GAP Trail Afterwords

Click Here for All the Pictures from the TRIP 

I'm home now and thinking about all we did over the past four days. We packed a lot in this trip and I'm glad I took an extra day off work to recover. The trip was better and different than I expected. The trail was as nice and scenic as advertised what surprised me was all the sights around and outside the trail. This trail is through some of the more depressed area's of Pennsylvania. The lost of the steel and coal industry that sustained this area for over 100 years is still very much affecting this area. The amount of abandon and rotting plants and empty fields is epic. On the first day of ride besides all the empty factories we saw a lot of coal and coke ash around the trail as well as a lot of run down and abandon houses. However even with all the issues this area has, the people were really friendly. Some of the rest stops along the way had volunteer greeters that would answer any question about the trail like how far to the next stop or the best place to find food. Then there was the work that the people in these town mush have to do to keep this trail in shape. I mean the surface was PERFECT. There were no holes, ruts, soft spots or even debris on the trail. A road bike with wide tires won't have a problem with any part of this trail.

Then there were the bathrooms which were always clean even the port-o-johns. There was one that Jack stepped into and the bottom broke but is was clean and I'm sure it has been replace by now. There were also a lot of displays and small museums along the way that were worth stopping for. That made the ride take longer but also broke it up and made it more interesting.

There is also art scattered around the trail. It usually has some pieces of bike in the art. It was impressive to me that as depressed as this area is that they still have energy, ingenuity and funds to not only maintain this trail but make it one of the best in the country.

This trail mostly follows the rivers in this area and unlike the Lehigh Valley trail you almost always had a good view of the river.

One of the coolest parts of doing this trail was going over all the bridges and through the tunnels. I lost count of how many train bridges we went over. It have to be in the 15 to 20 range. They were all pretty high and had good views of the valley and rivers below

However the tunnels were even better than the bridges. I don't think there is anywhere else where you are going to go through tunnels this long. On the way home we actually stopped off at the Paw Paw tunnel which is on the C&O trail. This is the continuation of from the end GAP trail that goes along the canal from Cumberland all the way to Washington DC.

The tunnel is a kilometer long. We drove to the campground near the tunnel and ended up doing a 3 mile hike to and through the tunnel. At a kilometer long it gets pretty dark when you get to the middle.

You definitely need a flashlight to make your way through. The picture above it what it looked like when I turned my flashlight off.

One thing that did make this trip more difficult to plan was that we road point to point and would always end up 30 to 50 miles from where we parked our car in the morning. I worked out the logistics before hand so that we would always have a car at the end to go pick up the one we drove to the start. This took a lot of thought because we had to get 4 bikes and 4 people in one car to either get to the starting point or back from the ending point. Luckily Jack's van can hold a lot of bikes and people. It also helped that Bob had a roof rack that can fit any car. This meant  that I we could put his roof rack on my Baja and get 3 bikes in the back and one on the roof and 4 people in the car. Although we made some minor tweaks to my original logistics plan it ended up not being too much a pain in the ass to go back and get the car we left at that start. I would always try to get dinner or see some sight like Bike Heaven along the way. The only thing issue was the extra time each day it took to drive back to the starting point after the ride which made the day longer. This added about an hour or more to the stuff we had to do each day.

Like any bike trip it is always best as a shared experience. Jack and Dorthy are platinum members of my travel club and are always fun to travel with. In fact the reason that we did this trip was because of a conversation we had during the Philly club bike trip to Gettysburg. Jack was asking a couple what is the best bike trip they ever did and they told us about the GAP trail and the idea stuck and now we did it. Bob also fit in well and is now an honorary member of the insane  bike posse.

The last thing that this trip showed me was that there are a lot of possibilities for fun bike trips on mountain bikes, Now that I have a good mountain bike that I know I can do long rides on I now have a whole new set of places I can go and explore. A lot of people we met on the trail were doing the C&O trail to DC so that is now on my list. There are always new trail being created so there will be more trips like this in my future.

GAP Trail Day 3 A Historic Tour

We made it!. Three days and 150 miles later and we are now done. Each day of this ride has been a little different. The first day was all about the urban landscape and the steel and coal industry, Yesterday was an enjoyable day in the woods. Today we learn a lot about the history of the area we were riding through. We saw a lot of information about the building of the rail road and the history of the towns.

