I Want to Ride My Bicycle - Day 4

Day 4:

The C & O Canal Trail was done.  It was now time to tackle the Greater Allegheny Passage (GAP) and the beginning of it would be the hardest.

I was up and out of the hotel at 7ish.  I hit the nearby McDonalds for a quick breakfast sandwich and went down the streets to the bike shop and mile zero of the GAP.

Mile Zero

I lubed up the chain and other mechanics and hit the trail at 7:25am.  The plan for the day was to get this uphill out of the way, then have lunch in Meyersdale and then make Confluence to camp at the outflow campsite.  This would once again be a little over 60 miles, so I thought a little about maybe pressing on to Ohiopyle at 72 miles.  We would see how the day went.

Now the trail guides make mention of the grade the first 23 miles of the GAP and say it isn't too bad, and looking back, it really wasn't too terrible.  It was just slow and the day was going to be hot.  I just pushed along as people flew past me going down grade and passed a couple leisurely bikers on my way up to Savage Tunnel and then the Eastern Continental Divide. I would also be entering PA today.

As I made my way up the trail I came to Brush Tunnel.  At 914' long, I figured this wasn't a big deal, so I didn't rig any lights.  Besides it was paved and I could see the exit clearly.  It was a really weird feeling as the light from the entrance faded and I found myself in the pitch black middle.  I could feel myself moving, but had no other sensory input other than seeing the exit getting larger in small increments.  It was quite an experience and I'm thankful it was a totally smooth surface as I rode through.  I'm sure one bump would have sent me careening into the wall.

Exit to Borden Tunnel

Eventually I reached Frostburg, MD.  The trailhead was quite nice.  There was actually some little electronic kiosk thing that you could look up lodging, food, camping information for the nearby towns and print out the info.  Pretty cool.  I walked up a needless switchback to get some water at the top of the hill where a campground was.  It was still pretty early and no one was stirring in the area, but I found a bike wash station and filled up my liter bottle and walked down the road which went straight to the trailhead.  Much easier.

I continued on, climbing as I went.  Just going steady and not worrying about how much time it was taking to get the first 23 miles done.  I would stop when I felt like it and take a short break.  I would also stop at every information board I would see, just to rest and also to read the interesting facts about the area.

Looking into PA from MD

One of the places I stopped was Bone Cave.  This cave was discovered in 1912 when they were putting in the railroad and it contained a whole bunch of bones from prehistoric and extinct animals.  It seemed pretty interesting, but as you can see, wasn't something that was open to the public.

Bone Cave

When I came to the next tunnel, the Borden Tunnel which was 957' long, I took the time to rig my lights.  It was a little less disorienting, but still a little spooky in the middle of the tunnel.  I'm really glad they took the time to pave the surface though.

I was about 20 miles in and it was time to leave Maryland.  I crossed the Mason-Dixon Line and took a little break, ate a snack and then moved on.

Mason-Dixon Line

 Shortly after that is Savage Tunnel.  This is a pretty long one at 3294', but it has lights.  Well, mostly has lights.  It is closed in the winter to avoid deterioration that the railroad had to deal with over the years, but was wide open today.  Every once and awhile a light would be out and the darkness would gather around your for a few seconds until the next light's glow would help you along.  It was a nice ride and was pretty cool inside.  I pleasant relief from the hot day.

Savage Tunnel Entrance

 After the tunnel, you round a bend and you can see it.  The Eastern Continental Divide.  Your uphill battle is almost done.  I got to the tunnel that marks the divide and stopped to take a break.  There was a family of three out for a day ride and we had a nice conversation about our rides.  From there I started down hill.

Eastern Continental Divide

 I noticed right away that the going was easier.  My speed crept up to a high for the day.  I was able to keep a constant 13 to 15 mph as I moved along.  It had taken me almost four hours to climb that 23 miles, but I was moving now.

As I was riding along, a guy came up on me from behind.  I thought he was going to buzz on past and leave me behind, but he matched my speed and we started a nice conversation.  It turns out his name was Steve and he said he was one of the people responsible for the trail.  He said he is friends with Mary Shaw and Roy Weil, two very active supporters of the trail and told a lot of how the trail was made as we sped along towards Meyersdale, PA, my lunch stop for the day.

