Day 6: Things That Howl In The Night

Awaking at Little Pool H/B, I skipped the camp coffee and decided to just get packed and rolling to Hancock, as I knew I'd find breakfast in town. The two guys from Pittsburgh weren't up, so I didn't get to apologize for not being more social.

It was a short 4 miles to Hancock, with a number of walkers out for a morning stroll, and several deer. I quickly reaffirmed where the bike shop, C&O Cycle, was located, and what time they opened, having an hour and a bit to kill, I rolled off in search of breakfast. Weaver's Restaurant and Bakery sounded promising, so I parked at their door and waited for them to open. Being the first one in, I asked if they had a table with an outlet nearby, so I could finally charge my phone. It was a solid 10 minutes of charging before it even had enough charge to boot.  A full breakfast platter with an extra half stack of pancakes, coffee, and o.j. made for a very satisfying meal. I lingered over my coffee, to allow time for the bike shop to open, and to get as much charge into the phone as I could.

Arriving at C&O Cycle, I checked out their selection of tyres. Mostly wire bead Schwalbe Marathons, not exactly going to work as a folded up spare. The other options were a Conti (yeah, not going to happen), and a Kenda, the Small Block 8 in 35mm. Guess that will have to do. Added in a few other items, and went out to de-package and load everything into bags, and head on my way.

It was only 15 miles later the new spare tyre was no longer a spare, but was now replacing the front Conti, which had had a casing failure, exactly like the rear that had failed on Thursday. Shit. The lower volume Kenda didn't ride nearly as nicely as the Conti, but at least it should be durable.

After passing through the Paw Paw Tunnel again, and being greeted by a small family with a rather curious pooch, I detoured off the trail and into Paw Paw, WV for a quite nice gas station deli lunch, and a bit more power into my phone. I then continued on down the C&O to Oldtown, deciding I didn't need to visit the Trump Schoolhouse kitchen, I took a break by lying down on the covered porch of the lockhouse and having a snack.

I was joined by two others, Eastbound, while I rested. We discussed where each was headed, and I explained my dilemma: I didn't have any campgrounds marked on my GPS past Cumberland, until Confluence, which was 80 miles away, so my option looked like riding to Cumberland for dinner, then backtracking to Everitts Creek H/B where I had stayed my first night.

"Oh, no", they told me. "It's only 12 miles past Cumberland to the campground at Frostburg." That sounded good. sure it's 12 miles uphill, but I had plenty of daylight. So with an updated plan, off I went.

I stopped at the Crabby Pig, where I had met the two Randos for a beer on Day1, and had dinner. and then, thinking I had plenty of daylight, left I headed for Frostburg.

I had already gone 4 miles when I saw the 12 miles to Frostburg sign. Okay so it's 16 miles. No biggie. I'll be pushing daylight. Lights I've got.

By the time I gone through the Brush Tunnel darkness had set. I really hadn't done much research into what kind of wildlife I could encounter, but I was hearing howls in the distance. I clicked the head of the Fly headlight up a notch to throw more light ahead far and wide, so I could see better if there was anything lurking in the brush along the sides of the trail.

Finally reaching the Frostburg trailhead, I realized the 12 miles didn't include the half-mile switchback trail that was steep, loose and un-rideable to get up to even the lowest reaches of town, wich is luckily where the campground was. Unluckily, there was nobody to answer the door, and I couldn't get a signal to call the number posted. Fuck it, I'm getting a room and sleeping indoors.

Uphill for another half mile, was the main part of town, where I found the Frostburg Inn, which was reasonable enough and pleasant enough. The office was closed, but you could check in at the bar in the back! Oh, a bar. Nice. I checked in and got the bike up the stairs and into the room. Showered and then dressed in the as-yet-unused clothes I had originally planned for my day as a tourist in D.C. and went to the bar. Everything was $2. $2 whiskey. $2 beer. A double Beam and a Yeungling. please. $6! I could move in. There seemed to be a party going on of young co-eds home from college catching up with each other. 80's music with people here and there singing along. Bartender with her low cut, backless, flimsy dress wasn't too bad either...

I stayed for a few rounds, enjoying the vibe of the small town nightlife, then went to bed.

Day 5. A Day Without Power

Sadly there are no pics this day, as my phone was still without charge.

I had mistakenly identified the campsite I stayed at in the previous post. It wasn't Turtle Run, it was Chisel Branch.

A note about Chisel Branch H/B campsite. Owls. I fell asleep listening to the calls of at least two different owls. It was really lovely. Also it's close to a parking area, so a number of locals will park and walk in. Not a big deal, unless you want to be alone.

I awoke after a fine nights sleep, only interrupted (twice) by other campers joining me at the site. and went about getting ready, and started trying to figure out where the nearest town with a bike shop was to get another spare to replace the spare that had replaced the failed tyre on Thursday. Without a phone this was a frustrating exercise of panning and zooming on my gps. After a short bit, some coffee and an energy bar and I was soon on my way.

