Category: Touring

I woke up after a solid sleep ready to go, I left the Motel at 9 AM and walked my bike across the street to Ohiopyle Coffee Company. A 16 ounce black coffee and a bacon and egg on bagel sandwich and I am ready to go.

I’m not long on the trail before seeing loaded bikes being ridden by hungry bicycle travelers looking for food to continue towards Cumberland and beyond. This part of the trail has many hiking trails heading off into the forest.

Now I’m five miles out of Ohiopyle and the hiking trails are behind and I find solitude riding along the river through lush forest.

I pass through an area that had mudslides and trees blown across the trail from the April 1st storm. I also pass by many waterfalls.

I am heading to the Cedar Creek Trekker Campground to sleep in an Adirondack Shelter by the edge of the river.

I have set up for the night and now it’s time to cook dinner.

Yesterday I took a day off to rest and regroup. I am playing chess with the weather. It rains, there is a small window, and then it rains again. This is the pattern and it will continue for another week.

This morning I found another window. I have a motel room in Ohiopyle twenty-eight miles away. If I leave by 10 I might get to Ohiopyle about the time the heavy rain begins. But, I will arrive three hours before I have access to my room. I leave.

I load the bike and coast the short distance to the trail and begin racing the rain. I see a young woman standing by her loaded bike, I stop and we talk. She is on her way to D. C. She told me she pitched her tent in the grass last night and weathered the storm, a downpour with strong wind. Kudos for her!

As I ride the trail I am next to the Youghiogheny River, it is high, overflowing, and fast. And, it leads me to Ohiopyle.

I arrived two hours early to check into my room. I stop into the office and ask if it would be possible to get the wifi password before check in. The woman at the desk hands me a slip of paper with the wifi password and then gives me an early door code so I can get into my room.

Checkmate, I conquered the weather. At least for today.

My breakfast is cold pizza left over from last night. My ride today is short, 29 miles to Rockwood, PA. I coast down the steep hill to connect with the Great Appalachian Passage to ride the old rail bed up to the Big Savage Tunnel.

I stop at the Mason and Dixon Line at the Pennsylvania and Maryland state line. I look around and take some photos. I see two cyclists riding my way so I wait to say hi. They stop to talk, two women out on a morning ride. One asks where I stayed last night so I tell them Frostburg. She smiles and says I am Michaelanne, the wife of Daniel the Warmshowers host. They were riding up to the Continental Divide.

We get to the Big Savage Tunnel and a blast of cold air greets us as it rushes out the entrance. I stop for a photo as they ride on ahead.

Just up ahead is the Continental Divide and they are stopped. I ride up and snap another pic and Kirsten, the other cyclist, offers to take a pic of me. We say our goodbyes and ride opposite directions.

I am now on a long downhill grade all the way to Rockwood. When I get into town I find out that the hostel where I had planned to stay was closed even though the website said it was open.

The only place I find open is a B&B, The Ginger House so this is where I am sleeping tonight. I’m here all alone and it is comfortable. Josiah is very nice and went out of his way to make me feel comfortable.

I cleaned and lubed the chain, ate, and showered. Now it is time to sit back and settle in.

I woke up with the sun, listening to the morning birds as I lay cozy in a warm sleeping bag. Eight o’clock comes and I step out into the cool air. Brandon is also up and making his coffee. He will set off on his many steps toward D. C.

I begin cooking some oatmeal and brewing my Elbow Room coffee. Next is breaking camp and packing panniers so I too can start another leg of my journey. I hope to get to Frostburg where I have made arrangements to spend the night.

I follow the C&O to Columbia, MD. This is such a nice trail. Wildlife everywhere and only a passing cyclist every ten miles. There are camping sites every five miles so water, toilets, and a place to sleep is never a concern.

I now see Columbia in the distance, this is where the C&O begins or ends. I stop for lunch at the Crabby Pig located at the end of the C&O and the start of the Allegheny Passage.

After a great lunch I clip in again and begin riding the GAP to Frostburg.

When I arrive in Frostburg, a super steep climb up a switchback trail is the only way to get into town. I opt to stay at the Trail Inn Hostel. It was just opened up a few hours ago for a large group coming to stay tomorrow. The owner, Steve, offered to put me up for the night. I have a nice bed, hot showers, and washer and dryer. Today was awesome.

It was a cool night with sounds of frogs and birds. I fell quickly to sleep, I was tired. It was 7:30 when I crawled out of my warm sleeping bag and hit the cold dew. Breakfast was fast, I want to get on the road as soon as possible.

As the day goes by I go by some wonderful sights. The C&O is mostly in the deep woods and the scenery gets better with every mile.