Before I knew it, we were crossing the road that marked Meyersdale.  After doing 23 miles in almost four hours, I had just done another 10 in 40 minutes.  I liked going "down hill".  Steve told me that a Sheetz was just down the hill, so I single mindedly just started down instead of looking around.  It was quite a downhill, that I had to walk back up.  If I would have stopped at the refurbished train station/visitor center for a bit, I would have seen that everything I needed was within a few hundred feet of the trail, but it wasn't a big deal.

After my lunch, I moved on down the trail.  At Rockwood, I picked up the Casselman River and started following along.  Every so often a spring or stream would come cascading down the hillside to meet the river.  This was a pretty cool waterfall that was right next to the trail.

Cascade

 Also, as I approached Rockwood, I passed the Husky Haven Campground.  It was right next to the trail and each campsite had a little A-Frame to keep wood in, which was provided.  It seemed like a nice place to stop on another trip, but not today.  Onward I rolled.
After Rockwood, I came to the Pinkerton Tunnel, which was closed.  Instead the trail followed the river around the hillside and back again.  There was something weird going on on the hillside.  It kinda looked like a landfill or maybe a strip mine reclamation.

I arrived in Confluence before 4pm and knew I was good to go another 10 miles.  I filled up on water and kept riding down stream, but now I was following the Youghiogheny River and would follow it all the way to Pittsburgh.

I arrived in Ohiopyle and stopped at an information booth.  There was an older gent on a recumbent bike also taking a break.  We talked a while and discussed the merits of the strange bike he rode.  I'm sure my ass and hands would be feeling  a might different if I had one of those, even though they look weird.

Onward I continued across the river twice as it does a horseshoe bend around the town.  I eventually came to a sign point up a path to the campground.  And I do mean up.  I had to climb the ridge along this path.  I saw two others start up just ahead of me and we walked up together pushing our heavy bikes.  They were part of a boy scout group that had biked here a couple days, were going to raft tomorrow and then bike back to their starting point outside Pittsburgh.  They proudly stated that they had ridden 40 miles today and looked at me like I was either crazy or lying when I said I had done 72.

Eventually we got to the top of the trail.  After talking to their road support guy, I found I had to continue on to the contact station and register for a site.  It wasn't as bad as the path and I eventually got there paid my resident fee (using my Dad's address) and ordered some firewood to be delivered by the Camp Host.

I checked out the site and found two suitable trees to hang my hammock and was all settled in and headed to the shower by about 6:30pm.  I had a nice dinner, a nice fire and hit the hammock just as the woods were getting dark.

Hammock set up

Campfire

It had been a tough, but productive day as my bike computer said I had gone 77.25 miles. (It is never quite right, even though I it set up as per the directions.  I know I didn't ride that much more than the posted mileage).  I was at milepost 72 and had chalked up 7 hours 56 minutes of ride time and a total of 9 hours and 35 minutes travel time for the day.  I had about 78 miles to go to hit The Point and then a few more after that to reach the home of my childhood.  I was riding home...

I Want to Ride My Bicycle - Day 2

The night was spent pleasantly enough.  If you like leg cramps that radiate through every muscle and tendon of your legs, that is.  The mixture of riding 66 plus miles and a little bit of dehydration made my body complain a bit as I tossed and turned in my hammock throughout the night.  No rain fell at all and that was good.

I was up around 5am or so and on the trail at 6:17 after a quick breakfast of an oatmeal bar.  I got some water at an NPS campground down the trail and made use of their privy.  I wasn't moving too fast that first hour, but after a while my speed increased and all was going fine.

My first goal was Williamsport for lunch.  My guide said a Sheetz was there and I love picking up food at Sheetz.  It usually isn't too cheap, but I liked the convenience.

I took a quick break at Dam #4.  There used to be a road detour here as the tow path ran along the river after this dam and it had eroded away from the river action.  Near this point, the barges would move into the river and be towed up stream for a while before going back to the canal.  They were able to do this as the dam created a nice Slackwater section.  In fact, it was called the Big Slackwater.  They had recently repaired the towpath with nice smooth cement sections and I continued along the river for a few miles.