A cool morning ride to Point of Rocks had me dining on some lovely gas station food, since the two restaurants in town weren't yet open. Restocked and on my way, Brunswick turned up nothing of the bike shop sort, so no stopping there this time. The memories of Kings pizza didn't want me revisiting anyway.

Between not needing to take photos, since I had already taken them on during the Eastbound trip, and not being able to since the phone was dead, I was making really good time. Being a Saturday, there were lot of other cyclists and some hikers out. Somewhere just West of Brunswick, another rider caught up with me, unloaded he was just out for a day ride, doing out and backs each weekend starting where he had left off the previous weekend, slowly working his way West to complete the trail, 10-12 miles at a time. We chatted for a while, and reaching his planned turnaround spot, he decided he'd keep riding and chatting, eventually taking him 9 miles past his planned end point, and turning back toward his car for what would he noted would be his longest ride ever.

I reached the climb to Shepherdstown and briefly considered stopping back in at Shepherdstown Pedal & Paddle where I'd had such great service on Thursday, but  opted to carry on, as I wanted to make it to the Williamsport Visitor Center before they closed.

I arrived in Williamsport just before the visitor center's closing time, and inquired about a bike shop. Sadly, they young lad told me the local shop had been closed for some time, but if I was in need of a tube, they sold them there. We took a look at his map and list of bike shops, and determined the next nearest was in Hancock. Okay cool, I had stopped there on my East-bound leg, so I knew where that was. I'll be there as soon as they open in the morning. Could he recommend me any place to eat? He recommended this glorious place called Sheetz. I asked about other options. Pizza? Pizza sounds great. Tony's is the best he said. I will be the judge of that. Do they have beer? That, the not-of-age park employee didn't know. I would take my chances.

Arriving at Tony's, I made the wise decision of ordering the pizza with the sauce on the side. Upon tasting the sauce, I never needed to taste it again. But the crust, cheese and topping were great. As were the couple of Yuenglings I had. What they didn't have was an outlet to charge my phone. Oh, well.

Off to the last hiker/biker outside Hancock, Little Pool. When I arrived, it wasn't even really nearing sunset, yet there were already two campers there, on some rather rickety looking bikes, with one hauling a kids trailer filled with their stuff. I asked if they minded sharing the site, to which they agreed. I chatted a bit then got to setting up my camp, then changed and washed myself off under the handpump. I then chatted a bit more and went to lie down while they were both engaged in phone calls to family. I really did mean to get back up and converse more with them once they were done with their calls, but man, was I comfortable. The two young men were from Pittsburgh, and had taken the train to D.C. to ride back home. They had been planning this trip for two years, but only had one week to get it done and weren't averaging the kind of mileage they were hoping for. Raccoons had gotten into their trailer and taken much of their food on day one, and it had been a bit downhill from there. But they seemed to be handling it well and were really enjoying the adventure. I hope they had a great ride.

Up next: things that howl in the night.

also if you've made it this far in a post with so many words and no pictures. Thanks.

Day 4 Washington D.C.

I've been slacking on writing...


Anyway...

Friday I awoke after finally managing some sleep  when the storms dies down and I managed to kill all the mosquitoes in my tent.

I ate a quick breakfast and got rolling. There had obviously been some winds in the area, as there were downed trees across the trail not for from where I had camped.

I finally reached Swains Lock, the last free camping area outside D.C., and where I had originally planned to stay before approaching storms force me to make camp.

I soon reached the Great Falls Tavern Visitors Center. Man, if I had known, I would have made time to stop and walk the trails to cross Olmsted Island to see the falls. Or go for a mule-drawn canal boat ride.

Lock Number 1. Made it. Time to explore D.C.

The fact the the nearest cafe to the Lincoln Memorial only had non-American beer is about the saddest thing ever.

This was a local community garden and a butterfly garden. Very cool. The Farm at Walker Jones. New Jersey and K St NW

Lunch at Meats & Foods (247 Florida Ave Nw) So good I had a full second round.

After lunch it was time to go meet up with a friend, who works in the city and gave be a quick tour.

Then my phone died. It would remain dead for the next couple days.

All the following photos are by Ben.

Meeting up with Ben, who I only knew from Google Plus before.

We had beers and bourbon sitting in the park near Thomas Jefferson.

After a couple drinks, it was time for me to head back out of civilization, and time for Ben to catch up with his family before they left without him on the way to their beach cabin.

Heading out, I decided I wasn't going to follow the exact same schedule as riding in, so I wasn't stopping at Horsepen Branch to camp, but I did remember some awesome person had left a whole roll of paper towels in the portolet, and I would stop there to -hopefully- grab a couple towels so I could clean and lube my chain. As I arrived I noticed another bike in the campground, with a hammok, but couldn't see the rider. I called out hello, but received no answer at first. I leaned my bike against a tree and called out again, only to have a solo female rider pop their head out of whatever they were doing. She seemed initially shocked and worried, until I reassured her that I had no intention of sharing the campsite with her, I was just stopping to grab some towels. I warned her about the mosquito situation at that site, and shared some bug repellant with her after inquiring about the lack of insect screening on her hammock, because it seemed miserable to sleep in raingear. We had a pleasant, but short conversation. She was from Minnesota, but had lived in Louisville, KY for a time. I then rolled along, finally stopping at Turtle Run H/B for the evening.

