mrdosa

Hello everyone! I am planning on a week long trip from Pittsburgh to DC on my FUJI 3.0 Cyclocross. I have never done long distance biking, but I have heard great things about this particular trail. I plan to bike for a week and use the AMTRAK from DC - Pitt. So have a few questions on both these aspects of the trip. All of this is planned for the last week of May.

First, how to pack for the trip. Is this a good bike cargo trailer: https://www.amazon.com/Allen-Sports-E...+cargo+trailer

Any other suggestions on packing?

Second, does AMTRAK allow a non-folding non dis-assembled bike on their trains? Anyone did the same on this particular route from DC-Pit?
I have read the AMTRAL rules:
Bicycles/bicycle trailers may be checked in a bicycle container for $10.00, in lieu of a piece of baggage. Bicycle boxes are sold at most staffed locations for $15.00 per box. Customers may supply their own bicycle container.
Folding bicycles under the dimensions of 34" x 15" x 48"/860 x 380 x 1120 mm will be allowed onboard all trains in lieu of a piece of baggage.
Full-size bicycles may be carried on certain trains with designated walk-on bicycle service. Bicycles must be stowed in the designated space within the body of the car. Reservations may be made online or by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL.
Passengers utilizing the walk-on bicycle service must be able to fully handle their bicycle, and be able to lift their bicycle to shoulder height. Passengers are responsible for stowage and security of bicycles.
Recumbent, tandem and special bicycles over the standard bicycle dimensions and will not fit in a standard bicycle box are prohibited.

I do not understand what a bike box is? Is it box that holds the whole bike?

Thanks!!

indyfabz

Yes. Amtrak has its own, large boxes that requires little in the way of disassembly. In most cases, you need only remove the pedals and turn the bars and stem. If you have a large bike, you may have to lower the seat post. As for the trailer, it will probably have to be boxed and checked in the baggage car along with your bike. The Capitol Limited does not offer walk-on service for bikes. Years ago there was talk about adding it, but it has not come to pass.

Note that a rock slide that has closed part of the C&O. I understand that the NPS has gotten the go-ahead to clear it. Don't know when it will be cleared. They haven't updated their web site. The current detour is over a hiking trail that is suppoedly tough going. You are required to walk. With a trailer, it might be extremely difficult.

My understanding it that a two-wheeled trailer could cause problems on at least a portion of the C&O because of the hump in the middle of the trail. But since I have never ridden it I will let those with experience confirm.

Philly Tandem

We used a two-wheeled Burley child trailer on the C&O on a long-weekend tour, and I wouldn't use it again. Normally I love the Burley, but on the single-track trail that the C&O mostly is it was terrible. Panniers or a single-wheel trailer (like a BOB) are the way to go here, IMO.

Not to be rude, but there are a TON of threads on the forum relating to most of the questions you've asked. Try some deep searching and you'll find plenty of hints. There's also a Yahoo group for the GAP and C&O that is pretty active. Look that up as well and maybe subscribe to it and search its archives, too.

bktourer1

Go to the GAP site. The guide for both trails is really good $10 + shipping (maps included)

spinnaker

We have been trying to get roll on roll off service on that corridor for years but sadly you will need to box your bike as others have mentioned.

A trailer on the GAP will be fine but a trailer on the C&O is a huge mistake IMHO.


The train arrives in Pittsburgh very early in the morning. While the trail should be complete all the way to Mckeesport by the time you leave, I would advise staying at the station till morning. The trail passes through some pretty tough neighborhoods, if you remain on the trail you will probably be OK at night but it is still best to wait for daylight.

Besides you will want to spend some time looking around the city and visiting Bicycle Heaven.. It is a huge bicycle museum. If I have the day off, I would be happy to show you around Pittsburgh. Just PM me for details.

iforgotmename

The rockslide on the Paw Paw is being cleared. Get the GAP book, no trailer on the C&O and a small amount of disassembly is required for a bike box as others have stated.

If you need any camping help/info feel free to ask. And Pipers in PGH has a great bangers and mash breakfast to get you rolling.

