smcg21

Here, here! We thought this was a great trail too. California is a lovely state, but rather lacking in this type of long-distance dedicated cycling route. We might be one of the couples from Colorado you mentioned. There was an article about the trails in the Denver Post a few months ago, so perhaps that accounts for some of us doing the ride. We, too, got wet and muddy, but only on two days. The rest of the time the weather was perfect--cooler than we expected, for which we are grateful. The C&O Canal towpath is pretty miserable when wet and muddy, so we would actually recommend waiting for the rain to stop. The Passage drains better and while you still get very dirty, it's not nearly as bad as the towpath. The scenery along the trail is beautiful and it was quiet and tranquil. We were surprised at how rural it felt so near to population centers. Highly recommended. A note for people coming from far away: we found that it was more economical to buy bikes in Pittsburgh and sell them in DC than to either rent or ship our own bikes. I posted an ad on Craigslist and was inundated with responses. We bought Trek 7100's.