Touring - My First Tour: Great Allegheny Passage, Fall 2012

I've been riding bikes as an adult for about 6 years now. Mostly I commute. I do some mountain biking from time to time. I used to have a performance oriented road bike that I grew to loath and ended up selling cheap. For almost as long as I’ve been riding again I’ve been thinking that I’d like to try some touring… someday. Well, enough of someday. I’ve finally made the decision do a short tour and see how it goes.

I plan to do my first tour this fall, mostly on the Great Allegheny Passage. Starting in Cumberland, MD, I’ll ride almost to Pittsburgh before taking the Montour Trail West. From there I’ll ride some back roads to my home in Beaver County. The trip will be around 200 miles. At about 50 miles per day it will take four days.

My current plan is to rent a car for a one way trip to Cumberland. If I can find a willing host I may stay there the night before the ride. Otherwise I’ll just do the 3 hour drive the morning I start the ride. I plan to camp the first night out on the trail. The second night I would like to try to stay in some sort of lodging. The third night I will camp again. By the fourth night I will be home.

That’s the plan for now. I’ll post updates as things come together and after the ride. This can be my official record and it will hopefully help keep me moving toward actually making this happen.

Also, I had been thinking that I wanted to buy a touring bike, but my commuting bike should be well suited to the type of ride I’m planning. So rather than buying another bike I’ll focus my effort on getting prepared for this ride. Attached is a picture of my commuter from about two years ago, not long after I put it together. It has changed a little bit since then, and will be changed a little bit more before the ride.

My current plan is to rent a car for a one way trip to Cumberland. If I can find a willing host I may stay there the night before the ride.

Camp at the YMCA in Cumberland.


Also, I had been thinking that I wanted to buy a touring bike, but my commuting bike should be well suited to the type of ride I’m planning. So rather than buying another bike I’ll focus my effort on getting prepared for this ride.
The bike you have is well-suited for the trip.

It's (somewhat) easier going from Pittsburgh to Cumberland.

Camp at the YMCA in Cumberland.


The bike you have is well-suited for the trip.

It's (somewhat) easier going from Pittsburgh to Cumberland.

Sometimes camping goes well, sometimes not. My plan was to start the trip with a good night's rest, even if it means driving three hours before getting on the bike. I want to do Cumberland to Pittsburgh because I can get all the transportation issues out of the way at the beginning. At the end when I'm dirty, tired and ready to be home I will be at home, not renting a car and driving.

Your commuter bike should be perfect for the GAP. No need for a touring bike unless you just want an excuse to buy a new bike, which I can sympathize with. Have you considered taking the Amtrak back to Pittsburgh?

Your commuter bike should be perfect for the GAP. No need for a touring bike unless you just want an excuse to buy a new bike, which I can sympathize with. Have you considered taking the Amtrak back to Pittsburgh?

I'm not sure if Amtrak allows bikes on that line.

Hey Brian,

If you want to take some weekend to learn the detours of the Montour just let me know and I would be happy to ride along as guide.

If you modify your lodging plans a bit, Rockwood is one day out of Cumberland. It has an excellent hostel. Fairly cheap for a single dorm room bed.

Next night would be Connelsville with an excellent campsite. Or go a bit further and camp for free (no showers :( ).

Amtrak does not currently take bikes unless you want to go all the way to DC and box your bike. That really makes me angry that they did not have roll on roll off long ago. How hard can it be?

The Rockwood idea is if you have a full day. If you don't want to jump right on the bike and ride when you get to Cumberland, you could camp at the YMCA and go explore Cumberland. If you get there on a weekend then you could take a train ride up to Frostburg.

I’m pretty set on the South to North Route. I’m also trying to keep things relatively simple and am still digging the car rental idea, quick and easy. Also, believe it or not, I’ll be working a job that I actually enjoy and one where I’m relied upon. I want to keep the trip to four days, Friday through Monday to minimize time off. Plus a relatively short and structured trip helps keep the wife happy and makes it easier for me to be certain I really want to do it. At fifty miles per day I’ll have some time to explore any towns and areas I pass through, but at this time I’m not planning to stay anywhere for more than one night

I do still have a lot of planning to do when it comes to lodging. I may decide to camp in Cumberland or splurge for a hotel on Thursday night before heading out on Friday. Rockwood area looks like a good stop for the first night, but I was leaning towards camping that day. The maps show indoor lodging in the towns of Dawson, Perryopolis, and West Newton which is close to where I want to be on the second night. Probably more big hotels, than small unique places, but that can be ok. The final night I plan to be at a rustic campground on the Montour Trail which sort of brings me to spinnaker.

