Ride to Pittsburgh Day 1 - Home to the Hostel across from Harpers Ferry

 Max is starting a new year at Carnegie Mellon, and taking his stuff out there in my truck. I'm going to ride bike bike to Pittsburgh to get my truck back.

I'm going to camp the whole way, and take the C&O Canal Towpath and the Great Allegheny Passage trail. So I have all my camping gear. I'm not bringing cooking gear since there are plenty of places to eat along the route. The Titan of Touring there (Lynskey Backroads) is super stable and comfortable with this setup.

Here we are entering Ellicott City. The next 20 miles, to Mt. Airy, are pretty much all uphill.

I had lunch at this place by Mt. Airy a couple miles down 28 towards Damascus.

Looks like a dive bar, right? 

Except they have Thai Food. Check out my Pad Thai! It tastes like the monthly washing of the wok is coming up soon though.

I picked up the C&O Towpath at Point of Rocks, where there is this famous train station. It is in a shocking state of decay. Shame on CSX.

The towpath is so nice. The surface is super smooth in this part.

I'm staying at the Hostel, where there is no food nearby any more (the restaurant that used to be at 340 and Keep Tryst Road is closed.) So I got a sandwich to go at the Potomac Street Grill in Brunswick and ate it later. 

I've stayed at this hostel many time riding the towpath. It was out of business for a couple years after the pandemic, but it is open under new ownership now. I'm really glad it's open again. You can pitch a tent in the back yard for $20, and get a shower and hang out in the living room inside and talk to other cyclists.

It has the same maps on the walls as ever. This is great.

This was a pretty brutal day of riding. 69 miles, 4200 feet of climb, a couple 15% grades.
Here's the Strava Track: https://www.strava.com/activities/15504922062