It had rained overnight and was a little misty when we started. It was in the mid 60s so although it was a little damp once we got started I was comfortable warm. Because of the rain the trail was a little softer but not really loose or muddy at all. Today we were headed east from Rockwood to the end in Cumberland. It was the usual 1% uphill which I didn't really feel. The first major site we saw today was the Salisbury Viaduct bridge. This is a long bridge over a valley.

Although it was overcast the view was still nice. We are at least 150 up so it is hard to capture how high this really feels in a picture.

The next stop was the town of Meyersdale which has a restored train station that is a restroom as well as a museum and gift shop. The museum has a lot of displays and information about the rail road and even had a caboose you could walk around in. It was really well done so we spent some time here looking around.

Eight miles later we hit the high point of our ride 2392 feet. It had taken us 3 days and 125 mile to get here but we finally reached the Eastern Continental Divide.

This is the point that divides the Gulf of Mexico watershed from the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

After this it was all down hill and it really was. We had over 22 miles of 3-4% constant downhill. The only problem was that we were in a cloud so it was very foggy. But that actually made for a couple cool pics.

A mile after going over the divide we hit the first of three tunnels. The first was the Big Salvage tunnel which is over 3800 feet long.

You can't see the end of the tunnel when you enter it. It is lit but it only just bright enough to make your way through.

Jack, Dorthy, and Bob used lights in the tunnel but I didn't pull mine out. It felt like riding through a mine shaft. It was both cool and scary to ride through.

When I got to the end of the tunnel Jack and Bob were taking a break and in the fog they appeared as silhouettes that made a good picture.

The next tunnel was the Borden tunnel. You could just see the end of the tunnel when you got into it but it was a long way off. There were no lights but just enough ambient light to kinda see where you were going.

When I got about half way through this tunnel I had a very weird sensation. Since the end of the tunnel was still far away it wasn't getting any bigger. I also couldn't see the sides of the tunnel. Even though I was pedaling away I felt like I wasn't moving at all. It felt like I was on a stationary bike. Very strange.

The last town we hit before Cumberland was Frostburg. We pulled over for a break I notice an interesting arch.

As I was taking this picture I notice that Jack was climbing the hill behind it. It turned out that the town had added some switch backs on the hill and some sculptures. It was the switchback sculpture garden.

This was just another example of some of effort that is put into these trails to make them more fun and interesting. Each day our rides took longer than expected mostly because of all the things to see just off the trail. That is one of the things that make this not just a ride but an experience.

After Frostburg it was a quick cruise down hill to Cumberland to mile zero and the end of the ride.

It was an amazing ride. The last few posts I did on the ride didn't really cover it all so I will probably put out another about it once I get home. The bottom line is that this is one of the best trails in the country so it should be on your short list of trips.

GAP Trail Day 2 In to the Woods

Today was a day mostly spent in the woods. We have left the urban landscape and decaying factories far behind us. Even through we were in woods part of yesterday those woods still have signs of coal and steel production. Today we were on a dirt trail for 45 miles and under cover of the woods and near the river. The only vestiges of civilization were the train bridges and tunnel we went through.

These bridges were long and high but gave us some great views of the rivers and gorges below.

We went through the Pinkerton tunnel and will go through a couple of more tomorrow.

We also went through the town of Ohiopyle which was a nice small town with some cool places to eat and stay. If I ever come back this way I would spend some more time in this town. We actually went off the trail here about a half mile to see a water fall.

Nothing spectacular but worth the short trip.

The trail itself was very scenic and we had another good weather day. One of the reason this ride was a little easier today is that we did this section from east to west which is slightly down hill. Yesterday we did it from west to east which was slightly uphill but at a 1% grade it was hard to really feel it.

There were a lot of small water falls along the way on the trail on the small rock walls that line parts of the trail. Most of them are small trickles but still interesting. Jack actually climb down to one of them to feel the water. It seems that that is Jack's thing as I have a couple of pictures of him doing it this year.

Being that today was only 45 miles we got done a hour and a half earlier than we did yesterday. We ended up spending the late afternoon visiting the Flight 93 memorial which was close to where we stayed tonight. So even through we got back earlier from the ride it still ended up being a long day.

I have a lot more pictures and details about today's ride but its getting late so I will save that for tomorrow.

