Myself and two friends completed the GAP-C&O Canal trail tour last week from Pittsburgh to Washington DC, and I would highly recommend it to anyone seeking a week-long tour combining the enjoyment of cycling, nature and history. All told, we rode about 60 miles/day and 400 miles total through conditions ranging from downtown streets to gravel roads to muddy paths. We were extremely fortunate with the weather, only getting caught in the rain one afternoon after ignoring the dark skies to stop for late afternoon coffee in Shepherdstown, WV. All three of us rode touring bikes with rear panniers and smaller front bags, loaded relatively light since we were staying in hotels and B&Bs rather than camping out.

We started last Saturday, leaving our car at a relative's house in Bethesda MD and cycling about 20 miles to Union Station in DC. We arrived at the station 2 hours early, and the Amtrak staff were very friendly and helpful with regard to packing our bikes in their boxes. They even provided tape and markers. The train departed exactly on time and arrived in Pittsburgh about 8 hours later, which was close to midnight. We spent about 30 minutes reassembling and loading our bikes, followed by a 20-minute, 4-mile ride to our hotel on the Southside of Pittsburgh close to Hot Metal Bridge.

On Sunday morning, one of our fellow Bike forumites, Spinnaker, generously gave us a tour of downtown Pittsburgh, which is a surprisingly beautiful city. Highlights included a number of bridges, a bike museum, Pittsburgh's baseball and football stadiums, and the Mr. Rogers memorial statue. We stopped for lunch appropriately at Bicycle Cafe, and then headed south on the GAP trail for our first destination, West Newton, PA. We stayed there at Bright Mornings B&B, which was very comfortable and had a great breakfast.

On Monday, we rode 59 miles to Confluence PA with a great lunch stop at Ohiopyle. The route throughout the day followed the "Yougho" River, on a gravel pathway with nice views of the river and rapids along the way. We ate lunch at the Firefly Cafe, which served me the absolutely best turkey sandwich I've ever eaten. We had planned to take side trip to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Waters house, which Google maps plotted as being 4 miles from Ohiopyle, but the visitor's center informed us was closer to 7 miles away. We left our panniers at the visitor's center and actually headed out toward Falling Waters, until we realized the entire route was apparently uphill, and extremely steep at that. I didn't realize until I had reached the top of the first climb at 2.5 miles that my friends had already turned back, and a quickly developing thunderstorm soon convinced me to turn around as well. Needless to say, we abandoned our side trip, which became known from then on as the "Failing Waters" trip. We stayed at another B&B, the Confluence House, which was also very comfortable with a great breakfast.

On Tuesday, we rode 65 miles from Confluence to Cumberland MD, stopping for lunch in Meyersdale after crossing the incredible viaduct west of town. We had a nice simple lunch at the GI Dayroom, capped off by delicious home-made pies. Crossing the Continental Divide west of town was an obvious "high point" of the trip, and some long tunnels added to the adventure. Although we had anticipated the downhill ride to Cumberland after two days of climbing, it turned out to be somewhat sketchy due to loose and deep gravel in many spots. You pretty much had to stay on the high side of the path to avoid loose gravel and watch your speed. I had one scary moment when my bike fishtailed while passing some mountain bikers. We arrived in Cumberland late in the afternoon with temperatures in the mid-90s F and had a little trouble finding our B&B, the Inn on Decatur, another nice place. Cumberland has an outdoor mall in its downtown, and we were quickly informed that we had to walk our bikes rather than ride them through the mall, which was nearly deserted at the time.

Wednesday was our first day riding the C&O Canal trail and our most challenging ride of the trip, about 61 miles from Cumberland to Hancock MD. The C&O trail is rougher with much more varied surface conditions compared to the GAP, and it often changed from a gravel road to dirt road to parallel paths within short distances. Altho the weather was mostly dry during our ride, the GAP still had a lot of residual puddles from heavy rains the previous week. The trail had also been washed out in two or three locations, but the park service had already repaired the damage. Our biggest challenge on Wednesday was the lack of towns or facilities between Cumberland and Hancock, our destination for the day. We had to ride 45 miles before reaching Bill's Place in Little Orleans, which was apparently the only stop for food and drinks along that section of the trail. That stretch included the long and dark Paw Paw Tunnel, which was the most challenging but scenic of many tunnels along the entire route. A few miles after Little Orleans, we opted to ride on the Western Maryland Rail trail for the final 10 miles into Hancock. We stayed there at Riverrun B&B, another nice inn with great breakfast. The operator generously let us use the washer and dryer to clean our clothes.

The weather was cloudy and much cooler on Thursday, which was a welcome relief after two days with temperatures in the 90s. We really enjoyed this section of the C&O Canal, which included historic Fort Frederick and the Big Slackwater section that skirts the Potomac River for a couple of miles. When we reached Shepherdstown WV, the sky was getting very gloomy but we decided to stop there for coffee because it is charming little town. That decision came back to haunt us as the threatening skies finally unloaded on us during the final 12-mile leg to Harpers Ferry. New puddles quickly formed in low spots along the trail and we had to carefully watch our lines, but our fenders kept us from getting totally muddy. By the time we reached our destination, the Tea Horse Hostel in Bolivar (uphill from Harpers Ferry), we had ridden 71 miles. The Tea Horse was the only hostel that we stayed at, with a pleasant collection of Appalachian Trail hikers and C&O Canal bikers to talk with. The inn keeper was busy making coffee and waffles at 6 am the following morning, allowing us to set out at the earliest time of the whole trip. Unfortunately, the weather was somewhat rainy and cloudy during our time in Harpers Ferry and we arrive rather late in the day, so we didn't get to see much in town as most of the stores were closed.

The cold front that brought rain on Thursday led to our nicest weather of the week on Friday. It was sunny and much cooler all day, which made for pleasant riding conditions on our longest day. Like the trail south of Cumberland, the section south of Harpers Ferry is largely devoid of services for the first 45-50 miles. We had hoped to get lunch and water at White's Ferry, but the store/grill was closed, apparently due to flooding earlier this year. So we subsisted on granola bars, nuts and pretzels -- and I had my first experience drinking the iodine-laced pump water along the C&O Canal. We finally were able to get food at water at Great Falls National Park, which was one of the scenic highlights of the entire trip. The falls are incredible in themselves, but the trail through the park is also very scenic, winding along a curvy section of the canal with many bluffs and water features. With food in our stomachs and fresh water, the final 10-15 miles of the trip went by relatively fast and smooth, and we ended up with 73 miles on the day when reached our destination in Bethesda.

A few final thoughts. We didn't camp but there are plenty of facilities along the trails if that's your choice. Use the largest tires that you can fit on your bike, preferably with some treads, as well as fenders if possible. My bike had Panaracer Pasela PT 32s, which were the largest tire that would fit under my fenders, and they performed admirably with no flats the entire way. Our decision to pack light was a good one, and I would pack even lighter if riding the trip again. Lights are nearly essential for the long tunnels and a safety precaution if you underestimate distances and get caught in the dark. The C&O Canal trail has a number of steep drop-offs where it crosses creeks and ditches, and it would be very easily to plummet down steep holes in many places if you weren't careful and riding in the dark. Carry plenty of water and plan your stops carefully so you know when to start looking for services. The C&O is poorly marked regarding surrounding towns, and it would be very easy to miss stops for food and water in several places. Plan your daily routes realistically so you have enough time to stop and view the scenery, visit historic sites and get lunch or coffee or ice cream along the way. We rode about 60 miles/day, which was very comfortable for our group of seasoned cyclists, but shorter distances might be better for those not accustomed to riding that far.