GAP C&O Bike Trail Guide, Pittsburgh DC

After leading a lot of bicycle tour groups from Pittsburgh to DC (and DC to Pittsburgh), and in conjunction with Golden Triangle Bike, I've developed a Trail Guide for the GAP and C&O trails. The purpose is to help you navigate the trails from Pittsburgh to DC, help you maintain situational awareness while you're adventuring, and help you make informed decisions as events arise.

This package of route charts, drilldown area maps, and addresses with GPS coordinates will fit easily in a bike jersey pocket or a handlebar bag and is designed to avoid information overload.

The Trail Guide is designed by a cyclist, for a cyclist riding the trail; it's not a car map. Our Trail Guide is an artisanal cartography project. We've curated and hand-assembled it to deliver important information while avoiding the non-essentials. We think it's better than anything else; you'll find it delightful and useful.

click to embiggen

There's a lot of up-front information before you begin the adventure, and you'll learn a lot enroute. This Trail Guide lets you bring along expert insights to reduce uncertainty and make a satisfying experience more likely. When you consider the cost of your trip in time, schedule blocking, and cost — it's a smart investment.

The GAP-C&O Trail Guide is available for $24.95 at Golden Triangle Bike's location on the Great Allegheny Passage, at Mile Marker 149 (one mile from Point State Park). If you're not in Pittsburgh and want to order it over the phone, they'll ship it for $6.95 Priority Mail postage for a total of $31.90. Call 412.600.0675

If you prefer to purchase via Amazon, click here: Trail Guide for Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and C&O Canal Towpath Trail // Pittsburgh to Washington DC bike guide.

• Includes coordinates for road crossings and trailheads to simplify connecting with support vehicles.
  
• Identifies areas of low- or no-cellphone coverage so you'll know in advance when you'll be incommunicado.
  
• Highlights the "must-see" portions of each segment for riders who aren't going to ride every mile, but want to see the key sights
  
• identifies restrooms, portajohns, water, food, shopping, lodging, camping, bike shops, tool stations
  
• links to a customized Google-map showing the route with tags
  
• primary and alternate routes, including the W&OD transition and the paved WMRT
  

Who Was Jubal Early?

03.17.2016
28m
Mar mtd:56 ytd:190

Departed Pittsburgh with Amtrak's roll-on, roll-off bike service to Harper's Ferry, WV.

The Amtrak bike service was just perfect. I have been wondering how a loaded touring bike would be handled given Amtrak's baggage policy, but there was no problems. I went on board with four panniers, a medium-size drybag athwart-ships on my rear rack, and a small drybag on top of my front rack and it was no problem at all. I took the bags off the bike in the luggage car and set them on the deck. No discussion of excess baggage charges.

Although I was the only bike on the train when it departed Pittsburgh, when I departed in Harper's Ferry there were 3 bikes on the rack. I'm glad to see the RORO service is being used. I've never been to the Amtrak Station in Harper's Ferry.

I hadn't been in Harper's Ferry since the July 2015 fire, which was kind of a big deal. The tourist industry is still very much intact.

While I was in town I stopped at The Outfitter at Harper's Ferry, which is co-located with a General Store. They have a pretty-well stocked bike section, and also a camping section. Met a lovely lady at the cash register, which had two phone numbers prominently displayed for customers: one for NASA, one for the White House.

I asked, What's with the phone numbers? She said, a surprising number of people coming of the Appalachian Trail need one or the other. She explained, people are alone on the trail for a while, maybe there's some drinking or drugs involved - I'm not saying - but they've seen something and feel the need to report UFOs. I just give them the NASA number and we move along.

I ask, and the White House? She said, some other folks do a lot of thinking on the AT, and they come into town convinced they've found a solution to one of the world's big problems. I give them the White House number and somebody there takes their message. She had a certain mirth in her explanation, I liked it a lot.

Anyway, I think The Outfitter at Harper's Ferry is a good place for supplies. Not a full bike shop by any means, but tubes and common items.