GAP Trail Day 1 Far but Fun

It was a long day and a long ride but the headline is we made it and it was as good as expected. I don't have the time or the mental energy to write down all we did today so this will be a picture heavy post. Today's ride was 60 miles which is the longest ride I will probably ever do on a mountain bike. I was anxious about the length of today's ride but although I faded the last five miles its nothing a little hydration and sleep won't fix.

It helped that today's weather as perfect. It was 60 degrees when we started and never go much about 75 with no humidity. Today's ride started with a hour drive to downtown Pittsburgh where the Ohio, Monongahela, and Allegheny rivers meet. There is a fountain at the point where the rivers meet as well as a medallion at the start of the trail where Jack, Dorthy, Bob and I took a picture to mark the start of the ride.

We then headed down the trail which is along the Monongahela river. Pittsburgh has a lot of bridges, more than any city in the world including Venice. They are all steel bridges of different designs. We cross over the Monongahela on the Hot Metal Bridge and I got a picture of the skyline of Pittsburgh as we left the city.

This part of the GAP trail is paved and so it was easy going. We worked our way through the outskirts of the city. It was very industrial as most of the land we were riding on use to be old steel plans. Its amazing how many abandon plants there are. It some places it looks like a bomb went off and burnt or damaged all the factory buildings. Some place are being revitalized so it is a strange mix.

In Mckeesport we crossed another bridge and left the Monongahela to follow the Youghiogheny. Don't ask me to pronounce the names.

 

At this point the tail became crushed limestone but was still a very smooth and easy surface to ride. 

There were a couple of weird but interesting waterfalls along the trail. The first one was white and looked like snow. I think it was phosphorus run off from an old mine.

The second one was red and was iron and sulfur run off from a mine.

 

The GAP trail has plenty of places to get water and use the bathroom and even has bike repair stations along the way. If you want food you have to stop at one of the small towns along the way. We ended up stopping in West Newton at an old restored train station.

The trail does have some odd things to see along the way as well as some bike art.

After the town of West Newton there wasn't a lot of civilization. The towns we did pass through were usually run down old mining towns of 10-12 houses.  We were still following the river which was very scenic. The only thing that disturbed the scenery was the noise of the many freight trains going down the other side of the river. 

At 55 miles I started to feel the miles of the day. Jack was of course was getting faster and sprinted away. When I saw the archway I knew I was less than a mile from the finish. Although I was sore I did not cramp and after a shower and something to eat I felt pretty good.

Because this was a point to point ride after we got cleaned up we had to go back and get the car we drove to Pittsburgh in. So we drove back to Pittsburgh and made a stop at Bike Heaven. Its a museum and bike store and has 3 floors of amazing vintage bikes. I could go on for pages about all the cool bikes there were but here are a few picture of what I saw. 

That's it for today. It was a fun day and am looking forward to tomorrow's shorter ride.

The Ride before The RIDE

It was a perfect day for a bike ride. For once the weather was cool with no humidity. I did put my bike in the car to do a ride but it was a drive towards Pittsburgh. This is the beginning of my ride of the GAP trail. This will be a 3 day ride from Pittsburgh PA to Cumberland MD along a rail trail. The trip has been coming together for the past few months and not only involved planning the trip but also getting a new mountain bike, the Bloody Bastard, as well as doing some mountain bike rides in the summer to get ready for this trip. The GAP trail has been rated one of the best rail trails in the country and from my research it should be one of the more scenic and interesting rides I have done.

Because it is a point to point ride the logistics are more complicated since at the end of each day will be at a different point than where we started. This will usually mean dropping a car at the ending point so that we can get back to the starting point. I got all the details worked out but it will make each day a little longer.

This was going to be a rain or shine trip but we luck out as the weather looks good. Tomorrow's ride will be 60 miles on a mountain bike. That is 20 miles further than I have every ridden on a mountain bike. The first 12 miles of the trail is paved and the rest is hard packed limestone so it should be easy going but it is going be a long ride. The weather is going to be cool so cramping or getting dehydrated shouldn't be a problem but I plan to take it slow anyway and enjoy the sites.

The drive out here to Connellsville took about 5 hours mostly along the PA turnpike. It wasn't a bad ride and it turned out that Frank Llyod Wright's famous Falling Water house was only a few miles from where we were staying so I made a stop on the way out.

The house was even bigger and more impressive that I thought it would be so I'm glad I took the tour and was able to get some pictures from other angles that aren't normally shown.