I ride through the Paw Paw Tunnel, which was dug through the mountain for the Canal. It is long and  dark and the walkway is narrow carved on the ledge, this is where the mules walked to tow the barges.

I thought about staying in Paw Paw at the hostel. I called the number when I got out of the tunnel, it’s closed until May. So, I continue down the trail. There are campsites roughly five miles apart. I come to a nice quiet camp at 4:00 and decide this is where I’ll sleep. I set up camp and cooked dinner, time to relax now. I hear someone walking the trail. He’s carrying a backpack. He looks at me and waves and walks into the camp. I have company tonight, someone to share our stories. Brandon, is hiking to Washington, D.C. This is his test hike for attempting an Appalachian through hike.

I woke up in 28 degrees cold with frost on the ground and tent. A neighbor camper from three sites away walks by and asks if I’d like a piping hot cup of coffee. Well ya! He continues to walk by and I sit in the sun warming up with coffee.

I cook oatmeal and eat it. I am letting the warm sun melt the frost and dry my tent. I walk over to visit Pete and Kate and to thank them again for the coffee. I tell them about this tour and of the past tours. We exchange contact info and I give them the links to my blog and YouTube movies. It was a slow cold morning before I set off down the road toward the C&O Trail.

Now on the trail I am enjoying the quiet ride on the single and double track riding along the Old Canal through the woods from Lock to Lock.

After Hancock I have four trail campgrounds to choose from each about five miles apart. I pick the site in Capagon State Park. I stop riding with thirty-eight miles at 4 in the afternoon. I eat and set up camp. I am now listening to the sounds of birds and peepers.

Slowly I ride out of Gettysburg stopping to see some battle sites as I leave. It is very cloudy with a cold west wind. I’m riding west and the wind is right in my face. There are a lot of ups and downs and some very steep short climbs. The steepest and longest climb today is getting up Blue Ridge Summit.

Once over the summit I am in a valley with rolling open farmland which brings me into Maryland.

I get a site at the only campground in the area, Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Campground. I don’t know why but it is the same price for me to get a full hookup RV site than a primitive tent site. So here I am in RV City but there are few and it’s quiet. I will sleep well in this cold air tonight.

This morning I wake up to the smell of coffee brewing. This gets me out of bed and I follow the aroma down the stairs. Scrambled eggs with sausage, toast and the coffee that I followed to the table. I thought I was done but before I could get out of my chair a slice of last night’s apple cake was placed in front of me.

Paul presents a different route that will get me to Gettysburg and offers to ride with me to Route 30. It is raining as we set off.

Last night my hosts were Paul and Jane. They have done many tours. We sat up late telling tales of touring. Jane makes very nice quilts and is a master at sewing. Jim’s interests are much like mine, riding his bicycle and riding some more.

Today’s ride.

I am now in Gettysburg and checked into a motel next to the Diorama and local Brewery where I have a nice meal and brew.

Time now to relax and get ready for tomorrow.

After a wonderful visit and sleep I am awake, ready, and anxious to start traveling west. Paul and Wendy, both chefs, have prepared a delicious breakfast of yogurt, fruit, and granola. The dessert is coffee and apricot bread.

I load my bike, saddle up, and ride through the small roads between pockets of houses back to my route that crosses above the Susquehanna River. I am now in farmland riding the rolling hills to York. I have a place to stay tonight with Warmshowers hosts Paul and Jane.

I ride past a Medical Center as a Life Flight helicopter is landing.

I am relaxing and sharing stories. I really enjoy learning other travelers’ tales. Jane is a seamstress and Quilter. Paul, like me, rides his bike most every day.

Tomorrow is another day of unknown discoveries.

Last night was my last night with Erin and CK. It is raining, a heavy downpour, with some flooding on the roads. CK comes home from the University around 11:30 to bring me to my Warmshowers host in Lancaster, PA. We have a quick snack and load my bike and gear into the van and off we go.

It is a thirty-five mile drive with a stop for lunch at a great diner in Conestoga, PA. This is a diner CK found while riding a local century a number of years ago.

After eating with a half an hour to spare we drive to 365 Cycles to see the place where I buy components for my bikes.

We arrive at my hosts at 4 with Paul was waiting to greet us. We unload all my gear and say our sad goodbyes. Hours before Erin and I did the same. This is the saddest part of touring, leaving friends and family behind. It will be two months and thirteen days before I will be with Nancy again.

I am now in the good company of Paul and Wendy. The evening went by quickly with a wonderful dinner and conversation. I am now in my space settling in for the night.

Tomorrow morning I will set off for York, PA. Tomorrow morning is one day closer to being with Nancy again.