October 25, 2021
Day 3: Monday - Paw Paw, WV to Meyersdale, PA
Paw Paw, WV to Meyersdale, PA
We wake up just before 8am to the sounds and smells of Dan in the kitchen. We freshen up and join he and the only another guest, Jim, for breakfast. It's a great start to the day & I enjoy chatting with everyone and learning fun facts about the trail and Dan's deep, rich local knowledge.
Dan shares a plethora of fascinating information including the whereabouts of a nearby historical American Chestnut tree, the various species of migrating birds we are likely to encounter and his thoughts on the Paw Paw Tunnel's reopening timeline. I'm also inspired to hear of his deep involvement with the C&O trail and how often he gets our and rides on it. He shoots for riding one Century a month and at the time of our arrival was on track to hit 7K miles on the trail this year. Impressive stuff.
Before we finish breakfast Dan reads one of his favorite short poems by Albert Einstein, which touches on the simplicity and beauty of nature and the power of helping your fellow man. It is brief, but impactful, and the words resonate with me. It's a really nice way to start the morning and in my mind, really sets the tone for the rest of the day.
Dan heads out shortly after to shuttle Jim over the Paw Paw Tunnel Detour(as Cliff & Jeff had graciously done for us the prior night), in the opposite direction. We say our goodbyes as he trustingly requests that we lock up behind ourselves after we sign the guest-book (filled with previous guests' similarly positive notes).
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Following Dan's directions, we're easily able to navigate out of the small city of Paw Paw and quickly find ourselves back on the towpath. We are now resuming between MM155/156. After a few minutes on the trail I spot trail MM156 and relax knowing that we're at least headed in the right direction. The weather is beautiful - a classic crisp, fall morning - and we're both well rested and ready for the day ahead.
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The scenery is great and we're feeling good. I fill up on some iodine water at the first pump of the day & drop in some electrolyte powder for flavor. We're back on the single-track which Allison continues her hate-hate relationship with, but the trail is in decent condition and we hit various resurfaced sections which keep us rolling relatively smoothly. Barring a cyclist or two, we barely encounter anyone on the trail for a few hours. It adds a great sense of calmness and tranquility to the ride.
As the trail becomes more residential we begin passing through neighborhoods and eventually find ourselves cruising on single track just beyond peoples' backyards. I see plenty of wildlife along the route, but I'm especially excited when I spot a barnyard of black cows just below the trail and feel like a kid at the zoo all over again(note, zoos are the worst). Thirty miles in and we find ourselves approaching Cumberland, MD.
The C&O canal ends in Cumberland, precisely where the GAP trail starts (vice versa if headed in opposite direction). We reach the canal's respective finish line, but I'm personally lacking that feeling of accomplishment due to the two occasions of missed mileage. I remind myself that this is all in the name of fun and that I'm on my vacation and look forward to continuing on to the next leg. We grab some lunch at the delicious European Desserts, where I have an excellent sandwich & one of the best Cannoli’s I’ve ever eaten. I highly debated a 2nd one, but I digress.
We discuss the mileage plan, upcoming trail conditions and ultimately set our stopping point for the night for Meyersdale, PA (MM32 on the GAP trail). There's reported to be an ever so slight elevation gain of ~1,900ft in the 32miles leading to Meyersdale, and the numbers suggest a relatively flat ride followed by a smooth descent into town once we crest the Eastern Continental Divide. We take off on the Great Allegheny Passage and leave for Meyersdale just before 3pm.
The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP Trail)
We begin on the GAP trail and notice a change in scenery right away. The rolling hills in the distance contrast nicely against slightly more vibrant colors of fall foliage than we'd previously encountered along the trip.
There are a lot of neat sightings along the way and we start off riding alongside train tracks for several miles, which then carry mini-train-cars filled with waving passengers. It's a really cool experience.
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I notice storm clouds quickly forming overhead and wonder to myself how long it'll take for us to be completely drenched while fully exposed on these rolling hills. I give it another 30 minutes, tops.
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Around this time, I also quickly notice that Allison is not a fan of the elevation changes. We follow a similar pace to what we'd maintained that morning(9.9mph average), but it's clear that we've slowed down slightly. This should've be too much of an issue, but the light rain droplets and rumbling of thunder would say otherwise. The rain eventually picks up, however the lighting fortunately holds off and we only experience a bit of water and mud for the duration.
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We pause at the Mason Dixon Line to take turns straddling the state line so that we can each talk about the time we stood in both Maryland & Pennslyvania simultaneously.
Eventually we reach the Eastern Continental Divide and check out the elevation map inside the tunnel, which provides Allison with a sense of vindication, I'm sure. As you can see in the image below, once we'd reached the peak of the divide it was smooth sailing the remaining 6 miles to Meyersdale (and beyond).
We competed against daylight during our final miles leading into Meyersdale, PA, but the ride was pleasant and comfortably uneventful. A few schools of deer jumped out & crossed the trail as it became darker out, but we fortunately avoided any collisions with one another and safely made it to the town's trailhead area.
After arriving, we checked into Yoder's Guest House which was an excellent, bike-friendly B&B lodging option with all of the amenities needed for a good nights' rest. Our host gladly guided us to the backyard bike storage shed, and after hosing our bikes down and knocking a few pounds mud from each of our drivetrains, we were set. We went inside, provided our breakfast preferences for the following morning and were given handy bins for carrying our muddy bags/gear inside without making a mess. We were informed of the nearby food options and after dropping our things off in the upstairs suite, headed across the street for as many fried, salty, greasy and sugary calories as possible
Both the locals and staff alike were very friendly and welcoming and wanted to hear all about our trip. They were very used to getting riders in and even pointed out a book they had for sale that was written by another cyclist (who did the same route and had a similar late night meal like us in their diner). We filled up on an unhealthy number of fried foods and I topped it off with a strawberry milkshake. This trip really was a perfect cover story excuse to overeat for a week.
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We finished as much as we could, got the rest to-go and strolled back to the B&B for a night of rest.
Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 185 miles (298 km)
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