I have a neighbor in Northern Virginia who for the last few summers has been joining friends to do an annual four or five day bike trip to Pittsburgh. It's about 330 miles via crushed stone type surfaces. The first half is on the C&O Canal trail and second half on the Great Allegheny Passage trail. Both segments are very scenic and relatively quiet. It's a beautiful way to get outdoors and get some exercise. I finally joined his group, but I'm not real hardcore so I just did the first day with them on Wednesday 8/10/16, about a 75 bike ride on the C&O Canal tow path from Wash DC area to Sheperdstown, WV. It was hot and dusty, but beautiful. Thankfully, our pace was pretty slow, ~10 MPH. Nonetheless, this was a serious endurance test for me. Including a 45 min lunch stop mid-way and a few other rest stops I was on a bike from 915am to 615pm. I started getting leg cramps around the 60 mile mark. We took a swim in the Potomac River near Harpers Ferry, WV at that point and I was able to finish last 15 miles. I was spent at the end when my wife picked me up for the 90 minute car ride back home to Northern VA. The guys I rode with were a big help in keeping me motivated and rolling. They are still on the ride as I post this.
Start
Taking a short break about 15 miles into the ride at Great Falls on the Potomac River. That is the old C&O Canal in the foreground. It's a National Historical Park and has a fascinating history. It closely parallels the Potomac River (source of water to fill canal) and was built around 1830-1840.
The builders of the C&O Canal were hoping to connect all the way to the Ohio River as a means to transport cargo and goods westward, but the railroads made it obsolete over time and they stopped construction in Cumberland, MD after completing about 185 miles. The trail we rode is the former towpath for the mules that pulled barges through the canal. The whole route is flat like a railroad bed and makes for comfortable bike riding.
This is White's Ferry, where we ate lunch about halfway through the ride. Humans have operated a ferry crossing the Potomac River here since 1817.
This is the restored Catoctin Creek aqueduct (mile 50), one of the many aqueducts along the trail. The brown flat trough to right would have been full of water for the narrow barges to float through. That is a CSX train passing on far right in this photo.
This is near Harpers Ferry, WV. We took a refreshing swim in the Potomac at about the 60 mile mark of our ride.
Quite a few rafters passed by while we were swimming.
Fortunately, the C&O Canal trail is quite shady because it was low 90s degs and humid on the day of my ride and even hotter in the DC area since then.
End of my ride. The bridge in background leads to nearby Sheperdstown, WV where the guys were staying in a motel for the night. Believe we had traveled 73.5 miles at this point.
My wife was nice enough to drive out and bring me back home, but not before we spotted a fine German restaurant and got a great meal at the Bavarian Inn. It was pretty fancy and I was grateful no one gave me a hard time for smelling like river water.
After dinner outside the Bavarian Inn, Sheperdstown, WV.
If I try this sort of ride again next year I'm going to take at least one 60 mile training ride beforehand. I do a fair amount of bike riding/commuting during the summer, but nine hours on a bike is a lot different than 90 minutes on a bike! I want to avoid hitting the wall next time
A nice wall in Shepardstown, WV:
Start
Taking a short break about 15 miles into the ride at Great Falls on the Potomac River. That is the old C&O Canal in the foreground. It's a National Historical Park and has a fascinating history. It closely parallels the Potomac River (source of water to fill canal) and was built around 1830-1840.
The builders of the C&O Canal were hoping to connect all the way to the Ohio River as a means to transport cargo and goods westward, but the railroads made it obsolete over time and they stopped construction in Cumberland, MD after completing about 185 miles. The trail we rode is the former towpath for the mules that pulled barges through the canal. The whole route is flat like a railroad bed and makes for comfortable bike riding.
This is White's Ferry, where we ate lunch about halfway through the ride. Humans have operated a ferry crossing the Potomac River here since 1817.
This is the restored Catoctin Creek aqueduct (mile 50), one of the many aqueducts along the trail. The brown flat trough to right would have been full of water for the narrow barges to float through. That is a CSX train passing on far right in this photo.
This is near Harpers Ferry, WV. We took a refreshing swim in the Potomac at about the 60 mile mark of our ride.
Quite a few rafters passed by while we were swimming.
Fortunately, the C&O Canal trail is quite shady because it was low 90s degs and humid on the day of my ride and even hotter in the DC area since then.
End of my ride. The bridge in background leads to nearby Sheperdstown, WV where the guys were staying in a motel for the night. Believe we had traveled 73.5 miles at this point.
My wife was nice enough to drive out and bring me back home, but not before we spotted a fine German restaurant and got a great meal at the Bavarian Inn. It was pretty fancy and I was grateful no one gave me a hard time for smelling like river water.
After dinner outside the Bavarian Inn, Sheperdstown, WV.
If I try this sort of ride again next year I'm going to take at least one 60 mile training ride beforehand. I do a fair amount of bike riding/commuting during the summer, but nine hours on a bike is a lot different than 90 minutes on a bike! I want to avoid hitting the wall next time
A nice wall in Shepardstown, WV:
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