indyfabz

Their fire insurance must be astronomical.

u235

Off topic but a friend of mine lived off those tracks in a small unincorporated area closer to Pittsburgh. His house was between the tracks and the river and his front porch was less then 50 foot from the tracks and about 50 yards from a crossing. Oddly you got used to the noise

Altair 4

Maintaining the off-topicness, I have come to realize that I have always lived within hearing distance of a train track, my entire life, despite having moved 7 times. Even now, living several miles from tracks, I can hear train horns at 4 different crossings if I wake up in the middle of the night.

The last time I rode the GAP, I saw at least three trains that had locomotives at both ends of the train, pulling and pushing. Kinda cool.

k0guz

Back on topic: this sounds intriguing. The itinerary, the mileage, the nature of the group. My only concern is getting me & my bike to Pittsburgh and back from Washington. I live in western Colorado, and although we do have Amtrak, who knows if it's going to be there next year...

mrv 

i would be interested. so I will follow the thread to see how things develop as far as the schedule goes.
I could take the Amtrak out of Toledo to the start (Pittsburgh? Boston?).
The mileage sounds reasonable. A couple of weeks ago my long days were about 90 miles. Toooo long.

robow

Spin, yea, it was 7 days, 1 for the Montour, 3 for the GAP with one being a short day, and 3 longer days on the C and O to DC. It was a good time (other than day 5 which was HELL !)
Was going to talk to you about this because I have at least 6 or more individuals that want to come out next year and do that ride. Some from Little Rock, buddy from Denver, and a few more closer to home (including Mrs. Robow). Anyway, it is going to happen for us so if we can join in, that would be great, but if the timing doesn't work out, will understand completely.

mrv 

Starting my 2019 planning. Let me know if there has been any progress on planning and/or timing. I am aiming to do the GAP + C&O, either direction. Personal preference would be June.
OR catch the AMTRAK from Ann Arbor (which just started allowing bikes a few months ago) to Chicago, north to Wisconsin, across Lake Michigan to Luddington, back to Detroit across Michigan.
Thanks.

https://gaptrail.org/
The C&O Canal Bicycling Guide - Welcome!

1-track-mind

Interested in doing the GAP/CO in early fall 2019. How would you set it up so that you spent the night in Ohiopyle ?

Rob_E

You wouldn't. Or at least I wouldn't. Unless you were actually staying in town.

But when I did it, I started in Pittsburgh, late in the morning, and had a leisurely ride out of town. Stopped at Dravos Cemetery/campground to look around, and it started pouring, so I decided to stop for the day. The next day I found myself on the trail and coming on Ohiopyle when it was starting to get dark. It was about a 50 mile day, following my 20 to 25 mile day getting out of Pittsburgh. If I did it again, I'd plan it so that I didn't stop at Ohiopyle, but if I wanted to stop there, I'd plan for a more evenly spaced two days, stopping at Cedar Creek or Roundbottom the first day, and Ohiopyle the 2nd. If you're credit card touring and/or in good shape, you could likely get an early start and go from Pittsburgh to Ohiopyle in one day. That's a faster pace or longer day than I'd want to plan on for unpaved surfaces, but I'm sure people have done longer days on the trail.

robow

Our group has decided on riding the 7 days from northern Pittsburgh to DC in September. We presently have our basic itinerary and dates set, but there's always that chance it might be modified (or an audible called) if conditions warrant it.

mrv 

- drop me a note if there's any space in your group. I was wanting to avoid the hotter months - July & August. I did a 4 day trip last July. Ended up with a 90 ish mile day in 95F heat. a bit brutal....
If it's a tight knit group that already is too big, no worries. Thanks.
Happy Trails.

robow

IM sent
Always room for more

spinnaker

I don't know if I will have the time now to work on this. If someone can take the lead I could always consult.

seedsbelize 

Sounds like a fun trip. I will be just finishing up my monthlong visit North, on Memorial Day weekend, and probably flying out of DC. If I didn't have a complete bike and a frame set to bring back, I'd consider extending for that week. Maybe another time.

larryforgy

What kind of bike would be required for a trip like this? I have been biking regularly for about three years, and would like to do some touring. I am in a Maryland DC suburb about 10 miles from the C&O canal and have had a desire to do this trip for a while.

