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 C&O Towpath near Harper's Ferry Coming into Hancock the day before, I noticed that there was paved bike path heading into Hanock and then out continuing down river. There is about a twenty mile bike path of the old Western Maryland Railroad that parallels the C&O Tow Path with Hancock pretty much in the middle. Since paved roads are faster than the bumpy C&O I decided to give it a go until it ended.
At one point on the trail, there was a sign pointing out the three modes of transportation that were tried in that corridor: canal then railroad, and then the interstate. It said that each eventually led to the demise of the previous one. (CSX still has an active rail line nearby that mostly moves coal.) I had often thought about the history of the route. From the historical signs along the canal, the canal was never much of a success. It was plagued by flooding and it was not fully completed until the railroads were also nearly complete along the same route. It could not compete with the railroads in speed or tonnage. The amount of railroads coming through are still visible with both active and abandoned railroad trestles crossing the rivers. The signs along the path were interesting because of the long and important history of this area of country for both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War as well as the development of industry and the move west. Continue reading Day 80: Hancock, MD to Harper’s Ferry, WV (November 17)
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 Campground near West Newton, PA on the GAP Trail There was a light drizzle leaving in the morning. Not cold but a little chill to start.
The surface of the trail is compacted chip stone. Due to the rain last night it seems a couple miles an hour slower than yesterday when dry. Still able to go about 10 mph. There are also a lot of wet leaves on the trail but they seem pretty stable and I haven’t felt any slipping.
There are little towns every five to ten miles along the route. Most have a look they were started 100 years or so ago when this corridor was heavily used judging by the style of houses. Continue reading Day 77: West Newton to Confluence, PA (November 14)
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 Bridge over the Youghiogheny River in West Newton, PA I picked up a trail (Three Rivers Heritage Trail) downtown behind the PNC bank building. Being a Sunday there were a bunch of other cyclists on the trail — most on nice road bikes.
The downtown and riverside seems to be having a bit of a renaissance. The Carnegie Mellon center for studying media technology is there. Seeing the building reminded me of Randy Pausch who taught there, and his lecture on fulfilling your childhood dreams. I guess riding cross country was not one of my childhood dreams, but has been something I have wanted to do for a number of years. In a few days I will have fulfilled that dream. So what is next? Not sure, but I will think of something. Continue reading Day 76: Pittsburgh to West Newton, PA (November 13)
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 A tobacco drying barn with geometric pattern This morning was very cold when I got up — about 25 F. Even after the sun was up for a hour it was still below freezing. It would be a slow start. I normally go slow to warm up but today would be even slower and involve multiple stops for layer adjusting. Looking at the ACA route, there would be no restaurants along the way to buy lunch. I’d be snacking it today. Plus with it so cold, I would not be sitting by the roadside to enjoy a lunch either. Somehow this 52 miles felt like a long distance between services sort of like being out west.
The ACA routes are nice because they try to put you on roads with little traffic. Today was certainly one of those days. It seemed like hours that I could ride in solitude with no noise but my tires and the birds.
I did run into a few dogs who charged my bicycle barking but now I have found that if I ignore them they lose interest pretty quickly. But there was one today I could not ignore. He ran out in front of my bike right in front of the tire. I was going about 12-14 mph which seemed a little fast for him to run along with his head turned completely around barking at me. It was a little comical but I was worried about running him over. I kept having to brake and steer aside. Eventually he gave up. Continue reading Day 74: Harrodsburg to Berea, KY (November 11)
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As Steamboat seems like a nice place, I decided to stay for a rest day. Also because I had ridden for five days and have a big pass outside Steamboat.
There is a bike path all along the river through town. Really convenient for getting around plus it means you aren’t on the road. It is a beautiful ride with the river and cottonwoods. I spent an hour in the new, beautiful library copying files from my GoPro memory cards onto the hard disk. I wanted to go up to the Strawberry hot springs but the shuttle bus stopped running a couple days before. It is in between seasons. Ski season starts after thanksgiving.
Instead I visited the world headquarters of Honey Stringer. They make honey based energy food for sports. I got to try their new waffles that Lance Armstrong likes. (He owns part of the company.) I ended up buying some of their gels and chews. Continue reading Day 36: Rest Day in Steamboat Springs, CO (October 4)
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 Fall colors on the Yampa River Today was a great, relaxing ride. Knowing that it was not too far I took it somewhat easy and took a bunch of photos along the way.
It was a bit chilly to start out and I left my windbreaker on until almost 11:00. The clouds started forming a bit earlier than normal today too providing shade. Most days there is a chance of an afternoon thunderstorm. Today was no different. Continue reading Day 35: Craig to Steamboat Springs, CO (October 3)
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 A view of downtown Sacramento from Discovery Park I liked the American River Bike Trail. It could use some better signage, but pretty nice. (Map here.) It seemed the river was being well used even though it was the middle of the week. There were lots of people out in the river fishing or going about in boats. Also lots of people out on bicycles riding the trail. A guy on a trike was zooming around. I must be somewhat slow because he must have passed me going in both directions about four or five times. There were three or four cyclists who rode along with me to talk about what I am doing. All gave some useful advice. Continue reading Day 2: Winters to Folsom (August 31)
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 West Falmouth Harbor After a month of not getting on a bike up in Alaska while on the Juneau Icefield almost the first thing I did when arriving back on Cape Cod was to go for a ride on the bike path in Falmouth.
I only did about 10 miles so not to hurt myself, but I made sure it was long enough to get to see the salt marshes which is my favorite part. There were some osprey in their nest. I would have liked to have seen them fishing but it was still nice to see.
Continue reading Shining Sea Bike Path
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