GAP/C&O Day 4 - Cumberland to Hancock

 We're at the Super 8 in Hancock. When you go up to the desk to check in, the nice lady working here will eventually notice that you are wearing a mask, and then gradually it will dawn on her that maybe she should be wearing a mask too, and then she will go back in the office and rummage around for awhile, then finally emerge with a mask on to check you in. The parking lot here is full of giant fancy pickup trucks with huge TRUMP flags mounted in the back. 

We rolled out of Cumberland around 8:30. The Fairfield Inn is right next to the trail. So convenient. Almost everyone staying there appeared to be bike touring.

It seems Maryland has banned coffee machines in motel rooms because pandemic. So you have to go downstairs to get coffee. The Fairfield has put the coffee behind the front desk. So when you wander downstairs at 6:30 half asleep because you have had no coffee and have forgotten that face masks even exist, they will hand you a mask and not give you coffee until you are wearing it. This is clever.

The ride today started with 45 scenic and historic miles on the very rough and bumpy C&O towpath. These pictures are about 10 miles from Cumberland where Jim had to fix a flat, so I sat around and took pictures.

We stopped for lunch right before the Paw Paw tunnel. There is a little park there with picnic tables. We ate some of our Pepperoni Rolls from Caporale's Bakery in Cumberland, and fruit, yogurt, and bagels from our breakfast go-bag from the Fairfield, which I like more and more.

The Paw Paw tunnel is a tunnel with a canal running through it. You don't see that every day.

It was especially dark and scary today, and the towpath is in worse shape than I've every seen it. It's barely rideable. I hear there are going to close it next year for a thorough renovation. All the holes in the brick walls do not inspire confidence.

Here is the exit to the Paw Paw tunnel, with boy for scale. I so wish I had thought of taking this picture when Max and I rode this 5 years ago.

We took a break at Bill's Place in Little Orleans, which is a favorite stop. We sat on the porch for awhile.

This is where we left the bumpy, unpaved towpath for the smooth paved Western Maryland Rail Trail, which in the last couple years has been extended to Bill's Place. Except for the Indigo Tunnel, where bats live. That is blocked by giant iron grates, and you have to ride around it for two miles on the towpath. But it is so incredibly great switching to the WMRT. We get 10 more miles of it tomorrow morning, to Fort Frederick.

We were in to Hancock by 4 pm.

There is a really nice restaurant in Hancock called Buddy Lou's. Full bar, great food, and many socially distant picnic tables outside. So we decided to walk the 0.7 miles to Buddy Lou's and when we are almost there, we run into four guys we met riding the trail today walking the other way. They said Buddy Lou's is closed because one of the servers tested postive for COVID yesterday. Crap.

There are not many other open businesses in Hancock these days. You can buy antiques, but the store with these guys in the window might not actually be in business any more. Go figure.



Anyway, our long, sad hike back to the Super 8 goes right by this Sheetz gas station and beer store next door. Dinner was a couple brats, some fried mozzarella sticks, and a Yuengling tall boy.

I wish I was in a tent after eating a backpacker meal today.

Here is today's Strava page:
https://www.strava.com/activities/4111498623

GAP/C&O Day 3 - Confluence to Cumberland

We are at the Fairfield Inn in Cumberland. It was another fantastic day of perfect weather and spectacular scenery.

Jim went Frostburg State College (now University. Jim: "I'm glad I didn't graduate from FU") 10 miles up the road, so we had to do a couple things for College Days Nostalgia purposes. 

First, we had to get some Pepperoni Rolls from Caporale's Bakery, which we will eat on the road for lunch in the wilds of Western Maryland where there are no restaurants. This was another mad rush because they close at 5:00 and we didn't realize this until we could connect to the Internet via the Fairfield Inn Wifi at 4:45.

Second, we had to get some Chili Dogs from Curtis' Famous Weiners. See Jim? He is happy because he is full of weiners.

(Yes, spellcheck has informed me that this culinary delicacy is spelled "wieners". I had to override it.)

Those are Pepperoni Rolls strapped to the back of my bike.

On the way back to the hotel, we grabbed some beer at the new brewery which is basically across the parking lot. Then did laundry. We are all set for the rest of the ride.

Usually when you leave Confluence, you cross the river on the bike trail on a railroad bridge. For whatever reason, we left this time on the regular road, and I realized you can still make out "Western Maryland Railway" painted on the bridge. 



I love to find these surviving signs of historical railroads.

Around 10:30, Jim had to take a work call. Which he did beside the trail.

Of course as soon as he is on the call, a train comes by. LOL.



While I'm waiting around, I noticed the really cool super-tiny mushrooms growing out of the top of a post.



Sometimes it is good to be forced to stop and notice things.

One scenic highlight of the day was the Salisbury Viaduct, right before Meyersdale. Here's the entrance.

