Seeing my old friend from Day 1

May 20, 2015

(and bonus - no rain!)

The sun comes up, lights up the tent, and I'm awake and crawling out, firing up my stove and starting the water for some coffee. I forage in my trailer for some donuts and a breakfast bar and that becomes my meal for the morning to break the overnight fast (get it? BREAK-FAST). As I'm packing up my tent and gear, I see several people starting to stir in the site closer to the trail. They must have arrived some time after I climbed into my tent. Yesterday was a good day on the bike, but I climbed into the tent early (around 4:00pm) to read and stayed there all night. Not trying to be anti-social, but just wanted the rest, peace, and quiet.

This was a great campsite. I loved the sound of the trains all night long - some might not but for me it meant I was living an adventure

I loaded the last bit of gear into the trailer, and made my way towards the trail - this had me pass the other campsites closer to the trail. As I approach, one of them says, "Well, surprise, surprise!" - it's one of the cyclists I ran into during my stay in Connellsville. John stayed overnight in Rockville when I pushed on the Meyersdale. Which proves you can stay wherever you choose to stay overnight during your trip on the canal - it's all up to you.

By 7:50 I reached the Paw Paw Tunnel, one of the "top 5" sights along the C&O, so of course I stopped to take a few photos and get ready to pass through. I thought since I could see the light at the end, I wouldn't need a light to make the 3,118' length. But by the time you get about 100' in, it's really dark, and I mean dark. Sure, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but the light doesn't travel through the tunnel to light the path in front of you. I doubt you would fall into the canal since there's a guard about 3'-4' high making sure that doesn't happen, but why take that chance? Turn on a light or use your headlamp. I did, and even though my headlamp was dim (nearly out of batteries, damn it) I was able to make out the path on the side - it was bumpier than I would have expected.

Paw Paw Tunnel. Be prepared to have a light since it really is darker than it appears in the tunnel. I used a headlamp and rode through, but you might want to walk it, and ESPECIALLY if you don't have a light. And believe me, I did climb the stairs to the overlook over the tunnel, but I couldn't do it within the 10 seconds of a self-timer my camera limited me to

The distance through the tunnel is deceptive. It looks like it's only going to be a few hundred feet of darkness but it's much longer than that. You get too far in, and the only thing you can see is the light at the end. Riding 10MPH, it could be 4 minutes until you can see the ground again

Made it through and time for a self-timer shot

I'm riding along the canal and figure I would offer though #2 on the Bike Friday and trailer setup.

While the trailer was perfectly fine on the rail trail, the width of the trailer means it doesn't fit into the single-track (double-track?) of the C&O canal towpath. Only one line of tires can fit in the track, and that's the bike's. So the trailer is running on or in the grass edges of the dirt track as you can see below. Spoiler Alert - I made it all the way to Washington DC but those who were running traditional bike setups with panniers had an easier time on the C&O.

38 miles into the day, I pull into Hancock, MD. Even though I live in Atlanta, which is probably one of the worst cities in the US for allergies, I don't have a problem. But this day, in MD, my eyes are watering beyond belief and I can't stop sneezing and getting that ticking in the throat and keep coughing. A severe allergic reaction to some sort of pollen in the air (don't worry, it wasn't the iodine in the water - I looked it up). So I stop in Hancock for some lunch, and end up at Weaver's. A great chicken sandwich and french fries later, I exit the restaurant, and who do I see rolling up and locking his bike to the rack out in front? John, from a few days ago, and now just after breakfast today. He states he came rolling into town and saw my rig outside the restaurant and figured if I was there, it must be good. Little does he know I'm just winging it. He goes in for lunch and I walk a few blocks to get groceries and return to continue down the trail.

This is a town park in Hancock which has a switchback incline convenient for cyclists to get up the hill to the Main St

About 8-10 miles out of Hancock, I run into Fort Frederick, a historical structure dating to 1756. There wasn't much going on around 3:00 that day, so I walked around looking at the structure (all of the interpretive pamphlets were gone and the visitor building was closed) so I didn't get the full history of the fort. You are not as unfortunate, as you can read about it at http://dnr2.maryland.gov/publiclands/Pages/western/fortfrederick.aspx.

As I unlocked my bike who approached but John, and we talk about our destination for the evening. my original plan was to stay at North Mountain hiker/biker site, but since I started 5 miles closer, it's probably better to go a little further tonight. So, we compare notes and he's going to Williamsport and then looking for a place to camp. We look at his guidebook and decide to meet up at Cumberland hiker/biker site, and we can have dinner together. Well, along the way I think, "Why not just cook dinner for us, since I have the stove and I can easily make pasta and pour some store-bought red source into the mixture and have some really good campsite dinner?" I'll have to ask him when we meet up again.

Here lies the remains of one of the 77 locks along the 180 miles of the C&O Canal

John and I meet up again as I'm taking selfies (with a timer) at the Dam. We make plans for dinner, but he wants to get a sandwich instead of having me cook up a full meal (he doesn't know what he's missing :-D) So we head off to Williamsport and I ride up the hill to Sheetz so he can get a sandwich and I get Combos and some more Tastycake choc donuts (my diet is not all that healthful this trip, I know)

I practice my Karate Kid Crane Kick technique - "If done properly, no can defense" - Mr. Miyagi

John and I ride about 7 miles out of town to the Cumberland hiker/biker site and have dinner. I have my snacks and make a backpacker meal of Chicken Teriyaki and rice (one of my least favorite). We have a good conversation until finally turning in around 8:40 at night. This was John's first tour and he was excited about it, and to be honest, he was making some good miles along the trail as from what I remember he wasn't a high-mileage cyclist outside of the tour. I'll have to say this was serendipitous for me as I normally tend to keep to myself on tour so I felt stepping away from that and letting in a little more social time would be a good thing. And it was.

Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 280 miles (451 km)

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