I have a recumbent with 1.5 inch tires that I have ridden on the canal tow path from Harper's Ferry south to DC. This part of the tow path is pretty solid and I don't have any problems as long as it is completely dry, but gets pretty difficult if the path is muddy. Would such a bike work for a trip like this?

Thanks,
Larry Forgy

jpescatore

I see plenty of recumbents on the the Towpath, with 1.5" tires you will be fine as far as the roughness of the surface. Those are roughly equal to 38mm tires - bigger will be more comfortable, but I have 35mm on the bike I use on the Towpath and they are fine and more than fine for most of the GAP trail.

The section of the Great Allegheny Passage trail downhill from Frostburg has some really washed out spots that were short but deep sand/gravel pits when we rode it in August. I don't ride a recumbent, but that might be the only problem area. We had less experienced cyclists who had to walk those sections but only a few hundred yards at most.

spinnaker

The problem I see is you are awfully close to the mud.

cannonride15

Interested, subscribed for updates!

mrodgers

This is very interesting. I've never taken a look in the touring section.

My first trip was with the VLP Veteran ride to DC last year over the 4th of July (I didn't go this year). We rode in 5 days and for my slow rear end, it was a bit much, especially since it was my first multi-day ride. Hot also. Most days were at least 75 miles, last day was 82 miles I think, but there was 1 short day of 56 miles I think.

I'll have to keep an eye on this thread if any more info pops up.

My buddy at work just told his wife one day that he read about the GAP/C&O ride and decided to pack up his bike and go alone. He met Jack laying on the rock at the bend before you climb the final slope to Ohiopyle, who did some work for the VLP in Pittsburgh. They were talking and Jack said, "this would be a cool ride for a benefit fundraiser." That's how the idea of the "335 Miles for Veterans" started. The following year Jack and a few guys from VLP rode to DC. The next year which is the year I rode (last year) we had 84 cyclists in total with 50 of us doing 5 days, 31 ride 4 days, and 3 crazy people ride it in 3 days. They rode the GAP the first day and broke the C&O up into 2 days.

Cougrrcj

Interested, and subscribing.

mrv 

howdy
I've set my dates for September. I'll be chasing @robow group a bit and probably connect with them their last 2 days.
If anyone is interested in my specific itinerary let me know and I'll forward it to you via a PM. (I seem to be paranoid about publishing my detailed itinerary on the interwebs! )
Basically I'm set in my start/finish dates, but what happens in between is flexible.

My mileage will be something like:
Day 1: 27 miles (maybe more, depends how tired I am from the train ride. The AMTRAK gets into Pittsburgh at 5AM. So probably breakfast and start pedaling. )
Day 2: 61
Day 3: 60 (possibly more if I don't feel like going civilized and stopping at Cumberland)
Day 4: 72
Day 5: 54
Day 6: 64
I don't anticipate going faster than that. It's possible, but that midnight train out of Toledo will probably make a rough start. I giving myself some slack. That and looking at the trail condition reports, it sounds like detours are common.

Anybody know if reservations are required due to no vacancy at Fort Fredrick and the Outflow campgrounds? The Outflow seems to have plenty of space (30 hike/bike $5 spots). Fort Fredrick fewer spots. But reading some blogs it seems like camping along the path is pretty easy if one is willing to forego showering the whole time!

cheers.

spinnaker

I have never made a reservation at Outflow. I don't think they turn people away that are on bicycles. .

joel2old

Can't believe its going to be ten years. I was part of that group. Today I still see and feel the day and day after that rain. It was the worst and in ways the best riding experience of my life. It was a test to push yourself to the limit and in the end win. I considered myself a very strong rider and to this day I don't know how some of the other riders survived that day. I think I told myself never again will I do that ride, but you never know!
Joel from Michigan

jpescatore

A friend and I hiked the Towpath this past weekend from Point of Rocks up to where the Towpath is still out at mile 52. They have started the work on the temporary crossing - it was supposed to be completed by the end of September but continued high water levels on the Potomac have made it impossible to finish. Should be done before your ride, but right now the only way around is to go on the active railroad tracks for a short bit.

Here's a picture: under that water area are several sections of large plastic pipe that will be covered with ballast/gravel to be the "temporary" crossing. It will probably be there for several years before the destroyed culvert under the towpath is replaced.


Under that water is the start of a crossing.

mrv 

well, it wouldn't be the first re-route dealt with....



your spare inner tube can be used as a flotation device in the event of a water landing....