And here a view from out on the start of it. It's 1700 feet long, and 100 feet above the valley below. It was built in 1911. No vertigo issues here. None at all. Nope.

Those windmills in the distance on on Big Savage Mountain. Cumberland is on the other side of that mountain. But no worries. We don't have to ride over the mountain. We ride through it!

Here's Jim approaching the entrance to the Big Savage Tunnel.



It's 3000 feet long. And when you get out of it, you see the panoramic view at the top of this post, and IT'S ALL DOWNHILL 22 MILES TO CUMBERLAND!!!!

There is no need to stop, and actually no need to even turn the pedals. You can coast the whole way. Unless of course there are women drinking beer on horseback blocking your way.

You don't see this on our local trails. Western Maryland is a special place. Hi ladies!

It's also worth stopping to take a picture of the "Lover's Leap" rocks just before Cumberland.



So here we are, done with the Great Allegheny Passage, at Mile 0.

And here is the campsite for tonight.

Here is the Strava page for today's ride. Check out the elevation profile!
https://www.strava.com/activities/4107704763

GAP/C&O Day 2 - Connellsville to Confluence

 It's 1:30 in the afternoon. I'm starting this post early because I have a great deal of time to kill today.

My friend Jim is meeting up with me this afternoon to join the tour for a few days. Since he couldn't get off work on Tuesday, he rented a car this morning one way to Uniontown, and he's going to ride 20 miles or so from there to just past Connellsville, on busy roads with big hills. Then we are going to ride on the trail for 25 miles to Confluence for the night.

Since my campground was only a couple miles before Connellsville, today is been an exercise in killing time. Which does not involve much killing time on the Internet, because the cell coverage is very slow, especially for uploading photos.

So I dawdled around breaking camp until around 11:00, sitting in the nice warm sun. Then I rode into Connellsville and got some pulled pork nachos for lunch, at a nice place called The Kickstand Kitchen that caters to people riding the GAP and has picnic tables in the back. 

Then I rode around town to find a place to sit where I can recharge devices. I scouted the primitive campground right at the edge of town, but it has no electric. It does have a neat old B&O caboose, some Adirondack shelters, and it's right behind a supermarket and pizza shop. Noted for future reference.

I'm now sitting at a nice picnic pavilion overlooking the river, which has an outlet at every picnic table. It's 1:45. I probably have another hour and a half to wait. Fingers crossed that we won't be pitching camp in the dark.

(Finishing this up a day later, since there has been no Internet)

Jim texted me when he got on the road in Uniontown, so I rode out to where he would joint the trail around 3:00. 

Right by where I was waiting for Jim, there was an old Metal Post of Obvious Significance. I know this because it has a shelter built to protect it by a local Eagle Scout troop, who thoughtfully put their name on a placard on the shelter. So what's the metal post for? Beats the hell out of me. The Eagle Scouts didn't bother to explain the significance of the metal post. It must be obvious to them.

Anyway, Jim showed up around 3:15, way earlier than I expected. No problem knocking off the 25 miles to Confluence before dark.

Ohiopyle is halfway to Confluence. For those unfamiliar with Ohiopyle, it's a big center for outdoor recreation due to the nearby rapids in the Yoghiogheny River, and the GAP trail, and the Laurel Highlands hiking trail.

And it's completely deserted, which is very sad and bizarre.

So around 6:00 we got to Confluence to the Outflow Campground, which is an Army Corps of Engineers site next to a huge dam. We had our tents set up, and some local guy comes by on his bike and chats us up. "Where should we eat?" There are lots of restaurants in town (normally) but he lets us know most of them are closed either because of the pandemic, or because it's Wednesday. But there is a pizza place in the gas station in the center of town, but they close at 7.

So we hustled over to the pizza place in the gas station. We just got there in time, I got some wings and Jim got a meatball sub. We had to eat inside.

But because of the rushing around, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of our campsite until after dark.

This is a pretty nice campsite. There is a dedicated hiker/biker area, no reservation required, and nobody there to collect the $8 fee. The real great part of camping here is lots of good birds. There was a Great Horned Owl calling all night, and an Eastern Screech Owl calling before dawn.

Here is the Strava track for today:
https://www.strava.com/activities/4103728644

GAP/C&O Day 1 - Pittsburgh to Connellsville

 I'm at the KOA a mile before Connellsville, 58 miles down the trail.

For just $18, I get to pitch my tent in the bike tourist area, take a shower, cook dinner and eat it on the picnic table, charge all devices from the outlets right by my tent, and connect to the Internet on fast wifi.

WHAT A DEAL I AM SO HAPPY.

I rode by three primitive campsite with nothing but pit toilets, not even water, holding out for a campsites that would have cell coverage. Every time I rode by a primitive site, I mentally criticized myself for not staying at the beautiful primitive site because I want Internet. And feeling doom that I will end up at the Comfort Inn in Meyersdale. But I am now camped. And I get a shower. Win win win.