Day 2 - Me at Dam #4

I made it to Williamsport right around noon and headed up the street to the Sheetz.  I was pretty hungry by then, so I went a little crazy getting my meal.  Of course, a Monster drink was an integral part of the meal.  Love that Moca Loca.

As I was headed out, I saw two other bikers fiddling with their bike.  I went over to say hi and saw they were fixing a flat.  I learned they were from Cleveland, so after some good natured back-and-forth about our football teams before I headed back to the trail.

One hour later, I was riding along and all of a sudden, boom, hissssssss.  I get a flat.  I couldn't tell what I had hit, but it didn't really matter at this point.  I put one of my spare tubes in and used the CO2 cartridges to  fill it back up and I was moving again in about 20 minutes.  I think it was at this point that I realized 60 miles was about it for me at this stage of my journey and conveniently, Hancock, MD was right about at that point.  I made that my goal for the day and decided that I wasn't in a real hurry to get there as we were nearing the Solstice and I had plenty of daylight.  

I took breaks often and would stop and take a picture of anything I saw interesting.  

An old mill

Second Box Turtle I saw

As the afternoon wore on, I came upon a sign for Ft Frederick.  I headed up the hill and saw an amazing sight.  A completely stone fort.  Of course I was in such awe, I forgot to take a picture of the outside, but after getting some water and cooling off with the fountain for a bit, I left my bike under a tree and headed to the fort.  There was a worker in period costume inside and once we got out of the sun, he told me a little about the fort.  It was built during the French and Indian War in the 1750s, had never been attacked because of its awesomeness and had been used in each war after that.  There were two buildings inside the fort and they were made up real nice in period scenes.  I took a bunch of pictures of these rooms as I leisurely walked around the place in the 80 degree heat.  Here is one of them.

Officer's Quarters - Ft Frederick

After my "tour", I headed to the visitor center store and bought an ice cream sandwich (this would become a theme) and picked up a map.

The map was of the Western Maryland Rail Trail, which started nearby and went for about 20 miles to and past Hancock.  I was ready to get off the gravel for a while and this nice path was paved.  It ran pretty near Rt 70 for a time, but was still pleasantly covered in shade for most of it.  

I found the trail and started along it.  Before too long I was in Hancock, MD.  It was 4:30 pm.  Both trails run right along the edge of Hancock.  My destination today was a Bunkhouse that was behind the local Bike shop, right off the trail.  Also, there was a Sheetz in town.  

The bike shop was nice and the bunkhouse only cost $10.  I bought some replacement CO2 cartridges and a seat pad for my still hurting butt.  It was getting better, but still uncomfortable.  I had developed a technique where I would stand on the pedals and pedal every couple seconds or so.  It seemed to keep my speed up no problem and gave my arse a break.

The bunkhouse was in the "backyard" of the shop.  I headed back and picked a bunk.  There were some rudimentary showers out there, two privies, a fire ring and an outside area to hang out.  The bunkhouse was basically a long three sided shelter with a screened in front.  The bunks were plywood with cheap Walmart sleeping pads on them.  It would suffice for the night.

The Bunkhouse

My bunk for the night

There was already three people in residence, but they were out when I arrived.  It turned out to be a couple, Jim and Maria and their grandson Hayden.  They were from the Eastern Shore of Maryland and were out to show Hayden what a longer ride was like.  They planned to ride to Little Orleans, about 15 miles to the West and back, making a 30 mile trip.  Hayden was interested in everything and had lots of questions.

Later in the day, Guru and his son Shawn came in.  They were from Squirrel Hill, PA and were also headed East to West, but Guru had some knee issues and they were calling it quits at Hancock.  His wife would be driving from Pittsburgh the next day and picking them up.  It would have been nice to travel with them, so I was sorry to see their trip end.  I forget Guru's real name, but that was his trail name.  He had started a Thru Hike of the AT in March and had made it to the NOC about 137 miles in before he was knocked off the trail with giardia.  

We had a nice fire in the firepit and talked way past biker midnight.  I slept ok on the plywood with my own pad adding to the blue pad, but still had to change positions every once in awhile as that part of my body numbed up.

