C&O Canal - Cumberland to DC

I have now seen every one of the 184.5 miles of the C&O Canal, and it was spectacular!  A bucket list item for a very long time was finally completed this past weekend.  I did not envision the ride being as fatiguing as it was, but my original plan to include 3 days of riding turned into just 2.

The trip to Cumberland started with an easy ride to Union Station from my Mom.  I wasn't so sure of the logistics with the bike and trailer.  But it turned out to be extremely easy.  There's a big door on the 29 train where bikes are strapped to the wall.  Easy hook up and leave the trailer next to it.  Badda bing!  Badda bang!

Waiting for my 4pm ride at Union Station

Note to self, wear a sweatshirt on the train.  There were a few other people who had completed the trip from Pittsburgh at the train station.  There was also a guy who just rode cross-country.  The camaraderie among bikers is pretty neat.  I got a trail update and all signs were green.  There was a huge storm that had multiple trees down across the trail that were difficult to cross earlier in the week.  I only encountered one at the Brunswick Family Campground that was easy to get over.

Arriving in Cumberland about 7:45pm kinda threw my 3 day plan into turmoil.  I was hoping to ride at least 20 miles to ease the distance.  But I forgot my bike light so there would be no riding in the dark ... and the trail gets very dark.  I rode 4.5 miles to the first campsite in my flip-flops.

Beginning of C&O Canal Trail

First night of camping at Evitts Creek

Every 5-6 miles along the canal is a hiker/biker campsite.  It's a mowed grassy area with a port-o-potty, fire ring, water pump and picnic table.  Serious kudo's to the National Park Service for keeping these campsites functional.  It'd be difficult to ride the whole trail without them.

First night of camping

My first night of camping was ok.  Temperature was cool enough, but there was a lot of noise.  You'll need to check the video for what the worst part of the night was.  And in truth, that was the worst part of the trip in total.

There is a fair amount of history along the trail.   My travel plans didn't really allow for too much sight-seeing.  These next couple photos are of an ancient cement plant.  It survived 3 fires but in the end it closed due to not staying profitable.

The plant mined limestone and ground it up to make cement.

Apparently, Portland Cement was cheaper to make and put this factory out of business.

Lock house

It seems that every lock had a house.  Guess someone lived there who maintained and operated the lock for the canal boats.  There are a couple you can stay in overnight, for $100.

Thanks, but I'll take the free hiker/biker campsite.

There are ~70 locks on the canal.  If you're wondering how they operated, here's a link.

The weekend temperature was in the upper 90's, but it was a lot cooler up north.  I benefited quite a bit from the shade, but it was still pretty warm. Not too warm, but when someone is riding a bike for hours on end ... it heats up.  Here's how we combat the heat and dehydration.

The Paw Paw tunnel is the most interesting feature on the entire ride.  It's ~3,300' feet long, over 1/2 mile and pure dark in the middle.  If you don't have any light, then good luck.  I only had my iPhone light and it was just enough to illuminate the tunnel to horror movie levels.  The uneven dirt surface rolls you side to side, with a solid brick wall on the right and a railing to the left.  There's no sound in the tunnel other than a drip drip drip of moisture.  You have to ride so slowly 'cause it's so narrow.   A couple hundred feet in and and I was ready to get out.  Creepy creepy creepy.

Here's my mechanical issue for the trip.  I can only imagine what I would have done if this had happened in the Paw Paw tunnel .. oh yea, I would have UBER'd.

64 miles into the trip and I'm feeling it.  Let's be real, that's a long ways on a mountain bike and towing a trailer.  I've still got 116 miles to get to DC.  All I could think about was I can't leave myself a century ride on Sunday.  I had to decrease that distance.

The trick is how much to ride.  Wear myself out today and nothing left tomorrow.  As it turns out, I wore myself out both days.






Below is a picture of my swimming hole.  North of DC the Potomac seems to be very clean.  Water sports crowd the river and a ton of people were taking to it in the heat.  I seriously would have traded in my dusty bike for a jet ski if someone had offered.

I just had to swim

And holy moly did I get a second bath after the swimming hole.  The skies opened up and you would've thought the Thunder God Thor himself was making a appearance.

I had a good conversation with a dude under a bridge while waiting for some the storm to pass.   He recently got out of prison on drug charges and getting his life in order with his 6 year old son.  Kudo's to him for getting his life on track, so send him a prayer or two, he'd appreciate it.

