hokiefyd 

A few of us who live near the C&O canal towpath near Harpers Ferry/Shepherdstown are going to meet at 10:00am on Saturday, May 12, at the Shepherdstown access point to get together and do some riding on the towpath trail. This is not a formal "group ride"; it's a "come and ride as long or as little as you like and meet some fellow BikeForums hybrid bike riders" kind of thing. We'll park and meet at the Lock 38 parking area, as seen and described here:

The C&O Canal Bicycling Guide - Mile 70 thru 82

@travbikeman or @ksywa, please advise if there's a better place to park.

BF moderators, if you would prefer this go into a regional rides forum, let me know and I'll make a post there. I kept it here due to it being a small collection of hybrid subforum members at the moment, but I can move there if desired.

ksywa

The Lock 38 parking is really tiny for a few vehicles. There is a bit larger parking about 1/3 mile down river, marked at footbridge to Potomac. If both parking are full, one can park in Shepherdstown. For last second bike needs visit Shepherdstown Pedal and Paddle.

/ksywa

hokiefyd 

It looks like the bridge over the Potomac has a very nice wide path on the eastbound side, with a nice ramp down to the river level on the Maryland side of the bridge. Sounds like a plan.

If anyone does plan to join us, please reply so we'll know to look for you.

hokiefyd 

This is just a reminder for those who live in northern Virginia, eastern West Virginia, western and central Maryland, and southern Pennsylvania that at least three of us will meet at the Shepherdstown access point at 10:00 am this coming Saturday, May 12. @kysywa, is there a local place in Shepherdstown for us to get a bite to eat afterward? I was planning to pack a sandwich and some snacks, but could also go for lunch at a local place if there is one. (I figured we'd ride a ways up river, and then it'd be lunch time when we got back to town.)

ksywa

Quite a few places in town, varying from a hippy coffee place, homey fat spoon, decent thai to overpriced chip on the shoulder bavarian style gasthaus.. pick your poison. :-)
/ksywa

travbikeman

So far weather on Saturday looks Good!

hokiefyd 

It's looking just perfect. It's been dry enough that there shouldn't be much mud, and it'll be cool enough that we're not dripping wet after 10 minutes of being out there.

andrei_r

You know you're all going to have to pose together with your bikes and upload it to this thread, right?

hokiefyd 

We'll be sure to get and post some great pictures, yes!

ksywa

OK. Tomorrow, 10 AM, at Footpath. Look for an old fart with a belly, bald head and a Karate Monkey in a Tacoma bed :-).

/ksywa

hokiefyd 

Sounds not altogether different from me. Belly, check. Balding, check. Giant Roam on the back of a Honda Ridgeline.

ksywa

TLR - do not trust two competitive young'uns when they say 10 miles... After 12 miles ( on the way out) they decided that they want to see a new part of improved C&O. Another 3 miles...
The last 5 miles back were ... painful. I need a set of much younger legs.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, that Iit was my first ride of the year; was quite busy :-). So my mistake for trying to live up to my imagination.. I am no longer 30-40 in good shape.

Hokiefyd & travbikeman, thanks for hanging with me. I know I blew some of your schedule, so your patience and accommodation is deeply appreciated.
Pictures coming later, after I have some rest...
The bike worked like a champ. 1x10 was good enough to keep up, seat did not damaged my posterior and Topeak frame & DXP bag hold together nicely.

hokiefyd 

@ksywa, I definitely pushed myself today as well. 30 miles is way above average for me, and my, um, sitting bones, were pretty sore by the end of the trip. Thanks for humoring us, to see the repaired concrete section. It was a beautiful day for a ride, and @ksywa and @travbikeman were great companions for the trip. Great company, great conversation, great bikes, and great scenery (and weather). I enjoyed it tremendously and I look forward to our next trip.

And thank you for taking the pictures today with your nice digital SLR. We never did find someone to get the three of us together. Next time...

travbikeman

It was a great ride guys! Terrific way to spend a beautiful day! I too look forward to doing it again...but am willing to do less mileage if wanted.

hokiefyd 

Maybe next time, we can set a hard stop at 10 miles out (and then 10 miles back). That would also ensure we could get some lunch somewhere after.

travbikeman

Just letting anyone interested in knowing, we rode a total of 30 miles from Sheperdstown to nearly Cedar Grove for great views like this:

ksywa

Yeah, between packing and regular daily cores.. I finally got to get pics done.

ksywa

and two more..

ksywa

hokiefyd 

Great pics, both of you!

andrei_r

Nice. Though it's missing a picture of the three of you standing behind your respective bikes.

ksywa

People: hokiefyd on the left, travbikeman on the right.
Bikes from the left - travbikeman's, then hikiefyd, and mine with a helmet on the bag on the right.

I am behind the camera.

/ksywa

andrei_r

I​​​​​​I had already figured that out based on the bikes.

My point exactly.

Something like that with each of you standing behind the bike would've been gold.
I'm not complaining, just suggesting for the next time. Great pics anyway! Wish I was there.

hokiefyd 

Yeah, we never stopped somebody to take a group picture. Next time!

That area has received probably 4-6 inches of rain since we rode, so maybe some of that trail is under water right now!

travbikeman

Washed out actually:

CLOSURE: The towpath bridge at Culvert 82 (MM 52.5) near Brunswick has been washed out. To ensure public safety, the towpath is CLOSED approximately 0.5 miles upstream of the Catoctin Aqueduct (MM 51) and 1.5 miles downstream of the Brunswick Family Campground (MM 54). A detour is being established. Please avoid the area so emergency personnel can assess the damage.

CAUTION: AVOID the area between the Monocacy Aqueduct (MM 42) and Antietam Creek (MM 70). The area is being evaluated for washouts, sinkholes, downed trees, and other storm damage.

Please check the ALERTS TAB on our website for further updateshttps://www.nps.gov/choh/index.htm (LF)