LOL, you'd have to use block and tackle to hoist a tandem or a 'bent up that curlicue stairway! We did use our sandals to get up and down, which was a little sketchy too!

This would be extra fun with my long recumbent or a tandem! Did you changes shoes for the hike up and down? Cleats would be scary on that metal grate . . .

Marg's flirtation with the multi-pocketed gear was brief! Her panniers have always been Ortlieb's although when she was making her choice several years ago she was awfully close to being seduced by Arkel's mass of compartments! Nothing like a Big Ol' Sack to put your stuff into, right?

'22 is a bit up in the air, although we are committed to an ACA gravel oriented ride in Virginia, in May. Besides that probably nothing epic, as we're going to be attending the World Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Or. in July (Track is the "family sport") and our daughters and we are going to be doing a non-biking trip in late August. I'm thinking of taking part in a 24 hour endurance ride in Michigan, in June. That would probably be a very misguided attempt but I did a couple events like that about 20 years ago, and have had a hankering to try something ridiculous like that again. BTW, I LOVE reading your journals, Kelly!! Thanks for writing and sharing them.

@Mike - thanks for reposting you journey. It makes me remember my two trips along the route. And the rain? Your pictures of the "muck" in the drivetrain brings back memories of my first day in 2015 riding from Pittsburgh to Connellsville. That limestone muck got into everything, and I carried it with me all the way to DC. Looking forward to the remainder of the posts.

Ah, ha! A compartment person! But, does she have compartmentalized panniers? I had Arkel recumbent panniers for a few years. I am not a compartment person, sort of. I like all of my stuff in one big bag, but I also put everything in ziplock bags. Thus, inside of the pannier I suppose you could say I have compartments. The difference is that I can see in them. With the Arkel panniers, I was forever unzipping sections, trying to find what I wanted.

Do you have riding plans for 2022?

That thing fell out of favor after a year. Margaret is a sucker for any piece of gear with lots of compartments, zippered slots, and various pockets. But after a season of using that beast on and off she finally relegated it to the dustbin in the basement. She's currently trying to convince our daughter to take guardianship of it :-)

How do you like that ‘trunk’ carrier, btw? We tried that some years bac’ but it didn’t make the cut. It just didn’t seem like a very effective space to us.

Agreed.

Interesting! As a Canadian who's lived all my life in British Columbia (except for those first 3 years in Alberta), I never heard of Schwinn bikes until well into adulthood. Yet they seem to hold a large place in the hearts of many Americans. We had CCM.

Good on you for taking the bait Lyle! As always, follow another person's reading and/or music recommendations at your peril : - ) But that said, here's a suggestion .... if you have a used book store around - or better yet the public library - grab a copy of Wallace's book titled "A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments." It's a compilation of non-fiction (though I think some work is embellished) essays he wrote for various magazines. There are a handful of articles in it that are more academic in nature .... literary theory basically ... that you could skip. But there are four absolute gems I'd steer you toward: "Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley," "Getting Away from Already Being Pretty Much Away from It All," "Tennis Player Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry as a Paradigm of Certain Stuff about Choice, Freedom, Discipline, Joy, Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness" and my favorite and one of Wallace's most famous essays, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again." Warning: People either love Wallace's work or despise it. There seems to be no middle ground. The novel Infinite Jest is his "Magnum Opus" ... a 1084 page beast and probably not the place to start.

See? I'm proselytizing. Nothing worse than a rabid fan. Let's get back to biking, shall we?

Hi Mike,
I did the suggested Google search and then proceeded down the inevitable Howling Fantods labyrinth of rabbit hole links. I’m a bit of a Philistine when it comes to literature and had never come across David Wallace before. On the reading list now … thanks. Also looking forward to the rest of the journal, ….. in an odd retrospective fashion since this tour is a few years old, but new to everyone here …., to see if you encountered wet conditions on the C&O. Hoping you didn’t, but if you did, I’m sure the retelling will be entertaining!