July 4, 2023
Ride and Hike
Frostburg to Hancock
I was thinking today would be easy. I was thinking wrong.
Things started out just fine. The GAP ride from Frostburg to Cumberland was payback for all the gradual climbing I’d been doing since Pittsburgh.
In some spots the GAP Trail is effectively a ledge in a steep hill. Deer were appearing seemingly out of nowhere, leaping through bushes on the downhill side to my left and bounding straight up the hill to my right.
Banks of fog hung over the landscape to my left. Fog occasionally gave the trail a spooky aspect.
I saw a pair of turkeys with two babies following. And at one point saw a lone turkey running down the trail; it looked like a miniature emu.
In Cumberland two bike tourists help me find the only breakfast restaurant in town. The food was okay but the process took well over an hour.
Google gave me perfectly useless directions to a grocery store. After some wandering I turned of Google and found it on my own. I stocked up for the 65-mile haul to Hancock on the C&O Canal towpath. I ended up carrying seven bottles of water because none of the water along the canal is potable.
Potable or not, water on the towpath itself made for an arduous slog of a day. From Cumberland to Orleans, about 45 miles, the towpath was one mud pit after another. It was impossible to enjoy the scenery as I rode because all my attention was focused on choosing a line through mud.
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Some puddles had potholes in them. Others had rocks and sticks. I only dismounted once for an especially wide puddle that spanned the path. I swung my right leg over the rear of the bike and planted my right foot only to realize that the edge of the towpath dropped straight into the canal. Luckily I managed to get a toehold and avoid falling backward into the algae-covered water.
I arrived at the Paw Paw tunnel detour. The tunnel is undergoing repairs so the National Park Service built a 1.5-mile hiking trail for people like me. Imagine going hiking in Shenandoah National Park while pushing 80 pounds of bicycle. The path reminded me of Little Devil Stairs.
At several points the path was so steep I had to scream and grunt and drive with my legs to move the bike. All of this during a hot, muggy day, my first in weeks.
I was soaked in sweat at the top and now had to hold The Mule back as we made our way down. I was tempted to ride but the path went from smooth to rocks and tree roots without warning. It was a great relief to be back on the muddy towpath. I saw a YouTube video last week in which a man does the detour with his bike and makes it look easy. It might have been easy for him but it was at least as hard at Middlebury Gap.
In addition to the mud, the towpath feature five downed trees. A couple of them required taking panniers off the bike to get over.
From time to time my bike was so gunked up I had to stop and use a big zip tie to poke the mud out of the brakes and from under the fenders.
After hours of this, I realized I hadn’t been eating. I can tell I’m missing calories when my attitude goes in the dumper.
I stopped and ate a turkey sandwich from that grocery store back in Cumberland. It tasted soo good. I washed it down with a bottle of water from my stash and immediately felt infinitely better.
After another five or so miles the mud lessened. At Orleans it all but disappeared. My speed picked up by about five miles per hour. I could finally take in some of the scenery.
13 miles before Hancock I switched over to the parallel, paved Western Maryland Rail Trail. Except for dozens of root heaves the rail trail was vastly superior to the towpath. Except, that is, for the scary rock slides. One in particular looked lethal. I could see evidence of others from repaired damage to fences that ran along side the trail.
I am staying in a Super 8 in Hancock, the same motel I stayed in under similar circumstances on my 2018 tour.
The hotel gives out rags and has a hose so trail riders can clean up their bikes before bringing them inside.
As for me, I had a layer of mud and limestone grit from the soles of my shoes to my knees. The shower was worth every penny I paid for the room.
Dinner was a salad of sorts from Sheetz. It contained lettuce, onion, steak, and shredded cheese. I ate it with something called Boom Boom sauce, an appropriate dressing on this Fourth of July.
The gas station was holding a promotion: regular gas for $1.776. Pick ups were lined up in every direction. One driver said he was paying “Trump prices”. I guess he missed the part about the Trump economic and medical calamity that came with the cheap gas.
Tomorrow I plan on riding the rail trail to the towpath and carrying on to Harpers Ferry or Brunswick. If the towpath is a mess I might take roads to Frederick.
Today's ride: 82 miles (132 km)
Total: 2,514 miles (4,046 km)
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