RWBlue01

Bump, I plan on doing the GAP and C&O later this year. I tried this last year, but my body couldn't handle multiple days miles.

I have day tripped the C&O. I will probably weekend trip parts of the C&O this summer.
I have the book and will buy the update.
I have a BOB on the way.
I have the camping gear and experience.

The issue I am having is logistics.
How do I get from DC to Pitts?
What hotels work in Pitts? (near trail head, clean, safe, reasonable cost)

I am shooting for 50 miles or less days. I think I can camp the GAP. I know I can camp the C&O.
I will hotel up in Cumberland. Recharge batteries, shower, shave, ....

Food, based on what I saw on the C&O, I "think" I can buy food every day. How about the GAP?

Tourist in MSN

I used Amtrak last summer, bike box is not a problem, but if you have a large sized frame get there early in case there are any surprises during packing. I was glad I got there two hours early.

Take your pedals off the day before so that if they were put on really tight, you have time to deal with it. (A bike shop put some pedals on a friends bike, I could not get them off his bike, fortunately he was not packing that bike for travel.)

To fit my bike in the box, I had to lower my stem by moving several spacers to above the stem from under it. One bar end shifter was a problem and I had to loosen it and twist it sideways. It would have been easier to remove the stem from steerer tube but I did not want to risk breaking the wire on my wired computer.



No offense, but if you do not already own the gear you plan to use for a week long trip that you start in less than a month, you are starting your planning a bit late. You really should have your gear together and have tried it already to make sure that the different bits play well together.

I leave for the GAP and C&O trail on Tuesday. So far weather forecast looks pretty good.

spinnaker

Please don't hijack other forum members threads. This is considered rude. Please start your own thread.

But since you have already done:

There are a ton of ways you can get to Pittsbugh.

Fly there - There is a bike trail leading from the airport parking lot to the Montour Trail which connects to the GAP.

Take a bus.

Take the train - Train arrives very early in the morning. It might be best to stay put in the station till dawn.

Hire a shuttle.

Rent a car - You could drop it near the Allegheny County Airport and rid down the hill to the start of the GAP. Or drop it at the Pittsburgh Airport and take the trail mentioned above. There is camping at the Boggs parking lot on the Montour Trail, very near the airport. There are also a number of reasonable hotels nearby. You could take the trail to the GAP or go through the city. The city route will be almost half the distance to the GAP but you will be faced with steep hills and traffic to get to the city.

Ride your bike to Pittsburgh and do a round trip.

A BOB on the C&O is a mistake in my opinion. The trail is narrow and rough. Many people that have taken BOBs wish they had just taken panniers.

You can buy food every day along the GAP. Your choices close to the trail might not be the best but there are stores.

Altair 4

I thought about your trip and now think that maybe a one-way rental car might be the best bet, if you are going to make your ride after the final segment of the GAP is completed in June of this year. There are several rental agencies located in some of the downtown Pittsburgh parking garages. You will need to research if you can do a one-way rental to these locations and what the cost might be. Get a car just big enough to get your bike and stuff in it (maybe a hatchback) and drive up from DC - it's only about a 4 hour drive (depending on timing). The problem with Amtrak is the timetable - DC bound trains leave at 5:00 AM or so, while Pittsburgh-bound trains get here at 12:00 midnight. Adding the lack of roll-on roll-off service, makes Amtrak relatively unattractive as a transportation alternative to me.

As to what hotels work in Pittsburgh - all the major chains have locations in the city, many not too far from the trail (downtown Pittsburgh is actually quite compact in size). "Reasonable cost" would need to be defined - prices fall in line with any other downtown city location. Have you checked any of the hotel sites online? Hampton, Courtyard, Hyatt Place, etc. are all pretty close to the Heritage Trail system in the city. These trails are either part of or connect to the Great Allegheny Passage. Check out the maps here:
https://bikepgh.org/campaigns/commuter-bike-maps/
https://www.friendsoftheriverfront.or...nal_041013.pdf
to cross-reference trail access with the hotel location of your choice.