Now that the drive and sight seeing are over its time to do some riding. I will try and post something each day about the GAP ride because there should be a lot to share.

Slugchronicity

I coined a new word at the start of today's ride. I have a core group of people I usually ride with. When I'm leading the ride they are know as the insane bike posse. When Laura leads they are know as the hill slugs. I have been riding with these people for 10-15 years and some even a little longer. I know how they ride and how they think. This makes it easier to ride together and just have fun.

Today, Laura scheduled a ride to Manasquan from Allentown. I had originally plan to do the lying bastard ride but Laura emailed me that she wanted to do the century so I told her I would postpone my ride to another week. The ride to Manasquan is a 70 mile ride with a 100 mile option from her house. I didn't plan to do either as I had to be home in the early afternoon and didn't have the time to go all the way to Manasquan. I did want to get another long ride in after last weeks pineland cruise. I decided to ride in from my house and split off halfway some where and get back before 1pm.

I timed the ride from my house to get to the start in Allentown by 8 am because that is when I thought Laura and her group would arrive from her house. As I was going down Old York Rd I crossed Gordon and saw Laura, Brian, and Martin coming down the road. They quickly caught up to me and we rode the last mile to the start in Allentown together. At Allentown we met Jack who road in and Jim. Bob showed up a few minutes later.

As we pulled in I told Laura that we had slug synchronicity since we had randomly met up on the road. She turned the word into Slugchronicity so now we have a new word for when we accidentally do things in sync.

Today's weather was warmer and more humid than last week and so I was already sweating pretty good when we left Allentown. Although I didn't know the exact route Laura was going to take she had sent me an old route and I guess it would be close to that so had the route in my GPS which turned out to be 95% correct. The route had a lot of long straight segments and we made it quickly through Clarksburg and to our first stop at a Quickcheckon on 537.

From there we continued to head east towards the shore. I bailed when we got close to Farmingdale. I already had 32 miles in and had about another 30 to go to get back home. I made a quick stop at another Foodmart in Farmingdale and then headed for home. Luckily there was not much wind and what there was of it seem like a tailwind. I made my way around the backside of the Manasquan Reservoir and up to Ely Harmony Rd and the usual way through Millstone back home.

I was home by 12:15 and had got 63 miles in. Even though it was a hot and humid ride I felt pretty good when I got home. I hope this means I'm ready for next weeks trip along the GAP Trail.

I plan to relax this afternoon to recover and of course listen to the Police's Synchronicity Album where the first song will now have the lyrics:

Slugchronicity! Slugchronicity! Slugchronicity!

Round Valley

It has been too hot to do long or hilly rides for the past few weeks. I have wanted to do a ride around Round Valley for a while and when Saturday's weather was only going to be hot instead of oppressive I decided to list a ride for there.

Of course there was a chance of rain forecast but as Saturday came the chance of rain was less and confined to the late afternoon. I had the semi normal people show up for my ride Laura, Ricky, Jim, Jack and a couple irregulars Serge and the other Jeff X. Jim and Jack only joined us for the first few miles of the ride as Jack didn't want to push his broken foot too much and Jim didn't want to do the hills and miles because he was leading Sunday.

Although it was cooler than it had been the past few weeks it was still humid and a little foggy as we worked our way up and over the Sourlands. At 20 miles we made our first stop at the Wawa on 202. Since this was going to be a long and hilly ride I wanted to try and stay hydrated. From there we headed up to and over the hill to the reservoir. Its almost never great weather when we come here but today wasn't that bad. It was still sunny and there were some cool clouds building over the water.

We then made our usual stop at the deli at Whitehouse Station where we talked with Jeff about  randonneuring. He is yet another person I know that is in to long distance biking. It seems like it is a disease that is infecting the bike community and although I applaud the skill and dedication it takes to do those types of rides it is something I will avoid like the zombie plague.

On the way back from Whitehouse Station it went from hot to oppressive and I was concerned with cramping but that didn't happen until we were only a mile from the end of the ride. I was able to stand up on the pedals and stretch it out. We ended up with 58 miles and a little over 2000 feet of climbing. In the heat this was about as far and as much climbing as I wanted to do but I was happy to be able to push myself to do this ride as I have not been able to put in the climbing or the miles because of all the hot weather we have had.