This story is an adventure my husband had out East a few weeks ago. He took a bike trip and rode 342 miles in one week with seven other guys from his Minnesota bike club, The Faribault Flyers. A friend/neighbor from the club moved away last year and bought a home in the Washington D.C. area. Once out there he organized a bike trip for those in the MN group who wanted to join in on a ride from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington D.C. He got seven takers.
They rented touring bikes from a shop in Pittsburgh and stayed in Bed & Breakfasts along the way. They rode between 35 – 62 miles per day on the Great Allegheny Passage Trail (packed limestone) and the C&O Canal Tow Path (dirt trail). The C&O portion was a mule path along side a historic canal from the 1800’s. Mules were used to pull 12’ wide barges down the man-made canal to haul coal from the north to the south. The canal had 74 locks and most of the locks and old lock-houses are still standing along the path.
They had a great week. Lots of history and great scenery. They had no rain while biking, however the last night it did rain during the night and made the dirt trail very muddy for their last day of riding. The guys and their bikes were caked with mud after 35 miles on the muddy trail. The trail ended in Georgetown and the guys said they wanted to eat at the first restaurant they came upon…which happened to be a more upscale restaurant, but the hosts graciously accepted the eight mud-caked bikers to their outdoor dining tables, which carried the theme from indoors with white linen napkins! I’m sure it was quite a sight.
The bike trip was a challenge for the guys, riding consecutively for seven days, but it was worth the time and effort to see they could do it successfully and it certainly created some great memories.
Wow, you must be so proud of your husband.
What an incredible way to see the country.
He is really glad he did it, although it was a challenge!
What a great memory for Gary. Glad he was able to see it through to the end.
Me too! 😉