I have a strong base, but I’m very conditioned to shorter, hillier rides. I want to so some long rails to trails rides just to see how 50 mostly flat miles feels. One thing I’m planning is to start at mile marker zero in Coraopolis, check out the supposed campground at mile marker 25.5, and then ride back. If I feel like I need more conditioning or experience I might also do the Panhandle trial end to end and back for 60 something miles. I feel like it’ll only take a couple rides for me to gauge where I’m at physically, and not that long to get in a little better shape if need be. So I’m not planning on doing this sort of thing until probably early August for a mid September GAP ride.

Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions and keep them coming. I have my own ideas about what I’d like to do, but I definitely consider everything that is offered. My goal right now is to get this first trip under my belt, have fun, learn what I can, and get the family used to this sort of thing.

And if anybody is still thinking “someday” like I was, maybe it’s time to make the decision. Maybe you can’t cross the country, but maybe you can try an over night trip or a more reasonable long weekend ride. I have to say that I feel so much better now that I’ve decided to make this happen.

Two of us did the GAP from Homestead to Cumberland in 3 days last summer, covering about 50 miles a day. We stayed at Connellsville B&B and Rockwood Trail House; both were nice and were run by pleasant people. You could do the same, but in reverse. Or you could substitute the Husky Haven campground in Rockwood, if you want to camp that first night.

We drove to Cumberland, caught a shuttle from the Cumberland Trail Connection bike shop back to Homestead and then biked back to our cars to drive home. Since one of us was from further East, this worked out well as a central meeting point. I actually drove down to Cumberland the night before we started and got a room at the Fairfield Marriott right on the trail. This all worked out great!

Good luck with your trip! That was my first short tour and I really liked it, but it pointed out the weakness in my preparation training. 50 miles was a stretch for me at that point.

Oh god, I'm remembering the Cumberland campsite, even with earplugs in you get to enjoy the sounds of train cars slamming into each other all night long!

Looking forward to reading all about the trip,my friend! I have been dreaming of doing the G.A.P. and C&O Towpath (together,or individually) for a couple years now...HOPING to be able to do one/both for '13 :)

Oh god, I'm remembering the Cumberland campsite, even with earplugs in you get to enjoy the sounds of train cars slamming into each other all night long!

Well, it looks like a nice campground! I rode past it this spring while going fossil-hunting with my kid and was very impressed with the layout and organization of it all. Interestingly, during the two or three hours we were on the trail, I only heard one train and I was specifically paying attention for trains. I guess they all go through Rockwood at night!

Oh god, I'm remembering the Cumberland campsite, even with earplugs in you get to enjoy the sounds of train cars slamming into each other all night long!

I didn't hear too much slamming but plenty of train engines. I thought I was going to have to open the tent door to let the train through (I didn't think about the back of the tent) :).

It is actually a nice site. I have stayed there twice.

The maps show indoor lodging in the towns of Dawson, Perryopolis, and West Newton which is close to where I want to be on the second night. Probably more big hotels, than small unique places, but that can be ok.
You might want to be careful about the lodging found on 2D maps. Remember that the trail runs along rivers valleys and that a nearby town my be much higher in elevation. As part of my planning I turned on the terrain contours in Google maps, Newton is at trail level, the other towns are not. Also before you get too far along make sure that the lodging is still operating, one of the popular B&B in Newton is no longer taking guests.

I was also planning for a 2012 GAP tour, but might push it to 2013 to wait for the "last mile" to be complete in Pittsburgh this fall.

Oh god, I'm remembering the Cumberland campsite, even with earplugs in you get to enjoy the sounds of train cars slamming into each other all night long!

I stayed there and didn't notice it.

I stayed there and didn't notice it.

But I understand the train engineers were complaining that no one could hear their signal whistles over your snoring. :)

While I understand the appeal of a one-way trip, if you have a short ride to the GAP, why not ride out and back? This way, you avoid the logistics, time and expense of getting to Cumberland in a rental car. You can also lengthen or shorten your trip for bad weather or if you are getting more tired than expected. If you see something interesting along the way, either stop or catch it on the way back.

While I understand the appeal of a one-way trip, if you have a short ride to the GAP, why not ride out and back? This way, you avoid the logistics, time and expense of getting to Cumberland in a rental car. You can also lengthen or shorten your trip for bad weather or if you are getting more tired than expected. If you see something interesting along the way, either stop or catch it on the way back.

I just don't like the idea of having to turn around and ride back, traveling the same route, seeing the same things, and so on. The whole second half wouldn't be nearly the adventure that the first half was. A part of me would just be thinking about getting home. With a relatively small expense the logistics of a one way trip become as easy as a three hour drive.

I just don't like the idea of having to turn around and ride back, traveling the same route, seeing the same things, and so on. The whole second half wouldn't be nearly the adventure that the first half was. A part of me would just be thinking about getting home. With a relatively small expense the logistics of a one way trip become as easy as a three hour drive.