I ended up riding 111 miles on Saturday and that is the most ever for a single day on my mountain bike.  I've done two mountain bike centuries before, but this was a different kind of hard.  Given it was flat, there were no free downhill miles.  The day of riding began about 7:30am and ended riding about 8:30pm.  With a few breaks, that's ~12 hours of pedaling.  I don't train for these things, I just ride them.  As long as the body doesn't breakdown, I'll keep riding.

I rolled into Antietam hiker/biker campsite without my complete faculties.  When you're worn out that much you don't think quite as clearly, decisions are tougher, and you resemble a zombie.  So I slogged into the campsite, picked a spot, and set the tent up quickly.  I was gross, but fortunately the Potomac Bath Works was open so I slid down the dirt trail and fell into the river.  Clean as ever and ready for bed.   Unfortunately, I didn't have time for dinner.  This night there would be none, which isn't what the belly wants.

Here's the last video of the day.

Another crappy night of sleep on that uncomfortable mat.  How in the heck does Jared sleep on that?  I woke up several times and did what I could to sleep.  Eventually I fell asleep and woke up around 8am, without an alarm.  Surprisingly I wasn't feeling too bad.  The first few miles were ok as the limbs got loose.  The huge nag on me right now was hunger.  Oh man, was I hungry.  Fortunately, a town was really close.

I stopped in Brunswick for brunch. Fortunately for me, as I was looking around riding in circles some guy in a car stopped to ask if I was lost.  I asked about food and he pointed me to a pretty cute dinner pictured below.  Quiche and salmon lochs for lunch .. yummy!

Beans and the Belfry in Brunswick

Lunch could have been a real downer for me.  Turns out I left my wallet at the register when I paid for the meal, before I ate.  Later the guy came out and asked if I left my wallet there.  As much riding as I was doing, I would have been in no mood to turn around on the trail and retrieve it.  More kudos to the honest people in Brunswick!

I felt some joy when arriving at Harpers Ferry.  I had ridden my bike there once, so I was feeling pretty good that it was somewhere I had been.  The trail is relentless, one woodsy section after another.  Long stretches of straight trail that dims away as far down as you can see.  I was seriously getting worn down so anything familiar was helpful.

White Horse Rapids near Harpers Ferry

My dad took my sister and I canoeing quite a bit when we were younger.  One specific rapid I remember was White Horse Rapids.  It's just south of Harpers Ferry.  Below is my lame attempt at taking a picture of those rapids.  At this point, stopping was not an option.  The pedals had to keep turning.  I was having 4th and 5th thoughts about not making it to DC on Sunday.







I didn't take much video on Sunday.  After the first few miles it became a slog fest.  An endless unchanging trail.  Every time I put forth much effort the whole body would nauseate.  The only way I was getting through the day was carefully managing the effort.  I could pedal only so hard.

35 miles in and I'm wearing out (again), but I'm only halfway for the day.  The final portion was really a ride from one water pump to the next.  I'd get off the bike and dunk myself under each pump.  I'd cool off and start feeling pretty good.  I'd heat up by the time I rode the 5-6 miles to the next pump.  Again, dunk oneself and do it all over again.

Lunch at Great Falls

I was feeling downright cheery arriving at Great Falls.   Only 16 miles left to DC.  Under those good looks in that photo is one completely shot and worn out person.  Even my jaw was tired putting down the pork sandwich and potato chips.

Managing those last 40 miles was pretty difficult.  Any time I put forth a bit of energy my entire body would nauseate.  It was not pleasant.  There was a certain power level I could keep, but going over it was not an option.  Just keep pedaling.









Mom and her neighbor Brian showed up in Rosslyn 3 minutes after I did to pick me up.  Amazing how that worked out.  I'm dirty, stinky, nasty, and extremely relieved to be off the bike.  One of the hardest things on Sunday may have been getting my bike and trailer up the Key Bridge steps from the trail.  Wow, that took all the remaining energy I had left in my body.

Gramma is always there when you need her

For all you Fitbit fanatics, it recorded 50,797 steps on Saturday for 110 miles, and 36,527 on Sunday for 70 miles.  That 50k+ effort earned me the "Cowboy Boot" badge ... yee haw!

Another bucket list item is to ride the Great Allegheny Trail from Pittsburgh to Cumberland.  That's a mere 150 miles.  Maybe a one-day ride? 

Strava stats:

• Day 1 - 4.5 miles
• Day 2 -111 miles 
• Day 3 -70 miles

Posted in: biking,c&o canal,cumberland