Riding the Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal (Part 3 of 7)

If you’ve ever wondered how far that bike path goes, last year, Cincinnati Cyclists Marty Sanders and Aaron Kent (AK) set out to cover 700 miles of the Great Allegheny Passage and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal by bike.  Over the past few years, Marty has become a veteran of these rails to trails trips while Aaron, even though a long time cyclist, was new to the idea of a week-long self-supported adventure.  The story is presented in seven parts.

By Marty Sanders

(Click Here for Part 1)  (Click Here for Part 2) 

Part 3 of Seven

Day 3 Pigman’s Ferry to Harpers Ferry

The next time I opened my eyes the sun was starting to rise.  It was a very nice morning. I made my way up to the trail which was bone dry and smooth.  Perfect spot to get in my morning stretch.  It was amazing the number of deer and rabbits that we encountered. Almost fearless, as they wouldn’t move out of your way and often stayed within arm’s reach. This happened every morning.

Within a few miles of camp, we reached our first lock of the day.  They are numbered and assuming the numbers would count down to 0, we assumed there are 75 locks.  Some are grown over; others still had water flowing through.

After riding for a while we entered The PawPaw Tunnel.  Used for the canal, it also had water in it.  It was dark with a small walkway and wooden railing on one side.  I turned on the headlight.  It took me a second to get used to the confined riding conditions, all the while spooked by the 2x4 railing and the drop into the darkness that awaited the unwary.

SMASH!  I clipped the wall with my handlebar.  Everything came to a halt only 100 feet into the tunnel. Luckily, just a dab.  Even with the light, peripheral vision was limited at best.  Instead of pedaling across the tunnel’s remaining 2800 feet, I ratcheted my cranks back and forth so I could keep momentum and keep my bicycle more balanced.  It seemed like it took forever to get out and on to a wooden walkway that followed the canal through a rocky man-made path.

Before long it was back to what seemed to be our norm: ride 10-15 miles then take a break.  Campsites dotted the trail seemingly every 5-10 miles making it nice to always have somewhere to sit and lean your bicycle.  At one point AK said something about his bike making a noise.  We thought it might be his pedals.

Soon after, we arrived in Hancock, home of the C&O Bicycle Shop, located right on the trail.  I stood outside for a minute before entering and ran into a couple.  The gentleman rode a Rivendell “Bombadel.”  As a huge Tolkien fan and a lover of steel lugged frames, I commented on his bike and he seemed very pleased I could identify it without seeing the head badge.  We talked about the bike and the route ahead, getting a heads-up on some mud along our route.

I said goodbye and went in the bicycle shop where AK was looking at pedals.  We asked the owner if we could use a 12mm allen wrench to see if a crank bolt cap was tight enough.  He kindly helped; and it was indeed loose.  Noise fixed.  We purchased some bars to eat and took his card. He mentioned there was a shelter for ten dollars a night that had hot showers, but that we should call before 6 p.m. if we couldn’t get there in time.  Now that’s customer service. 

We pushed on out of Hancock.  As we made our way out of town, we started passing small groups of riders heading the opposite direction and the same.  One group was at least 20 deep.  Goofing around, I tried to get creative by saying hello to all of them personally.  It got a few smiles.  At one point, a rider asked as we were passing them, where you going?  I said Washington. DC.  AK was riding away from me at this point. So I told her to have a nice day and then sped off to catch AK.  I teased him about not being very social.

We rolled for a few hours before hitting a major climb leading up into Williamsport.  Our reward for reaching the top was The Desert Rose Cafe.  With large tables outside, it was very inviting.  We hadn’t eaten real food all day.  We both ordered some wraps and coffee and kicked back.

Within a few minutes of being seated, a woman looked around the corner.  All of a sudden AK was Mr. Social.  It was the couple we passed on the trail I had teased him about.  I walked in the deli to pay and order a to-go for us.  When I came back out they were all laughing.  AK invited them to eat with us.

Albert and Kelly had had rode the GAP and C&O before and were telling us about all the cool places along the way we missed.  We could have had pizza in Pawpaw!  After eating our wraps and veggies, it was going on 4 p.m. and we still had some miles to cover.  We said our goodbyes to our new friends and pushed on.

From Williamsport, AK set a great pace, obviously coffee induced.  We came to a concrete section of bicycle path that hung on the edge of the Potomac River shoreline with a literal drop to the water with no railing.  It went on for miles and was absolutely beautiful!  

We continued on into the dark, running headlights for about an hour before we made it to Harpers Ferry.  During this time, it seemed my headlamp was attracting every bug within three miles.  Bats swooped down in front of our faces snatching bugs. It made our night ride a little more exciting.

At the Harpers Ferry Bridge, we had to take our bikes up a 3-story spiral staircase.  Easy for your typical road bikes, but considering our bikes weighed about 75 bulky cumbersome pounds, it was not fun and kind of eerie at night. 