Good luck with your planning. Your first night camping could be at West Newton, about 50 miles from Pittsburgh.
https://www.atatrail.org/pv/camping.cfm

When I rode the GAP, I did the B&B thing, so I have no real insight into the camping prospects other than the trail to the campground at Ohiopyle State Park is reputed to be very steep and not very bike friendly.

spinnaker

Of course never tried it because I live here but I have heard you cannot drop cars at the downtown rental locations.

There are no "reasonable" hotels in downtown. Everything is expensive. You might get lucky and find a deal on one of those discount sites. The hotels on the southside, near the trail might be a tad more "reasonable".

There is a new hostel in Lawrenceville which is not too far from the bus and train station.

https://www.notanotherhostel.org/

RWBlue01

I am going to disagree with you. I considered starting my own thread, but then how many C&O GAP threads do we need. It is not like we are heading to Virginia in general. If we were then starting another thread is the way to go. We are going to be heading down the same path. Heck, we may be heading down the same path at the same time. Maybe he/she will jump back on this thread (which was dead for a month) and ask more questions. Maybe they already figured out my question. I would appreciate if they did jump back in because they have more answers or questions, because I know I don't have all the answers for my trip.

I guess I see the world differently. I started a thread about clothing. I got several answers. I am trying them out. Someone else asked a question somewhat related. Something I hadn't considered. I am learning from their questions.

BTW, OP, I am working on a spreadsheet of all the stops and what there is available. PM me an email address if you want it....it is not complete by any means, but it is a start.

spinnaker

Well you are wrong. This was the OP's thread not yours. In addition (not in this case) some of an old thread can be out dated which only leads to confusion. There is nothing wrong with starting a new thread.

And there is nothing wrong in asking a question in the OP's thread that might help him / her clarify their question but hat is not what you did. You took the thread in your own direction for your purpose.

spinnaker

All services are laid out on the GAP website.

https://www.atatrail.org/

It is hard to get much more complete than that.

The C&O has a similar site

https://www.bikewashington.org/canal/

RWBlue01

I think you are correct. I will need to look into the rental car. I am thinking Enterprise might be the best bet. They will pick me up and drop me off.

I am not against B&B or hotels. I just figured I would gain flexibility trying to camp. I may have to rethink this.

I should have defined reasonable. I don't need a Ritz Carlton. Last year I was looking at the Holiday Inn Express in Homestead. I considered it reasonable...and according to the commercials I would know everything after staying there. :-)

I think I have some homework to do. Thank you-all for the ideas.

OP and anyone else riding the GAP+C&O, I rode out to almost Great Falls today. Everything looks great. Several animals, birds.... I feel like I did more miles than I did because I am use to riding on pavement. Gravel makes me slower and it a harder ride (rear, arms, knees).

spinnaker

As far as I know Enterprise does not allow one way rentals.


There is a hostel in Rockwood which is very reasonable.

There is a covered shelter for sleeping at the bikeshop in Hancock. It is not very fancy but it is free and it is dry.

If it is raining the campsites along the C&O will be infested with mosquitoes. If you don't like bugs then think about a bailout plan.

dwmckee

The stations usually have used boxes available too and they will give them to you ror nothing if they have them. And my best advice - FENDERS, FENDERS, FENDERS. The C&O portion is a 190 mile long mudbath for 2-3 days after a good rain.. I have seen people passing the other way after a rain without fenders and clearly none of them were having fun...Mud covered from the knees down and anyone riding behind another rider has to stay back 20 feet or get covered.

spinnaker

Fenders are a mixed blessing on the C&O. The bu will get jammed up inside the fenders slowing you down. You need to go through puddles to help clear them. But I agree, I would much rather deal with mud being caught in the fenders than dealing with he mess without them

combatdecoy

We took the train from St Paul to Pittsburgh, and rode the GAP and C&O and took the train back home.
Super smooth with the exception of the condition of the C&O mudpath. It was really bad.
In its own defense it had rained heavily for 48 hours just after we left cumberland. Also, have a solid route leaving
Pittsburgh. Spinnaker gave me a route which I tried, and intended to take but when asking a local where a trail was, she volunteered
to take us to the GAP trailhead. I'm pretty sure that was the route Spinnaker warned us about taking. The hills are pretty intense. Especially loaded up. God bless her though. She went way out of her way to lead us there.
The bike boxes were 20 bucks at that time.
Have fun!
Mark