It was a late night last night for me, so I wasn't fast getting going in the morning, especially since it was really cold out. So I dawdled around until just before 10, and it turned out to be a super nice day, temps around 70, and sunny. 

(Picture of Pittsburgh)

My plan here is to do good social distancing, so I'm avoiding eating in restaurants, unless I think it's safe. Lunch was a score, at Rich's Parkside Inn, right next to the trail in Boston, PA, and picnic tables in the parking lot. I was the only person sitting out there.

                                                                       
My favorite restaurant on this part of the trail, The Trailside in West Newton, was crowded, tables on the outdoor balcony too close together, and I went by it too early for dinner, and too late for lunch. So not this time. 

So for dinner, I had a backpacker Beef Stroganoff meal I cooked at my campsite on my camp stove. It was delicious!

There are three families doing long distance bike tours in the campsite with me. Lots of good stories to share. The Campeur is getting much admiration.

Here is the Strava track for today:
https://www.strava.com/activities/4098990325

GAP/C&O Day 0 - Riding to the Train Station then to the Hotel in Pittsburgh

 At long last, it's time for another bike tour! The Cornoavirus pandemic seems to have settled down enough that this should not be too risky. Just to be extra save, I'm planning on more camping and cooking, and less hotels and restaurants.

Here's the bike, all packed and ready to go. Everything is tuned up, lubed, smooth, and perfect. The only thing not exactly as I want is the tires. The cool white tires are not great on gravel, and not so durable, so I had ordered some Schwalbe Marathons, which the post office failed to deliver as scheduled on Saturday, and lied about making an attempt. "Delivery location not accessable." "Then how come Amazon delivered me some inner tubes within a half hour of when my front porch was unaccessable?"

me, Saturday: "I'm leaving Monday and I need the tires I ordered tomorrow."
Amazon, Saturday: "We will make another delivery attempt tomorrow."
me: Sunday afternoon: "Where are my tires?"
Amazon: "Let me get the Post Office on a 3 way call."
me, on three way call: "Amazon says there was supposed to be a delivery attempt today."
Post Office: "No there wasn't. We won't try again until Monday."

I chewed out both Amazon and the Post Office for that. At least my bike looks extra cool with the white tires. I'm bringing two spares.

Strava and the pandemic are inspiring extra nerdiness in route selections. I've found a couple web sites that will analyze my Strava data and display it in many new and interesting ways. 

First is Wandrer. Every ride, they tell me if I went on any new roads I've never ridden before. They have this big overview map that shows every road I've ever ridden. 

So this is just encouragement to ride on new roads whenever possible. And the low, low traffic due to the pandemic means this is a great time to fill in some unridden segments on roads that would normally be busy, like Route 1 and New Hampshire Ave. 

The other site I like for analyzing Strava data is Veloviewer. One of the things they do is divide the world up into squares, and then keep track of what squares you've visited. They also show you your "big square", which is the biggest square area where you have visited all the squares.

Which is just encouragement to go out of my way a few miles to visit more squares. I added 12 squares on this ride to DC! And I'm close to adding three new rows on the west side of my big square!

Here is where I entered DC from Takoma Park on Kansas Avenue. Checking off squares leads you to some really interesting roads and areas that you would never visit otherwise. Kansas Ave to 5th Street NW is a really nice route into DC.

I swear Cube Smart is the most evil blight on the landscape ever.

And the ride to the train station is finished. Such a great building.

But inside, there are almost no people. It's like after the apocalypse. There are still some of the restaurants open in the basement, but they've taken out all the tables and chairs where you can sit and eat. The only sit-down option was Johnny Rockets, so that's what I did. Good mask wearing in the train station, except for people who work there, who were often leaving the nose or mouth uncovered. 

Amtrak has this fantastic service where you can hang your bike in the baggage car, no disassembly, so simple and easy. But there are only 8 hangers on a train, so you have to reserve them. Amtrak said none were available, so I had to box the bike. Amtrak sells extra-big bike boxes, so this is not hard. You remove the pedals, rotate the handlebars, and roll the bike into the box. 

I got myself a coach seat on the train. Only $45, and another $25 to bring the bike in the box. In coach, you are supposed to be wearing your mask at all times. There was very low compliance with this rule. 

So I am riding the train, and look what I see in the lower level of my car! WTF Amtrak.

That's my bike box bottom right. And I see SIX unused bike hangers. Why could I not get a hanger? These were unused my whole trip, it's not that they were all reserved by people getting on in Cumberland. And I've hung my bike on the train to Pittsburgh before, so it's not that you can't unload a from the hanger in Pittsburgh.

Anyway, it's so nice to be bike touring. I'm in a heavily discounted ($75!) room on the 19th floor of the Doubletree a half mile from the train station. It's very posh.