GAP and C&O Day 3

the story continues...

Waking on Thursday, I got to making coffee and trying to figure out where the nearest bike shop may be to get my broken pannier taken care of.

Very long paved section just barely clinging to the cliffs.

The first town I came across was Shepherdstown, WV, which requires a very long and fairly steep climb up a twisty path to reach the bridge to cross the river

about half-way up the climb

 Once into town, I found the map that listed most of the services cyclists would need, including a bike shop, Shepherdstown Pedal and Paddle, where I got hooked up with a bolt and nut and tools to fix my pannier. This was not the first of these panniers to suffer this same problem (the rivet on the lower hook rail pulling out), but the other was in a crash, so having it happen while riding was a bit of a surprise, but one I knew how to deal with. After getting that taken care of, I thanked them, bought a new pair of gloves (my others has shredded themselves), and a couple energy bars, and went across the street and had some breakfast/lunch at Shepherdstown Sweet Shop Bakery before heading on my way

After a while it was time to seek out lunch, which ended up being a two pronged affair, as the lunch at the pizza place in Brunswick was so foul, I couldn't eat it and just left. Happily, Deli on the Rocks in Point of Rocks, MD was much better. Really highly recommended.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail (width-wise, not length-wise)

people keep telling me that this is a bad spot for the light, but with the exception of bug splatter from traveling hundreds of miles on the roof of my car, not a single speck of dirt has landed upon it.

these herons let me get rather closer than I'm used to

this was an owl I disturbed who was feeding next to the trail, who then flew up to the branch to give me the eye

This last section of the days riding was really filed with wildlife: juvenile red fox, turtles, heron, deer, and many different owl calls. It was also really a joy to ride fast. Sadly right as I crossed to road to Whites Ferry, I realized I had a flat. Upon closer inspection, I found the tyre had failed, as the casing cords were broken and had rubbed holes in the tube. Luckily I was carrying a spare tyre, and could be quickly on my way.

The flat took a bit of the wind out of my sails, and I decided to stop at Horsepen Branch Hiker/Biker for a quick snack. That snack turned into a decision to quickly set up camp, as my phone started going crazy with severe weather alerts. It turned out to be the worst lightning storm I've ever been out in, with lightning striking so close, I could make out the bolts through the solid tent fabric, and there was zero delay between the strike and the thunder. It went on like this for over an hour, the whole time during which I'm also battling a cloud of mosquitoes who managed to follow me into my tent. My hands were stained red with my own blood by the time I'd manged to take care of the horde.

It was really one of the most miserable nights I've spent camping.

Up next: D.C.

Addendum to Day 1 post (NEW BIKE!!!)

I just realized I did that post without ever introducing the bike.

This is my new Van Dessel Whisky Tango Foxtrot.

This will be my new commuter bike, and will double as my touring bike.

Honestly, I wasn't planning on building this bike when I did, but I contacted Van Dessel to ask a couple questions about this frameset, assuming it was out of stock and I'd be waiting to get one when the next years' stock came in, but they happened to have a frameset, with a mis-applied decal that they'd give me a great deal on, and it happened to be my size.

So, with that, late January the frameset arrives, orders begin, customs bags are specced, hard to find items are searched out and procured, and by mid-May everything is ready, and with less than 200 miles on it in testing, I load it up and take it on tour.

The build out is probably overly nice for a commuter, but considering its double-duty nature, I felt it not unreasonable.

Specs:

59cm WTF frameset
Deore LX FC-T671 Crankset 3x10-speed 48-36-26
Shimano 105 ST-5703
Shimano Deore LX FD-T671
Shimano Alivio RD-T4000-SGS
SRAM PG-1050 12-36
KCNC PF30 Adaptor Bottom Bracket
Thomson Stem
Lynskey Seatpost
Brooks Cambium C17 Saddle
TRP Spyre Calipers
Deore XT rotors
Deore XT Dynohub/Velocity Dyad/ 36 DTSwiss Competition 2.0/1.8/2.0
Alivio Rear Centerlock hub/Dyad/ 36 DTSwiss Competition 2.0/1.8/2.0
B&M Lumotec IQ Fly Premium RT Senso Plus
B&M  Secula Plus
42cm Salsa Cowchipper bars
SKS fenders
Conti SpeedRIDE 42mm tyres *

Luggage:
Framebag: Rogue Panda custom
TopTube Bag: Rogue Panda
Panniers: Carradice Universal
Seatbag: Carradice SuperC Saddlepack
Porteurbag: Swift Industries Polaris custom
Front Rack: Specialized Pizza Rack

* A note about the Conti tyres: I can no longer recommend these, as they both had failures during my tour, with the cords in each of them failing in near identical spots.