Camp Fire

Also, when I was taking a shower, I noticed that my ring and pinky fingers were numb.  I had remembered reading about that and how it was common when using straight handlebars and doing long rides.  I made a note to do some research when I had  a chance to address the all knowing Google.  

The bike computer registered 63.3 miles for the day in 6 hours 45 minutes of ride time.  My travel time was 10 hours and 13 minutes and I was at mile marker 124 of the C & O. 

Only about 226 miles to go...

Personal Space (PS)

Here is a picture of my Personal Space aka PS and mostly referred to by me as The Campsite.

I have been playing with the porch on the end of the shelter with mixed results. It kept falling down or was knocked down by the gremlins of the woods, but this time I buried the two front supports about 8 inches or so. It was still a little wobbly until I put up the side supports. I am harvesting bark from nearby dead trees to act as shingles and will probably finish off with leaves and other floor debris.

I have also repositioned the opening of the fire ring to better facilitate putting a lean-to basically right in front of the camera. The prevailing wind comes from the right side of the picture making the position of the debris shelter not the best. The ring is also a little too far from the shelter, but it does have its uses.

Here is another angle that show the bark shingles. It is still a work in progress, but it is going pretty good.

I hope to spend a night here real soon.

A Nice February Day

Today after our usual early morning Spin Class, I took Ginger to Schram's Wood as is our usual routine. I always visit my camp site (PS) when we are in the woods. Today a made a quick fire even though the sun had come out and the temperature was approaching 60 degrees. I just like making fires. Ginger stays nearby as she explores this and that and I enjoy some fire making and solitude.

Today there was a huge vulture at the deer carcasses. It jumped into a tree as we walked past and Ginger didn't know what to make of it. I didn't let her approach and I don't think she really wanted to anyway.

After a quick fire and some work on the site, it was time to go. The vulture still was munching on the rotting deer but Ginger still didn't want to go near the big bird.

On Friday, we had a nice rain going and I went to the PS to try the Mini Inferno product in less than perfect conditions. I was successful, but it took a bit more work than usual. Here is a video of the task.



Spring is near. I'm pretty much ready for it.

I'll see you in the woods...

Pittsburgh New Years

I made my annual trek to Pittsburgh to ring in the New Year with my family. This year I was completely alone as everyone else had plans and couldn't come along. I left Baltimore just before noon and arrived in Bellevue after an uneventful trip.

I went over an old school friend's house and drank some beers that night and the next morning I took a walk down to the river. I started out going down River Rd which really isn't a road anymore. It is all torn up and they are dumping a lot of clean fill at the beginning of the road. I made my way down to the tracks and started walking south along the tracks as I carved a wooden spoon I am making. I got to the next road that comes to the tracks and started up that road. I noticed a few turkey tracks and as I got up the road, four of them crossed the road and headed up the hillside. It looked like 3 males and a female. It was a nice walk and when I measured it, it came out at about 2.4 miles.

After a great New Years Party, Tom and I headed back down to the river. This time we decided to head down Carson Ave, which is really just a path that heads under the main road and down to the tracks. Our first obstacle was a gully that had been cut by a broken sewer pipe. We had to drop down about 7 feet or so and it was a little scary. Next, we had to work through a wall of poison ivy branches that were empty, but still potentially poisonous. The path is basically gone after the bridge and I had some problems sliding down the hillside and got a lot of burrs on my jacket, but eventually we got to the tracks and started walking North this time.

We found a little place in the woods next to the river and made a fire. It had been raining all morning and everything was wet. We found some dry locust bark and I used a cotton ball to get something going. I had found some milkweed pods and used that as a tinder and it really flashes up cool like. You really need to mix grass and bark into the milkweed seeds to get a proper fire going. The cotton ball did the trick to have enough flame to get the fire going. It burnt slow and we had to dry out most of the sticks before they would burn, but we had a nice fire.

I had brought along my reusable space blanket, a 55 gal drum liner and some paracord and I set up the blanket as a cover to keep the rain off us. It was a good camp and we hung out for a while then walked up the old road near where we were and it was in just as bad shape as the road near the house. We got back to civilization and walked through the streets back to the house.

Of course I forgot my camera again, so I didn't get any pictures.

Some good bush practice and always a fun time to sit by a fire.