Altair 4

A one-way rental car from DC to Pittsburgh with a downtown drop-off looks doable with Hertz and Avis. I checked online reservations and nothing popped up to suggest that it's impossible. No particularly cheap (Hertz was over $200 for a Kia Rio). I didn't complete the transaction (obviously), but it looks like this is a possibility. For both rental agencies, I selected Ronald Reagan National Airport as the pick-up point and downtown parking garages in Pittsburgh for the rental return. Enterprise allows for airport-to-airport one way rentals and looks less expensive. That could work - either drop your bike and stuff at your hotel and then return the car and grab the Route 28x bus ($3.75 fare) to get back downtown. Or just drive directly to the airport and take that bus and use the front bike rack to get you and your bike to the hotel.

Links:

https://www.portauthority.org/rt/28x.pdf PAT bus schedule for the 28x bus.

https://bikepgh.org/resources/gettingaround/ Bike Pittsburgh maps and "get around town" info. Very useful for getting you to your hotel and to the GAP Trail.

https://bikepgh.org/resources/bikesontransit/ How to use PAT bike racks.

Good luck with planning your trip!

spinnaker

I'd make a call to Hertz to confirm. Something tells me they do not allow one way drop off downtown but I could be wrong. The ride into the city is not awful bad from the airport. I could provide a route that is almost all flat. There is a shorter route but requires a couple of hills that are not all that bad.

The issue would be Route 51 into the city, but weekends are fine. There is a bike path but it s a bit hard to find and takes you a mile or two out of your way.

Altair 4

mrdosa - please post back a report on how your ride goes at the end of May.

RWBlue - please post what you finally find out about the rental car situation and how your trip goes.

RWBlue01

First let me as a +1 requesting a ride report. I wish everyone who rides the GAP+C&O would post a ride report.

I think with everyone's help, I have a solution to my logistical issues. For less than $125 (price changes based on the day) I can rent a car one way from airport to airport. I would check in at the Hotel, drop everything, grocery shop, then drop the car at the airport and take a cab to the hotel. It is not the cheapest, but probably the easiest. It gives me some flexibility.

Now the biggest hurtle....getting in shape for the ride. I will continue to add to the spreadsheets. I will test myself and the gear this summer with multiple weekend trips on the C&O.

spinnaker

Depends on what airport you mean. But either way no reason to take a taxi.

Pittsburgh International
The hotels near the airport have free shuttles. But there is no need for a taxi or a shuttle. There is a bike path from the airport. And there are hotels right along the Montour Trail. You can then take the Montour Trail west / south to the GAP (longer way to go). Or take the trail north to route 51 then into the city. It will be all flat all the way to Pittsburgh. There is a shorter way to go to Pittsburgh but it requires hills.

Allegheny County Airport.
There are hotels nearby. The road is very busy but rideable. You would need to be comfortable in fast moving traffic. The GAP is all downhill from the airport. Also in Boston there is the Yough Shore Inn. Very reasonable rates for rooms. And one of the best places to stay along the GAP. The downside of this plan is that you miss the city.

drrobwave

I can't remember the exact deal but last year when I was looking into rental cars for the GAP there were no viable options. Might have been due to logistics. We used a shuttle service out of Cumberland a the local bike shoppe. Very friendly and I think it was $220 for 2 guys Pittsburg back to Cumberland. It is a half day car ride. Don't miss Rockwood or Frostburg cool trail towns. If you figure out the train trip from DC to Pitts with bikes let us know what the particulars,problems, and highlights are.

I loved the trip and gained weight with all the places to stop and eat - GOOD FOOD!