Rode into Brunswick. The local bike shop, Three Points Cycles, is closed Tues-Wed-Thur, but there was a really nice sign in the window to the effect, "Closed T-W-Th during the winter, but here's my cellphone number. If you're in a jam, call me and I'll help you if I possibly can." I really liked that.

The trail was in excellent condition. No handles on any of the hiker-bike water pumps; maybe it's too early in the year. No leaves on the trees yet, so I saw a few things I didn't know were there; a few train tunnels, for instance, such as the one at Point of Rocks. Saw a lot of squirrels, turtles big as my dog (I have a small dog), ducks, some turkey vultures, and got to see a magnificent blue heron takeoff.

Pulled into White's Ferry to cross the Potomac to Leesburg. The ferry bears the name, General Jubal Early. I've been on this ferry a dozen times but never pondered the namesake.

Turns out Jubal Early was a Confederate officer who attacked Washington DC. His forces were winning the day, unexpectedly, but he knew he didn't have enough men to hold the city if they took it. So he fired artillery into the city, saw Abraham Lincoln on the defenses, and withdrew - crossing the Potomac back into the Confederacy. Kind of interesting that his crossing the Potomac is memorialized every time this ferry crosses the river. Kind of weird, the entire presentation of Confederacy "heroes" in the South.

Jubal Early went on to develop and promulgate the Lost Cause of the Confederacy myth, which was embraced by Southerners and is still heard in today's rhetoric. The Lost Cause apologists gave us today's "South Shall Rise Again" idiocy.

The Legend of the Lost Cause began as mostly a literary expression of the despair of a bitter, defeated people over a lost identity. It was a landscape dotted with figures drawn mainly out of the past: the chivalric planter; the magnolia-scented Southern belle; the good, gray Confederate veteran, once a knight of the field and saddle; and obliging old Uncle Remus. All these, while quickly enveloped in a golden haze, became very real to the people of the South, who found the symbols useful in the reconstituting of their shattered civilization. They perpetuated the ideals of the Old South and brought a sense of comfort to the New.

So there's that.

The Steepest Street : Canton Ave in Pittsburgh, PA

I don't ride up this street. I don't ride down this street. There's a few hundred Pittsburghers who do - Stef, Danny, Jon, people I know who are on a higher plane than I, and I admire them so.

Planning a DC-Pittsburgh bicycle trip: Satisfice & Scrounge

Yesterday's post, Planning a Pittsburgh to DC bike trip on the GAP and C&O Trail, offered a dozen questions about what you'd like to do. In this post, let's use your answers to inform your bike tour planning.

Who's Going? Three generations of my family Eight members of my riding club Four co-workers, their boss, and their spouses/SO's Just me and my bike.

Why? What's the reason for the trip? Significant Life Event - retirement, marriage or divorce, career change vacation re-union bucket-list adventure

Some Bike Trip Planning Thoughts

If you're traveling solo, planning is easier because you only have to satisfy one person. But if you're traveling in a group, there are implications.

Every group faces some pressure on the trail - it might just be anxiety of a new experience, or physical discomfort. Those stresses will play out in the group dynamic. The relationships between friends and who-is-the-Alpha-dog may play out. It's to your advantage to acknowledge that your group is a social construct and that group dynamics will have implications for the ride leader.

The First Rule of Group Bike Trip Planning

If you're riding in a bicycle group from Pittsburgh to DC, here's a primary guide: It's a social construct. You should be friends before the ride, during the ride, and after the ride. There's no reason to bust up any relationships because of a failure to build-in success at the planning stage.

The Second Rule of Group Bike Trip Planning

the planner sets the stage for the success of the adventure. You want to stack the deck in favor of success by anticipating and resolving issues before anybody turns a pedal. Then the trip looks easy and people may say, what was the big deal? because you designed success into the plans.

Time, Distance, Victims These four questions will help you solve the most nuanced problem of bicycle tour planning: how long, how far, how many days? They all come into play.

