease also transferred to my face as well.
Luckily, there are no pictures.
Nonetheless, I proceeded onward and the miles passed quickly as I biked toward Cumberland; it seemed like I was biking through a green tunnel at points, with views of the Potomac River appearing every once in a while through the rare breaks in the foliage.
Every so often, I heard the distant echoes of train whistles from across the Potomac River but was never able to see any actual trains.
I saw a beaver climb out of the canal and jump right back into the water after taking a look at me; I’ll try not to draw any conclusions here.
I saw hundreds of turtles basking in the sun on the various logs that came out of the green canal water; they all stuck their heads straight up in the air.
It seemed like the biggest turtle got the top spot on the log.
I guess everyone wants to be the top dog, or turtle in this case.
I also saw a box turtle and a snake on the trail.
The next point of interest was the Paw Paw Tunnel at Mile Marker 155.2.
The incline on the C& O Trail increased as I got closer to the tunnel’s entrance.
Also present in this area were many tourists walking to and from the tunnel on either side of it.
The 3,118 foot long tunnel itself was very dark, with air cool wafting through it, with a rough walkway that paralleled the unseen canal below in the darkness.
Water dripped from the ceiling in places with the echoes amplified by the acoustics of the tunnel.
I used my I-phone’s flashlight app to guide my way through the tunnel.
I came upon a sign for the town of Oldtown, MD at Mile Marker 166.7; the town sort of reminded me of Templeton from Armstrong County.
Looking up the road into town, I saw a hand painted sign advertising food and drinks; I almost missed it.
I pedaled up to an old elementary school now turned restaurant/market and walked inside.
I am sure I looked very rough at this point with my grease stained face, arms and hands, plus not having shaved for a week.
The sweet older lady behind the counter did not even seem fazed one bit by my appearance as she took my food order (bless her soul).
I was finally able to clean up in the restroom while my food was being cooked.
The air conditioned room, coupled with being cleaned up and eating a good meal were like nirvana at this point.
Other bike packers came and left as I ate.
I relaxed for a while in the cool air.
With approximately 18 more miles to go to Cumberland, I got back on the trail. The C & O Trail still had its typical locks and aqueducts.
The scenery changed as I got closer to Cumberland with the trees opening up to sweeping views of the Potomac River, the city of Cumberland, and mountains in the distance.
Ironically, about five minutes out from my destination point for the day, the YouTube account on my iPhone spontaneously started, and randomly played the live version of Neil Diamond’s song “America”.
It seemed kind of fitting, so I cranked up the volume as I finished up the 184.4 mile C & O Trail portion of the trip.
Waiting on the trail at the C & O Terminus were my wife, Kerry and daughter, Abby. It was good seeing them.
I think they were taking bets on whether I would make it or not.
We walked into the Fairfield Inn which was right off the trail.
The hotel was fully equipped to accommodate bike packers.
The town of Cumberland appears to have fully embraced the C & O and Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trails.
From bike shops to restaurants, all the businesses around the trails appeared to cater to the cyclists.
There were many bike racks around town, and even bike lockers.
We later ate dinner at the Crabby Pig Restaurant.
Multiple folks kept recommending this restaurant as we biked up the C & O Trail.
We all had their specialty, crab cakes and lobster bisque soup.
Even with the padded bike shorts, I was reminded of my saddle soreness sitting on the hard wooden seats at the restaurant.
As we left the restaurant, a concert was playing in the park adjacent to the hotel.
We listened to it for a while in the waning evening sunlight and warm summer breeze.
Day six
July 27, Kerry and Abby drove back to Leechburg in the morning, as I started my journey on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trail from Cumberland to Meyersdale, PA.
The trip out of Cumberland on the GAP Trail was literally uphill for the first 24 miles to the Eastern Continental Divide.
Cumberland is at 605 feet above sea level and the Eastern Continental Divide 2,392’ above sea level for a 1,787 feet elevation gain.
Without fail, folks on E-bikes asked if I were “ok” each time I got off my bike and walked for a few minutes here and there; I held back my sarcastic comments and just re-assured them I was good to go.
The first notable milestone on the GAP Trail was the Bone Cave at Mile Marker 4.0.
During the excavation of this section of railroad, 44 different types of mammal fossils were discovered, of which, 16% of them are now extinct.
A couple of the now extinct fossils found at the site were the Pleistocene cave bear and saber toothed tiger cat.
Some of these fossils are on exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.
Tourist used the adjacent railroad tracks by this section of the GAP Trail to take some type of pedal powered rail car back down the long hill.
Mile Marker 15.5 offered a trail access point into Frostburg, MD; the parking lot here overflowed with cars with bike racks.
The GAP Trail crossed the Mason Dixon line at Mile Marker 20.5.
The Mason Dixon Line is the pre-Civil War demarcation line between Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Many of folks here were snapping pictures of the marker.
The trail had a couple smaller tunnels, such as the Brush Tunnel and Borden Tunnel; but, the longest tunnel on the bike trip was the Big Savage Tunnel at 3,294.6 feet long.
Again, the tunnel seemed to draw a lot of tourists to it.
The trail close to the Continental Divide offered many sweeping views of the valleys and mountains in the distance under a cloudless sapphire blue sky.
Many large windmills could be seen churning on distant mountain tops.
I found all of this truly awe inspiring.
One of the main milestones for the day was crossing over the Eastern Continental Divide at Mile Marker 23.7.
The Eastern Continental Divide is the point where water east of it goes to the Atlantic Ocean and west of it flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
At this point, the GAP Trail was all downhill for the next eight miles to my stop for the night in Meyersdale, PA (Mile Marker 31.9).
This area of the GAP Trail had a boreal forest feel to it, with its thick canopy of Canadian hemlocks and rhododendrons lining the trail.
I pulled into Meyersdale relatively early for the day at about 12:30 p.m.
Adjacent to the GAP Trail in Meyersdale was a refurbished train station turned museum and tourist center.
The center had a lot of pictures and artifacts from the early railroad days.
The museum also had a room with a large miniature railroad train display.
The train station was a hub of activity for promoting Meyersdale tourism.
Volunteers fielded questions that ranged from the history of the area, to places to eat and stay.
I personally pre-reserved a room for the night at Yoder’s Bed and Breakfast.
Check-in at Yoder’s was very simple.
I talked at length with one of the co-owners of the B&B, a husband and wife team; he said the trail accounted for about 85% of their business which lasted from spring to fall with the winter months being slow.
With my wardrobe limited, I chose to eat at the Take Six Pizza & Subs restaurant versus the fancier White House restaurant in town.
This is where we will end this installment of the trail series.
The last installment will detail the GAP Trail from Meyersdale, PA to its terminus at Point State Park in Pittsburgh to include my guest riders on the last day.
Additionally, I will detail both the current state, and future plans for the bike trails in and around Armstrong County.
View the full article at leadertimes.com.