I can see from the elevation chart that the GAP trail drop 1700' in 25 miles from the eastern continental divide to Cumberland. I would like to ride this trail with my inexperienced riding family but have concerns about the grade and want to make this a fun experience. Is the grade too steep for inexperienced riders?

Thanks!

No. Those figues you furnish equate to an average grade of about 1.3%.

Note that at some point you ride along side an operating tourist railroad. When I rode the GAP last September there were occasional stray pieces of railroad ballast stone on the trail. Keep your eyes open and they won't be a problem.

Thanks but that elevation chart looks awful steep.

it's not to scale. i would be more concerned about the other side where it gains 1700 somewhere.

That's because the chart is compressed. If it were 6' wide it would look much more gradual. You should see the profiles on some the Adventure Cycling maps for thw west. Very deceiving if you don't keep in mind that they can cover thousands of feet of elevation gain only a few inches.

I understand the grade calculation...I just wont show the chart to my wife....LOL.

It takes about 125 miles to gain that altitude going W-E. Going E-W, once you get to the continental divide you lose that in 125 miles. In September I saw a guy pulling a large, heavily loaded trailer up to the divide from Cumberland. He was riding with who appeared to be his family, which included two children. Seemed like he was carrying nearly all the gear. Despite the relatvely easy grade, he was laboring because of the heavy load. Felt sorry for the guy.

You can certainly speed down the descent if you want. At one point I was sustaining about 21 mph fully loaded without working hard, but I slowed it down after I almost hit a ballast stone. I had a horrible sleep the last night before and was tired. I didn't want to do something stupid that would put me in the hospital and end my trip as I was riding home to Philly. If you simply pedal easily you won't end up speeding.

for a fun family day, you can ride the train up from Cumberland to Frostburg and then coast all the way back down to Cumberland. The bikes go right on the train.
here is the link www.wmsr.com/ The GAP runs right beside the track.

Average grade of 1.3% is nothing to sweat at all. 1700' of elevation change over such a long distance is nothing, even for unexperienced cyclist.

As others have mentioned the grade isn't bad, you won't be able to do any coasting during the e-w climb, it would be steady pedaling up from Cumberland. However when you say "inexperienced riders" that can mean a lot. I would be more concerned about distance than elevation, how far have your family members ridden on a rail trail before? The "fun" can quickly end when the miles get too long.

1700 feet over 25 miles is 68 feet per mile. Whatever the chart looks like, as an average gradient 68 feet per mile is something a new cyclist could do with ease.

One trail I hiked (that the local mountain bikers apparently love) dropped 1000 feet in one mile. Now that was steep!

So you admit you were breaking the 15 mph speed limit (Great Allegheny Passage - www.gaptrail.org)

I think I spent much of the time on the downhill at over 20 mph. Hills like that are why I use a road crankset with a 52t chainring on my derailleur equipped touring bikes. The 52/11 gear ratio for my high gear gives me a gear of 121.9 inches and most of that downhill I was in my highest gear.

You might want to consider starting the trip from the Pittsburg end rather than from DC. The climb to the Continental Divide from Pittsburg is much more gradual and may be much easier for kids. Then you can cruise down the hill to Cumberland. From Cumberland to DC is fairly flat with little stepped hills near the locks, but it is basically down hill.

A shorter ride might be loading the bikes and family on the train in Cumberland and going to Frostburg and riding back. It is nicely down hill from Frostburg to Cumberland.

Do the inexperienced riders know the danger of crossing rail road tracks and getting the front wheel stuck in the groove next to one of the rails? If I recall correctly there was more than one place on the downhill where you cross the tracks.

Except for between Fostburg and Cumberland the elevation change is almost imperceptible. I would recommend riding from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, then you would have the "glide" all the way from the divide into Cumberland. If you decide to go the other way there is a tourist train that takes you from Cumberland to Frostburg. That gets you most of the way up the hill.

Let me know if you need any tips or help at the Pittsburgh end. You should plan for a least a full day here. Lots to see.

Just use caution, slow down and cross perpendicular to the tracks. The only place I really remember crossing tracks was right outside of Cumberland. And there are a couple of other places like when going into town. Rockwood for one as I recall.


IMHO the biggest danger is the gates and bollards where the trail meets the road. Real easy to slam into one if you are not paying attention.

Yep. So sue me.

Exercise caution while riding down, last time I did it a guy wrecked pretty bad because of a stone on the trail. The downhill is quite enjoyable though.

And rattlesnakes. This was taken on the "Glide".

We have those on the Lehigh Gorge Trail between Jim Thorpe and White Haven, PA. The hang at the edge of the trail to sun themselves unless spooked:

The section between Cumberland and Frostburg is the steepest section at IIRC 2.8% you can take the WMSR uphill for that segment, for downhill 2.8% is manageable. outside this section the steepest grade is IIRC 1.5%.

When we rode the drop into Cumberland, some dou-che blew by with a very close pass on my buddy, almost wrecking them both. No "passing on your left" or anything. Total dou-che bag.

Riding uphill is sometimes more psychological than physical.

and sometimes percentages don't convey what you are confronted with. so another way to look at this is this way. You will be riding a trail that gains 1700 feet. But it does so over a distance of 132,000 feet. IOW, your local MUP probably has a steeper grade.

OTOH, sometimes not understanding how grades are calculated can lead to trouble. Like looking at a map without a grade profile and reading about the 6% grade over 10 miles and thinking, "6% is pretty low that shouldn't be a problem" Then when standing at the bottom and looking at what seems to be straight up you are swearing that's a lot more than 6%. But it's not.

According to the official GAP site, the ruling grade of the entire trail is 1.5%. If you do the math (1787' (elevation drop)/132000' (over 25 miles) x100), the average grade of the section between the divide and Cumberland is only 1.35%. An average of 2.8% over the distance between Cumberland and Frostburg would be a monster grade in the standard guage, non-cog railroad world.