What is the least proficient rider's enjoyable daily mileage? 20 - 30 miles a day 30 - 45 miles a day 45-60 miles a day remember: are you carrying your gear on your bikes?		Will every rider ride every mile every day, or will one/some want the choice of opting out? Every rider wants to ride every mile We want the capability of one/some opting out of some segments Our very young/old will want to jump into a van some days Some of us (not a frequent rider, has a new hip) want to skip the long days
What's the enjoyable daily mileage for most of the riders? 20 - 30 miles a day 30 - 45 miles a day 45-60 miles a day 60-75 miles a day remember: are you carrying your gear on your bikes?		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 Click here for a Duration Estimator.

Itinerary Step One: Timeframe For most groups, the length of time available is the most rigid factor. Between work, families, and other committments, and trying to get your group free during the same week, once you've chosen a NumberOfDays you're pretty locked into it.

Itinerary Step Two: 335/Days = DailyMiles This is superficially pretty easy. It's 335 miles from Pittsburgh to DC. Divide 335 by your Number of Days, and you'll get the average daily mileage to make your timeframe work.

• 335/4 days= avg 84 mile days (two 75 mile days on the GAP, two 92 mile days on the C&O)
  
• 335/5 days= avg 67 mile days (two 75 mile days on the GAP, three 60 mile days on the C&O)
  
• 335/6 days= avg 56 mile days (3x 50 mile days GAP, 3x sixty mile days C&O)
  
• 335/7 days= avg 48 mile days
  
• 335/9 days= avg 37 mile days

Itinerary Step Three: Reality Check This is important. Compare your average daily miles (84, 56, 37) with your least proficient rider's comfortable daily distance. If your plan calls for 56 miles a day and Bertie is only good for 40 miles a day, it's not a good plan yet. What you've designed could be a failure for Bertie, unless you build a plan to accommodate your least proficient rider. It could be a support van. It could be an e-bike. There's a lot of approaches to accommodating that rider.

It's a disaster to design a situation that people won't succeed in without providing alternatives and accommodation. This is NOT survival of the fittest; this is vacation of the thoughtful. Unless you're training for an Ironman, in which case: roll on, brother.

Look at your options and resources: some of the group might only ride 20 or 30 mile days, or just the most scenic 20 miles, then jump in the van and meet the group at the hotel. Some might skip that one long day, take to the Spa and meet the group later. There's a lot of options.

The Third Rule of Group Bike Trip Planning: build a plan that's successful for everybody. Avoid re-enacting the Bataan Death March.

Do you ride Pittsburgh to DC, or DC to Pittsburgh?

Which Way You Going, Billy? Between DC-Pgh and Pgh-DC, there is no 'best' direction. Often the decision will be made by the logistics of your situation; if you're flying in from Europe, land at IAD and start in DC. If you live in DC and want to ride back to increasingly known ares, ride Pgh-DC. It's up to you. If your logistics don't dictate your direction of travel, I recommend Pgh-to-DC for a few reasons:

• 
  
• For half the trip, the prevailing wind is from the northwest.
  
• On the GAP, I like the slope of the climb-and-descent eastbound.
  
• The C&O Trail is a series of 74 plateaus, give-or-take one for each lock. The plateaus are mostly level, and there's a 6-to-8 foot change in elevation at each lock. As far as direction on the C&O goes, I'd rather have seventy drops than climbs. Not crucial but a small factor.
  

But it works either way.

Here's another notion: The GAP is a modern, wide, very forgiving trail built with contemporary materials and modern engineering standards. The C&O is a Civil War donkey path with rocks, roots, puddles, and it doesn't drain well. If your goal is to ride 300 miles on a quality trail, then ride the GAP round-trip - in other words, Cumberland-Pittsburgh-Cumberland or Pittsburgh-Cumberland-Pittsburgh, and ride back to where you left you car.

• Camping
  
• Hostels - Low Cost Motels
  
• mid-range hotels and B&Bs
  
• Glamping
  
• upscale hotels

Confronting Constraints and Making Sausage Knowing who you've got, what your desired daily distance is, where you're staring and what direction you're riding, you're ready to build your itinerary. Begin at your choice of start-points, roll out the Desired Daily Mileage, and see what's on the map that's consistent with your Lodging Preference.