Here are the Strava tracks for today:
https://www.strava.com/activities/4093092041
and

https://www.strava.com/activities/4095014540

RAGBRAI Day 7 - Burlington to Keokuk

Max has been away from home for five weeks. He mentions this to me often. He was at a 3 week Center for Talented Youth class before our two weeks of bike riding. So he is very eager to finish RAGBRAI and get an early start on the long drive home.

He was so excited to be heading home he rode the first 36 miles of the last day of RAGBRAI without a break. We were into Keokuk by 1:30, it was 66 miles.

See how happy Max is? At this point, after four RAGBRAIs, he is a total veteran. He does all the things RAGBRAI riders do as a matter of routine.

It was a beautiful day for riding, sunny, not too hot. Lots of headwinds though. Nonetheless, there was lemonade, cookies, and unicorns.

That unicorn is a sprinkler. Many people deploy sprinklers, misters, and kids with super soaker squirt guns along the side of the road to give the bike riders some cool refreshing relief.

I told one row of kids with super soakers to soak the kid riding behind me. The all blasted me instead. It's like the post-Millenial generation is one giant team.

Our first stop had this very cool rat rod parked out front. Note the GPS system on the radiator cap.

Even though we got in at 1:30, we were not on the road until 3:00. There are certain chores that need doing before we could leave, like loading the truck, organizing our stuff, and buying all the Moose Drool in Keokuk, Iowa.

Max did not consider buying all the Moose Drool to be a productive use of time.
Max: "Why are you getting a shopping cart?"
me: "I'm going to buy all the Moose Drool. It's possible we will need two shopping carts, but if we do, we can always get another one."

Sadly, all the Moose Drool is only a single six pack, so I got some other stuff too.

Max: "You don't need so much beer."
me: "It's not like I'm going to drink it all at once."
me: "I'm going to savor it."
me: "Over a period of several hours."

We made it to Champaign, Illinois, tired and happy. One more day of driving and we will be home.

Here is the Strava track.

RAGBRAI Day 6 - Fairfield to Burlington

We are all strong and happy today, and we had a very nice 70 mile ride, in lovely weather over mostly flat terrain.

The culinary wonders of Iowa have been destroying my recently installed healthy eating habits.

Yes, they had a bin piled high of strawberry rhubarb fry pies. So good. This is at a random Amish farm by the side of the road. Max had a giant cinnamon roll.

Next up, at Houghton, I took the required RAGBRAI photo of Max sitting in a giant tractor wheel. He decided to look happy in this photo, because he accepts that during RAGBRAI he must be photographed sitting in a giant tractor wheel. It's part of the event.

This was in Houghton, which was in the middle of the ride and nearly 20 miles to the next town. So we had lunch, even though it was only 10:30. I had a very tasty chicken burrito and smoothie from Garden of Eden, who have the best smoothies on RAGBRAI (secret ingredient is cantelope).

We did have a delicious lime ade from the lime ade guy by the side of the road 10 miles later, so we did not have to do the whole 20 miles in one shot. And the "town" was Geode State Park, which had food trucks by the lake in the middle of the park which was followed by a brutal climb up away from the lake.

Dinner tonight was another adventure. Our charter has several special events throughout the week. One event is ice cream sundaes. Another is when they cater dinner. But tonight was the best of all, when they have their favorite local band plan and they hold happy hour with margaritas.

I mean what could be better than having margaritas while sitting in a plastic stackable chair while listening to this?

The answer is obvious! All of the above, but the song is Rocky Top!

Watching Jim and Murray and I drink margaritas while listening to boring dad music all afternoon eventually drove Max crazy and he me get up off my white plastic chair and do something about getting him some dinner.

The problem is that our charter is out on the outskirts of town at the county fairgrounds, far from any food, except at the gas station across the street. (Max: No way Dad).

But wait, the county fair is actually going on right this minute! They have food trucks! Let's go check it out! Yes. Funnel cakes and three different trucks selling smoked meat and barbeque! (Max: No way Dad).

The boy says we are going to a sit-down restaurant with air conditioning. And he will find one with Google Maps. (Max: a mile and a half down the highway, 4.3 stars.)

So we get on our bikes, and ride down the highway to this alleged restaurant. Past Menards. Past WalMart. We get to the Kohls. Across from Kohls is a Toro commercial lawn mower dealer in an industrial park. The sign at the park entrance says there is a tenant called "Uncle Ronnie's Bar and Grill". Max says turn here.

So we head into the industrial park. Behind the mower dealer is a windowless building covered in aluminum barn siding. That would be Uncle Ronnie's. We go in.

It's a restaurant, full of regular Iowa people. It was great. No waiting in lines. Way off the RAGBRAI radar. I had another margarita!

Here is the Strava track for today.