A Change in the Weather

October 4, 2019

Overnight the weather had changed. When we woke up, there was a welcome fall chill in the air. We needed a few more layers as we packed up and headed out, having eaten a muffin and banana for breakfast. We both felt a little better and so thought we would just push on the next 15 miles to Rockwood where we could either spend the day and camp or take a break and keep going.

The trail was in much better shape here and so we enjoyed the morning ride in the cool air much more than the previous day. The fall scenery continued to be beautiful, although many of the trees had still not changed their colours. We are still toying with what to do after Cumberland. We have heard enough about the C&O to think we probably don’t want to ride the whole 185 miles of it on our fully loaded bikes – it seems to be a bit more rough that the GAP. So, that leaves us with the options to either take the train all the way back to Pittsburgh from Cumberland or ride back from there. The grade from the Continental Divide to Cumberland is pretty extreme compared to what we have had coming up, so that is something to think about.

There are sections of Rhododendrons all along the way - it must be spectacular when they are in bloom

When we reached Rockwood, a lovely volunteer told us about a great little place to have lunch. Even having to go up a hill to get to it, we totally agreed – best chicken pot pie ever at the Rockwood Mill Shoppes & Opera House!

Come here for some really really good chicken pot pie!!!

Satisfied and still feeing strong, we decided to push on to the town of Meyersdale, another 15 miles along the trail. The weather had definitely turned. While it was still sunny, it was much cooler, which made for some wonderful cycling. We loved the scenery all along this corridor, and stopped often to take it all in before finally arriving at the station at Meyersdale where we found a very interesting visitor’s centre. From there, it was a quick (and steep) downhill to find our campground at the Festival Park in the centre of town. We had heard at the visitor’s centre that we could pay the $15.00 camping fee at the little Donges drive-in café just across the street and so headed there first. It looked like a great little café and so we planned on heading back over for dinner, and breakfast too, since we hear that they make their own real maple syrup!

In support of the local team - they won!

Arriving at the fair grounds, we made our way over to the area set aside for campers. We were the only ones there and so chose to set up our tent on the stage so we could avoid dew in the morning. There were also a TON of electrical outlets there, which we quickly took advantage up, plugging in pretty much everything we could! We took advantage of the great showers at the campground before heading over for a couple of burgers and onion rings. The two young people who were working were very friendly. When we asked if this was a big football day for their high school team, the young lady told us it was the big rivalry game against a team they hadn’t beaten in 10 years. We said it was too bad it was too far away for us to bike to and she right away offered to ask a friend to give us a ride – how nice was that? We turned down the lovely offer, though, knowing that we wanted to get a good night’s rest before heading up to the top of the divide in the morning.

As we arrived back at the campground, another couple showed up and set their tent up on the stage too. Tom and Linda were from Bakersfield, CA, and it turns out this is Linda’s first tour! They had begun their ride in Cumberland and were headed to Pittsburgh where they were going to rent a van to drive back and pick up their car – what a great idea! I asked how Linda did on the steep grade coming up from Cumberland and they told us they took the tourist train up to Frostburg, which took 15 miles off the steep part – hmmm! Now that’s a possibility! A little later, another couple, Rob and Carolyn, came along. They set up their tent down on the grass, but then joined us up on the stage to visit. They are from New Hampshire and have done a lot of travelling on their tandem bike. While several other bikers showed up and set up their tents so that it was a pretty full house. We stayed up quite late (for us!) chatting with Tom, Linda, Rob and Carolyn about life and biking. It was lovely to have such a lively group to talk to! Eventually, we had to call it a night though, and crawl into our very cold tent. The temperature had dropped dramatically, due both to the change in weather and the higher elevation. It was pretty cold and we just hoped that our gear would hold up to it overnight!

Today's ride: 49 km (30 miles)
Total: 510 km (317 miles)

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