The GAP in mid October
 

Hi folks. I am doing some riding next week around Gettysburg, PA. Then, on Wednesday morning, I plan to do a solo ride of the Greater Allegheny Passage from Cumberland, MD to my apartment in Pittsburgh. This is a last minute plan of sorts so I am scrambling to get prepared.

Since I expect to only cover 70 miles/day, it might take as long as 3 days (with meals & such). With very little camping equipment or experience, I figured I might just grab a motel both nights.

So far so good but I am wondering also about tires (I am obsessing on this lately but thats another matter). Other postings have said 28-32s are okay, I currently run a 32 up front & a 28 on the rear. And I only have panniers so all the weight will be on back wheel.

Another matter is weather & the path: does this trail demand aggressive tread especially now that there's been a lot of rain? And what about the surface? I don't want to stop too often to fix flats.
I have good fenders so rain & spray is less of a concern.

And cell phone coverage? I have a verizon phone so I assume I'll be okay.

Anyway, lots of questions but I am almost out of time as I'm leaving Sunday morning. Any feedback is appreciated.

The trail will be a little wet early in the week. Not as bad as the C&O but decent tires with some tread may be needed. Your 32 tire should be okay. Maybe upgrade the rear to 32 as well if you can (there are bike shops in Cumberland). There is a lot of pea gravel and packed dirt on the trail.

You will probably find a few stretches with no cell service. Restaurants can be hard to find between Frostburg and Meyersdale and from Meyersdale to Confluence. Take snacks. Water is not hard to find but you should carry enough for 5+ hours of cycling.

The foliage should be really nice. If you are doing hotels then Meyersdale and Connellsville will be your goals for taking 2 nights to do it. But that will put you at about 50 miles a day. Should be a good trip if you can stay dry on Sunday.

Depending on how much you want to push yourself you can do it in two days. Depending on where in Pittsburgh you are going. I traveled from McKeesport to 20 miles past Cumberland in two days without a lot of pushing. The surface should be fine even with the rain, I would be more worried about the cold. I was in Frostburg today and it was COLD imo. Cell phone coverage is spotty between the Eastern Divide and Conellsville, there is a cell booster at the Rockwoods visitors center.

I suggest make a plan on where you are going to stay each night and shoot for it. Also call ahead to where you are going to stay, a lot of places are shutting down for the season.

Expect it to be cold. They had snow in the Laurel Highlands this weekend. Your tires should be fine - the trail is gravel and drains quickly.

Check atatrail.org for information on indoor lodging.

Thanks for the information guys.

The GAP is flat packed gravel (last May) and wide. The surface is very good and won't be that muddy in the rain. (You could get away with not a lot of tread.) You could use the 28 but I think a 32 would be better.

My report: after doing a 40 mile ride west of the Gettysburg battlefield on cold & sunny Monday, we headed back toward home Tuesday. My friend needed to get back to Pittsburgh so he dropped me off in Cumberland at my b&b.

On Wednesday I headed west &, taking my time, didn't get into Ohiopyle until 7pm. And the next morning I took off for Pittsburgh once again starting a little later than I'd hoped for. I didn't get into Pittsburgh proper until almost 8pm.
All and all, this was as enjoyable a journey as had been described by others. The scenery is gorgeous this time of year of course and I lucked out with the indian summer weather. There were the normal chaffing & neckache issues that I get anytime I ride over 20 miles.

But lessons were learned too. Foremost, I pushed it by planning to do the whole length in 2 days without building up to doing 70+ miles; then by doing that mileage in two consecutive days, I set myself up for an injury. Plus, I didn't stretch out much at all. Now my achilles tendons are so painful and swollen that I can barely walk. My conclusion is, at least intially, to do shorter length rides the first day or two before adding extra mileage. Here it would've been better to divide the 150 mile course into three days, say 40-50-60.

Also (maybe this is just me), 20 miles before Ohiopyle, I became stupefied with fatigue for some reason, though I'd taken food, water & breaks. The last dozen were very hard to finish. If I'd taken some camping gear, though it would've added weight, I could have just stopped & got off the path and pitched a tent. I know that's not as simple as that but it may have prevented my overdoing it.

The other lesson would be to do the most obvious stuff that everyone tells you to do like 1. have the bike checked out before starting out (my spokes were all loose), 2. recheck the maps for anything missed (I ended my ride riding a dangerously busy road because I assumed the trail dropped you off on a bike-able road), etc etc. Anyway, it was beyond a doubt an experience and that's what I wanted.