Bike Trip Duration Estimate DC Pittsburgh

DC-Pittsburgh Bike Trip Duration Thingy

Please answer two or more of these questions to see
an estimate of the duration of your bike ride from Pittsburgh to DC.

How old are you?	Please select your Age 15-19 years old 20-24 years old 25-29 years old 30-39 years old 40-49 years old 50-59 years old 60-64 years old 65 & up years old	Age-Based Estimate: days.
How many bicycle miles/year?	Please select Bike Miles per Year less than 50 miles/year 50-249 miles/year 250-499 miles/year 500-999 miles/year 1000-1999 miles/year 2000 miles/year or more	Bike-Based Estimate: days.
How many running miles/year?	Please select Running Miles per Year 0-49 miles/year 50-249 miles/year 250-400 miles/year 400-599 miles/year 600 miles/year or more	Running-Based Estimate: days.
How many pounds overweight?	Please select Pounds Overweight I am on target, thank you less than 10 pounds overweight 10-19 pounds overweight 20-29 pounds overweight 30 or more pounds overweight	Weight-Based Estimate: days.
Overall suggested duration, Pgh-DC or DC-Pgh     days.
Try plugging in values for other members of your group!

Your Mileage May Vary. There are factors not considered: all you're traveling ultralight? Camping and carrying four bags on your bike? etc. How many packs of cigarettes per day? This is a simplified first wag.



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Planning a Pittsburgh to DC bike trip on the GAP and C&O Trail

As in many things, a good framework of Questions leads to understanding and a satisfying outcome, so I thought I'd set down a 2016 update of Questions to Consider when planning a bike ride on the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Trail.


In their book Linking Up, Mary Shaw and Roy Weil identify four big initial decisions:

• Daily Distance: How far should we ride each day?
  
• Luxury: What kind of overnight accommodations do we want? Camping, hostels, B&Bs, hotels?
  
• Support: Self-contained with panniers, lightly supported with a van, fully supported with an outfitter providing a guide?
  
• Direction: Should we ride eastbound or westbound?

I'd like to expand on their framework a bit. Here's the initial questions I'd pose, and some sample responses to each.

Definitions

• Who's going, and what's the nature of the relationships and the group dynamic?
  Just me and my bikeFour couples, we've known each other 20 yearsGrandparents, Parents, and Grandkids8 members of our local bike club
  

• Why? What's the reason for the trip?
  Celebrating a significant life event
  Graduation/ DischargeMarriage / DivorceHad this on the bucket listFamily ReunionWe're seeking an adventureWe're cyclists who have wanted to do this

• What degree of involvement do you want in your trip planning and trip leadership?
  I want to show up at one end, ride to the other and embrace the unknown
  I want to study all the maps/ websites and make my own plan
  I want an outfitter to recommend options, I make choices, they make arrangements
  I want an outfitter to build the plan and provide a ride-along guide

Time and distance (335 miles)

• What's the enjoyable daily mileage for the least proficient rider?
  20 - 30 miles a day, not carrying bags on the bike
  30 - 45 miles a day, not carrying bags on the bike
  45-60 miles a day, carrying bags on the bike

  
  

• What's the enjoyable daily mileage for most of the riders?
  20 - 30 miles a day, not carrying bags on the bike
  30 - 45 miles a day, not carrying bags on the bike
  45-60 miles a day, carrying bags on the bike
  60-75 miles a day, carrying bags on the bike
  
  

  
  

• Flexibility Will every rider ride every mile every day, or will one/some want the capability of opting out?
  Every rider wants to ride every mile
  We want the capability of one/some opting out of some segments
  

  
  

• Duration How many days do you plan to spend riding the trails?
  I can only spend 4 days on this trip
  5 Days from Pgh to DC
  6 Days from Pgh to DC
  7 Days from Pgh to DC
  9 Days from Pgh to DC
  