There won't be anything there. There never is. But wiggle around. A little further, or a little shorter along the trail, what sort of lodging is there? Do you have a support van (for accomodating Bertie the Short-Distance Rider, or carrying luggage) that you could use to shuttle the folks to a hotel? You begin satisficing, finding a suitable compromise that doesn't break any criteria and come close to satisfying most factors. And then you do the same for Days 2, 3, 4...

Pittsburgh - DC Bike Trip Planning Primer The group is a social construct. You should be friends before the ride, during the ride, and after the ride. The planner sets the stage for the success of the adventure. Stack the deck in favor of success by anticipating and resolving issues before anybody turns a pedal. Design success into the plan. Build a plan that everybody will enjoy. Accommodate your weakest rider (which may include alternatives like a support vehicle). Every rider doesn't have to ride every mile; prioritize the scenic. Avoid re-enacting the Bataan Death March. You'll never find the perfect lodging at your perfect distance; satisfice and scrounge; wiggle all the details. Do you Glamp for one night? Will that hotel come get you? Does your support vehicle bring new options? In the words of Nobel-winner Herb Simon:* deciders can either 'find optimum solutions for a simplified world, or find satisfactory solutions for a more realistic world'. Satisfice and scrounge.

Please click here for info on our Pittsburgh-DC ChartPack:

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.

Tour de War On Christmas

Nov.30 2015 15m

I thought I'd take a Tour de  War on Christmas , just to check the zeitgeist. Started with my wife Karen at the Bastille. Saw a utility boat manuevering to dock, stopped to check out the small flight deck by the bow; they had a large octo-prop drone on board. They said they were using it to inspect the nearby railroad bridge. The future keeps arriving.

It looked somewhat like this, except the one we saw was bigger and more heavy-duty.



Checked out Heinz Field and Point State Park.




Took a look at PPG Plaza, and Highmark (nee Hornes):




Steel Plaza and the City-County Building:




Rode out to BikePgh to buy a jersey at their Cyber Monday sale. Espresso a Mano for coffee goodness. 15 miles, nice day.

Pittsburgh Bike Jersey; Brooks B73 Repair at Thick Bikes

Nov.7.2014 0miles

Today was a maintenance day, starting with the flat tire I acquired in my Honda van on my way to visit work. Argghh. Cars; you can't patch the tires yourself, what's up with that?

The front spring on my Brooks B-73 saddle had sprung askew. I think I twisted the seat frame-and-spring when I took a fall in the spring and taco'd my front wheel, and then set the seat straight with the top-bar without really examining the entirety of the damage.

Anyway hey: Brooks Saddles, a seat you can have repaired! This is what my Surly LHT looked like, before and after, outside of Thick Bikes Pittsburgh. I so appreciate that they took the initiative not to just sell me another seat, but to repair the one I had.

Anyway, the picture on the left is How To Take A Bike Into A Shop On Friday Afternoon . If you're not doing it this way, you're doing it wrong. Pro Tip: wheel the bike into the shop area; complain that it feels like something's dragging, or maybe there's too much weight somewhere; ask them to do what they can to reduce the weight. The picture on the right is the "after" shot.

Also extremely cool: I mentioned I needed an old, one-time-left beatup U-lock for the upcoming Ghost Bike, and Thick Bikes donated a legacy shop U-lock which I put Thick stickers on.

Also, got to see this kinda-hott model introducing a very cool jersey. The artist's spouse, Jordan, is a strong cross racer. More info on the Pittsburgh cycling jersey here.

I find the most (pleasantly) unexpected connections in bike shops. I was talking about an effective Homewood neighborhood activist, turns out Jordan the cross racer knows Elwin Green, too. Small world; cycling makes connections.

I was surprised to see a small reflective strip on the back of the Pittsburgh jersey, I haven't seen that before. They're made locally by Aero Tech Designs of Coraopolis.

Pogies (handlebar mitts) from 45North. This has interior compartments, pit-zips, wow.

Handlebar porn: the two-bagger --

Such wow. Very cycling.

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.

---

June 23, 2012 Week 24 this week: 88 miles

244#

2nd Qtr 1687 miles

2012: 2700 miles