Unless you are turning your head around and looking backwards, you only see the front half of things along a route. You'll see the other half on the way back. :) Not sure I follow the part about wanting to get home. After two days on a four-day trip, you'll presumably be in the exact same place, whether you ride one way or out & back.

Nothing easier than packing your bike up the night before and hopping on, rather than picking up a rental car, packing your bike and gear in a car, driving somewhere, returning the car and then setting the bike up. That adds at least an hour on each end, so five hours spent getting to your start point vs. zero. Still, I understand the appeal of a one way trip.

I have a strong base, but I’m very conditioned to shorter, hillier rides. I want to so some long rails to trails rides just to see how 50 mostly flat miles feels.

Keep in mind that the first day won’t be flat. It is pretty much a steady uphill grade for 25 miles from Cumberland. I think it is like 1500-800 feet in elevation change. Factor that into your mileage goals.

50 miles a day shouldn’t be too tough if you ride on a regular basis. My bike was about 75lbs loaded and I did 80 miles one day on a similar surface in Missouri. 40-50 is a good goal as it gives you time to smell the roses. I think we had a moving average speed of roughly 14-15mph.

I am hoping to ride the GAP in June. Depending on the time I have, I may do an out and back....If not, then I'll start in Cumberland and ride back. I am planning to stay at the Husky Haven the first night and somewhere in Connellsville the second night. I mean to do the GAP last fall, but the weather was a high in the 40s and .5” of rain everyday so an hour before leaving, we switched to the Katy trail in Missouri. Talk about no time to plan! We printed off information from the internet and read it and made calls on the 5 hours drive to St. Louis!

I’ll be riding a drop bar Salsa Vaya touring bike with 700X37 tires.

I have not ridden any part of the GAP, but my experience in riding much of the C&O is that it pretty much looks the same going either direction, and it pretty much looks the same for the entire length, except for the occasional tunnel, and some of the river views near Great Falls. It's like riding through one long green bumpy tunnel. Nice if you're into that sort of thing :)

I have not ridden any part of the GAP, but my experience in riding much of the C&O is that it pretty much looks the same going either direction, and it pretty much looks the same for the entire length, except for the occasional tunnel, and some of the river views near Great Falls. It's like riding through one long green bumpy tunnel. Nice if you're into that sort of thing :)

I haven't ridden the GAP either, but I understand there is much more to look at along the way compared to the C&O Towpath. Planning an out and back on the GAP from Cumberland this summer. The logistics and added expense of a one way trip are not worth it to me, and I'll be able to see 90% of it twice in 3 days.

I haven't ridden the GAP either, but I understand there is much more to look at along the way compared to the C&O Towpath.

The C&O Towpath is the "great green tube". ;)

The C&O Towpath is the "great green tube". ;)

In the spring and summer, yes, but the rest of the year, it opens up. I live a couple miles from Swains Lock at mile 16, and commute on it daily and ride it regularly on weekends year round. There is much more than meets the eye, but it's subtle. Wildlife, plants, cool shade and no traffic make it a great escape. Sometimes the river is flooding, other times it is low. The small changes on a daily basis make it interesting, but not in a way everyone would appreciate.

In the spring and summer, yes, but the rest of the year, it opens up. I live a couple miles from Swains Lock at mile 16, and commute on it daily and ride it regularly on weekends year round. There is much more than meets the eye, but it's subtle. Wildlife, plants, cool shade and no traffic make it a great escape. Sometimes the river is flooding, other times it is low. The small changes on a daily basis make it interesting, but not in a way everyone would appreciate.
No doubt. It's even worth while to ride in the spring and summer! ;)

I'm not sure if Amtrak allows bikes on that line.

Cumberland does not have checked baggage service, so boarding with a bike there is not possible. There was talk of starting bike roll-on service on the route, but it has not happened yet.

I know of 2 shuttlers in Cumberland (Freedom Trail Riders and Cumberland Trail Connection) that will come to Pittsburgh to pick you up (at least they would last year). If I recall it was around $180-200 for a single passenger but goes down per passenger with more riders.

I think Hertz is the only car rental in Cumberland that you can do a one-way rental drop off. I believe a one day rental to Cumberland is almost the cost of a solo shuttle.

Last year, we used Cumberland Trail Connection. They replied to allof my email questions very timely. Scheduling and payment were a breeze and the shuttle trip itself was on time and completely without drama. The rack on their minivan probably cost more than everything we loaded on it.

The other shuttle JimSal mentioned simply wouldn't answer any emails or phone messages last year. I finally gave up on them, even though their advertised price was lower (what good is a lower price if you can't make contact to arrange a shuttle?).

Depending on the size of the vehicle, it seems to cost between $100 and $150 dollars for a one way, one day Hertz rental to Cumberland. For a single person it still beats the shuttle services, but for several people it would be hard to transport all the bicycles in a vehicle not set up for it. In a few more years when my kids are old enough to do this sort of thing I'll be taking a closer look at shuttles.