Luxury

• Where do you prefer to spend the evenings?
  CampingHostels - Low Cost Motelsmid-range hotels and B&Bsupscale hotels or glamping
  

Support

• My problem-solving approach to the unexpected (weather, mechanicals, surprises) is:
  dealing with the unexpected is something I enjoy
  dealing with the unexpected is something I prefer to avoid

• How will you carry/move clothing and luggage?
  panniers or bags on our bikes
  have a shuttle move them from one night to the next
  have a van carrying our gear follow our route each day
  
  
  
• Are you going to use your own bikes, or rent bikes?
  Use our own bikes
  rent bikes
  a mixture of personal and rental bikes
  
  
  

Direction:

• What are your travel logistics? (new in 2015: you can roll your bike onto the Pgh-DC train!)Fly/drive to start, Bike to other end. Shuttle-van back to start. Fly/drive from start to home.Fly/train to start. Bike to other end. Fly/train/ rental car directly from other end to home.
• Do your particular logistics benefit from starting in either Pittsburgh or DC?It works better to start in Pgh and ride to DCIt works better to start in DC and ride to PghOur situation won't dictate the direction of riding

If you can answer those questions, you'll be well on your way to planning your DC to Pittsburgh bike tour. Tomorrow's post suggests ways to process the questions-and-answers presented here.

Bicycle Trip Pittsburgh to Washington DC, Day One

06/23/12 # 29m

First day of a bicycle ride from Pittsburgh to DC, credit card touring, hotels with a support van. Today we rode from Pittsburgh's Point State Park to Belle Vernon.

We started off with two additional riders M and D for the day, and missing a rider who was sick. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We mustered at Point State Park which is partially closed for construction, which is sort of Pittsburgh's status for all things bike-trail: there's some amazing stuff but it's not evenly distributed, key points are closed for construction and improvements, and you sometimes can't get where you want to be.

We had a safety briefing before we began, I've seen so many rides start off with an incident that it seemed worthwhile. It must have been a good briefing, passerby's stopped and listened and one (Tina) came up and said Hello.

Point State Park, Blvd. of the Allies, Jail Trail, Hot Metal Bridge, Southside Trail, Keystone Metals Trail.

• Yes, this is a bike trail
• Yes, they're walking and not riding their bikes
• Yes, it is somewhat evocative of the Beatle's Abbey Road cover

Sandcastle Parking Lot, Waterfront Trail, Steel Valley/Kennywood Trail, Riverton Bridge, McKeesport Trail and our first flat (rear) tire. With that repaired, the ride continued to the McKees Rocks Cafe and Pizzeria, cold drinks and authorized wall-signings.

We resumed and rode the Boston route, the Durabond Bypass, and encountered the second flat (same bike, same wheel). It was a new wheel, seemed like an insufficient rim strip cutting the tube, so we applied a kludge supplemental rim strip of duct tape and that seemed to work well enough to the South Boston trailhead.

Since it was Saturday afternoon and all the bike shops are closed on Sunday, the rider got in the van with the bike and they headed to the West Newton bike shop. The diagnosis was a faulty rim strip, they took out the duct tape and applied a better rim strip and the tire was good for the remainder of the trip. Very helpful shop, our rider walked in at closing time and they took good care of him.

Saw the alumninum waterfalls, the iron waterfalls, and unfortunately we got to West Newton after the trailhead offices closed down. We had originally hoped to overnight at the Bright Morning B&B in West Newton, but we dawdled too long and they were booked. We continued to Cedar Creek Park and climbed/shuttled through the park to the Belle Vernon Comfort Inn.

The Comfort Inn was a great hotel, bike friendly, wifi and hot showers, standard continental breakfast; I'd stay there again (although it is a major climb up from the trail). Locating dinner was not a source of great satisfaction.

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June 23, 2012 Week 24 this week: 88 miles

244#

2nd Qtr 1687 miles

2012: 2700 miles