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.
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