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The first picture shows my bike as I have been commuting on it recently. Yesterday I added a steeper, shorter stem for the more upright position I’ve been wanting. I also added the Axiom Journey Suspension & Disc Lowrider front rack. It was hard to find one in stock, but a place called ModernBike.com had it for $33. Service was as expected and I’d order from them again.

I also hard a hard time finding a lot of information about the rack which is why I’m putting it here. As you can see, even with my Planet Bike SpeedEZ ATB Fenders, 185mm disc, and bike computer I was able to successfully mount the racks, though it was a bit difficult.

However, this rack is not without some issues. First of all the hardware did not come with any washers. It seemed crazy to me to try to mount the unit with just nuts on the upper mount point, so those fender washers are my addition.

Also, with the racks secured there is still quite a bit of bolt extending past the nuts. The system included plastic coated straps that seemed to go between the rack bar and the fork, but I chose not to use them. They would have taken up some space, but still not enough. Also the four of the nuts originally had domes over one side to cover the bolt end, but again, with that much bolt showing they would not work. The domes popped right off when tightened down. So basically I still have to cut the bolts and cover the nuts with something before riding with a bag on there.

As is also evident from the pictures, even with the racks rotated as far as they can go they are still slightly titled. Still useable, but definitely tilted.

One of the pictures attempt to show that the location of the pannier centering posts on the upper part of the rack are exactly as wide as the hooks on some Nashbar Water Proof Front Panniers. (6 1/8in apart) I have some ideas about how to deal with this as well, but it is just another little problem that needs solved. (Yes, at $40 I couldn’t resist the price of the Nashbars Panniers. They seem ok for the price, but I haven’t had a chance to test them much yet.)

As you can see from one of the pictures the racks are quite a bit larger than the front panniers. For better weight distribution I may end up running larger panniers with more weight on the front end. For such a short trip I may not even need to run rear panniers. (The racks are rated to carry 9kg, about 20lbs, each)

Finally, the rack did include a skewer, but they did not include any instructions. Just the racks and a bag of parts. Not that instructions would have really helped.

Overall, these racks are cheap and I am confident that they can do the job. But they definitely have some issues that need to be worked through in order to be ready to use.

Just an update on my plans for a first tour. I had originally wanted to do about a four day trip from Cumberland back home this fall. I was finding it very difficult to nail down I specific set of days as my schedule will be changing. Also my parents wanted to take our two kids for a long weekend this summer. One thing led to another and now my wife and I will be doing a three day ride to explore parts of the trail between Ohiopyle and Maryland. We'll be doing the bed and breakfast thing instead of camping and the trip is going to be as much a bike vacation as a tour from point A to B. Even so I look forward to leaving the car behind and having only our bikes and the things we brought with us. That is a good feeling.

I finally rode a portion of the C&O Canal trail last weekend while riding Bike VA. My brother and rode the stretch from Brunswick to Sharpsburg, MD, passing by Harpers Ferry, WV, along the way -- for a 47 mile round trip. The trail was more scenic than I anticipated with nice views of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers in spots, although perhaps this section is nicer than others. The trail was also in very good shape and we had no trouble riding cross/touring bikes with 32 mm tires. I found that the views were considerably different on the return leg traveling the opposite direction, even though it was the same section of trail. The trail is very flat and it made for a great recovery ride after cycling a century the day before on Bike VA.

Have a great time. I have heard the C/0 and GAP are nice touring rides.

Our group of three decided to ride the Erie Canal this year. Maybe next time we will ride Washington to Pittsburgh. One never knows.

July 13 is our start date.

Lots of downed trees on the C&O from the weekend storm.

Cleared to Mile 22:

http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j361/alan_ss/4ef0435b.jpg

Impassable:

http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j361/alan_ss/cd80a9f6.jpg

Lots of downed trees on the C&O from the weekend storm.

Wow -- and I thought I had it tough due to some mud back in May. Were you able to get through?

http://hpscott.smugmug.com/Travel/CO-GAP-2012/i-LqphJBM/0/M/DSCF0575-M.jpg

Wow -- and I thought I had it tough due to some mud back in May. Were you able to get through?

Just out for a ride to check the conditions, not actually riding through. I did run into some folks at Swains Lock who were waiting for the trees to be cleared. Probably a couple more days, depending on the extent of the damage.

Just finished riding the GAP from Pittsburgh to Cumberland in 3 days. Actually, by the end of Day 3, we made it to Paw Paw, WV on the C & O Towpath. Day 4, we rode to our destination of Hancock to complete our trip. IMHO, the GAP is much more scenic, open and easier on the body. We camped each night at Dravo's Landing Primitive Campground, Husky Haven Campground and a campsite on the Towpath near Paw Paw, WV. I recommend riding the GAP!

So have you and your wife made the trip yet?

Tom