We rolled around in an equally dark town and found nothing, except for a mob of people standing outside a dark building listening to a man speaking.  We steered clear.  Soon we ran into some teenagers and they helped direct us to an Econolodge a mile away.  The kids also told us the pack of people were on a ghost tour of Harpers Ferry.  The eeriness kinda made sense now.

(to be continued)

The Cycling Travel Formula™: Is The Ride Worth The Drive?

Plug your numbers into The Best Bike Blog EVER’s Cycling Travel Formula™ and find out if the ride worth the drive.

HSR = or > HSD – F x DQ

(HSR) Hours Spent Riding should be equal to or more than the (HSD) Hours Spent Driving minus the (F) number of Friends traveling with you multiplied by the (DQ) Disappointment Quotient.  I just blew your mind didn’t I?  You might want to read that again.

Sweeky sweeky.  The hamster is running on the wheel between your ears.  You put index finger and thumb to your chin and ponder.  You’re saying, “Hmm…he could be on to something.”  You know, I am.  I’ve practiced this theory for years, only now have I put it to paper.  Like Einstein on a bike, I’m a genius.  Of course The Cycling Travel Formula™ all hinges on the DQ, the Disappointment Quotient and slightly on the number of friends you travel with.  It was precisely the reason I chose not to travel from Cincinnati to the cyclocross races in Columbus, OH and Bloomington, IN this weekend.

  

Only Crazy Glue Would've Saved His Teeth

DISAPPOINTMENT QUOTIENT

The disappointment quotient is a measure of buzz kill, the chances of something bad happening in the following six departments: a flat, mechanical, disappointing result, domestic dispute, bonk or injury.  The highest possible DQ is 6.  Flats are separate from mechanicals, because for some rides or races you may not bring a multi tool or a truing stand.  Of course the DQ is completely subjective to your personal situation.  For example at the Mohican 100, you could easily achieve a 6 by making your spouse mad by spending your rent money on the entry fee, doing the race with no tools or food, crashing in the rock garden and bonking at aid station 3.  Since the round trip drive to Mohican from Cincinnati is 6 hours, such a debacle would ruin the entire trip no matter how many clowns you crammed in your car.

The DQ can be brought down by negating the possibilities of those buzz kills.  Depending on the situation, a pump, spare tube, patch kit and/or pit wheels can negate the chances of a flat.  A multi tool, spare chain pin or pit bike can nullify a mechanical.  A gift from Nordstrom could quell a domestic dispute.  Then again, inappropriately spent money can cause a domestic dispute.  Be wise.

FRIENDS

In the case of a ride or a race with a potentially high DQ, it mathematically makes sense to travel with more friends.  Hence the hours of driving are directly and proportionately affected by the number of friends in your car.  The more the merrier.  The more friends the less the chances of a total suckfest.  Remember Aron Ralston, the guy who had to cut his hand off to escape death in a Utah slot canyon?  He drove all night to get there for a solo day hike.  Imagine if he took even one friend along.  A ha!  He may still have his hand and not have had to drink pee.  That’s what friends are for, a helping hand if you will.

HSR = or > HSD – F x DQ

Do The Math B4 You Mount The Bike

HOW THE CYCLING TRAVEL FORMULA™ WORKS

Take Haw Ridge, TN for example.  It’s four hours away from Cincinnati, 8 hours of total driving.  If you bring your spouse, tools, plenty of food and water and a first aid kit with more than Band-Aids and Bactine, the disappointment quotient barely registers, maybe a 1, only a broken bone or a deep laceration could kill your buzz.  To make the 8 hour round trip worth while you need to have 4 friends in the car and ride for at least 4 hours, totally doable. 

MTB Haw Ridge TN:  HSR 4 is = or > HSD 8 - 4 Friends x DQ (1)

Sadly it’s what makes a cyclocross race in Bloomington, IN a complete conundrum.  Even if you race the 60 minute Elite race, at the most you might ride is 2.5 hours with a warm-up and cool down.  Its six hours of driving. With spare wheels, a pit bike or two, giant duffle bags and coolers the most you can travel with is 3.  You need a negative DQ to make it work.

CX Bloomington IN: HSR 2.5 is not = or > HSD 6 – 3 Friends x DQ

While I had a chance to travel with friends, the DQ for me was still too high.  When I opened the front door to grab the paper on Saturday morning a blizzard of cat hair wafted up the stairwell with the breeze.  To cut my DQ I would have to clean the house or risk domestic dispute.  Of course spending the whole day on my feet hunched over brushing toilets, scrubbing floors and vacuuming stairs increased the chance of a disappointing finish especially against those fast Indiana guys.  I don’t have a pit bike and have rolled tires in the last two races.  My DQ was nowhere near negative.  I bailed on the race.  It just didn’t add up.