October 2, 2019
Our First Day in a Long Time
Homestead to Roundbottom camping
This morning was a bit of a shock for us. It’s been a while since we last rode with our bikes fully loaded for camping and we haven’t been able to ride as much as we had hoped lately, so it was an interesting experience to get back on them and head off down the road.
Homestead is about 10 miles from the start of the GAP – the Great Allegheny Passage, a 148 mile long rail trail that leads from Pittsburg to Cumberland, Maryland. It connects to the C & O Canal Towpath which runs from Cumberland down to Washington DC, another 185 miles. Our plan was to stay at a hotel at the Pittsburgh end, ride down to DC and then take the train back, but of course, as with everything on this trip, there are weather factors to think about. Right at this moment, we have moved from the rain of northern Michigan to a heat wave, with the daily temps reaching 30c – ugh! However, a change is in the forecast. Rain, and I mean, a LOT of rain, is supposed to fall on Sunday. Depending on where we are on the trail and how we are feeling, we have several options. We could hunker down at a hotel on the trail for a day or two and then continue on after the rain (this option is actually not as appealing as we have heard that the C&O is awful after a big rain); we could cycle to the Continental Divide, just before Cumberland and then cycle back to Homestead to pick up the van. This would also entail holing up in a hotel for the rain. Or, we can take the train back from Cumberland before the rain hits, stay at our hotel for one night and then head out in the van to explore the parts of the C&O that we want to ride. Right now the third option seems like the best, but who knows? We shall have to just wait and see.
So, back to our morning and the rude awakening of the alarm at 6:00. Having learned the hard way in Mexico last year, we wanted to get out early in order to make the distance we wanted to for this day. We were so good last night! The bags were packed and ready to go onto the bikes. We didn’t stay up too late and both slept well. We were on track to leave the hotel by 7:00 until we hit a snag. Aren’t there always snags? Well, at least one and this was hopefully our only one. Jim couldn’t find his keys! We looked high and low, taking both bar bags apart, looking around the room, under things, behind things and through things. We even checked the front desk, thinking he’d dropped them last night when he was putting things away at the last minute, but no luck. We were about to give up and concede the loss when Jim looked at his bike chain. Yep. There, attached to the chain, were his keys – oh boy!!! We had a good laugh about it and then headed over to the free breakfast that came with our room. Now, I know that there is always a lot of discussion around breakfasts here, but honestly, I can’t give this one a rating. It was ok – better than a lot of “free” breakfasts that you get in North American hotels, but not anything close to say, the ones we had in Cuba last year. However, it was filling and they did have decaf coffee for us, so we were happy. Fed and loaded up, we rolled the bikes out of our room and out the doors, saying goodbye to the friendly staff. We stopped at the van to pick up the Garmin when Jim looked down and realized that we had left ALL of our water bottles in the fridge in our room – yikes!!!! This is what we get for not doing a proper bike tour for so long!!!! Thankfully, we weren’t out of the parking lot and just needed to get the room key back and grab the bottle and we were officially on our way – hurray!
It was a lovely, cool morning and we really enjoyed cycling along the bikeway. For a little while, until we were out of Pittsburgh proper, we ended up on some quiet streets, but for the most part we were on a separate bikeway. It was interesting to cycle through the industrial part of this city, famous for its steel mills. There were a lot of disused buildings and it was a reminder of how much this part of the States is hurting economically.
For the entire day we were following the river, enjoying the quiet trails, trees beginning to change colours and friendly hellos from passing cyclists. This first part is pretty flat, with not much in the way of elevation gain, so it was a great chance for us to get used to riding with a lot of weight again. The trickiest bit for me is always getting on or off the bike. We had to stop at one point to walk through a construction zone and I almost fell as I climbed back on – wouldn’t that have been embarrassing!!! Thankfully, I saved myself and wobbled off after Jim, quickly trying to distance myself from the construction crew who were probably wondering how on earth I would manage to get to the end if that’s how I rode.
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About 20 miles in, we stopped at a trailside café. Our original thought was to have coffee and something sweet for second breakfast, but it had gotten quite hot out by then, so we opted for some cold root beer (too early for the real thing) and a dessert – I had a sweet waffle and Jim a brownie. Lots and lots of calories there, but when cycling (not when driving) calories are good! Satisfied, we filled our water bottles and headed out into the increasingly hot day.
We noticed a really nice camp ground just past our stop. They had built several lean-tos for people using the trail, had picnic tables and fire pits as well as a toilet (a pit toilet) and it was free!!! Too bad it was a little too early in the day to stop. We really wanted to get in our 40 miles today and weren’t feeling too bad, so we pushed on, stopping now and then to take pics or fly the drone.
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By the time we reached Roundbottom, we were both more than ready to stop for the day. And what did we find? The same kind of camping set up!!! Hurray!!! There is no running water here, but we have enough to make dinner and in the morning there is a town about 10 miles down the trail where we can stop for coffee and breakfast. We pulled in and met a fellow who introduced himself as “Catman Kelly”. He is quite a colourful character and has cycled extensively through the States with his cats, Marmalade and Eva (hence the name Catman). We chatted with him for a bit before walking over to the only other lean-to in this campground to set up our tent. What a treat! We don’t even need the fly tonight – it will be so lovely. Of course, with every perfect situation there are a few little problems, and the first made themselves known to us quickly – lots and lots of gnats – ugh!!! Well, at least they aren’t mosquitoes. The second, which hopefully won’t be a huge issue tonight is the train. The tracks are just across the river and while we were chatting, a train came through. It as pretty loud, so we hope that our fantastic wax earplugs will stand this test tonight.
Once our tent was set up, we decided to check out the river, which is just down from the camp site. Catman came along, and it was a good thing. There was a lot of smoke coming from a fire down by the water. When we saw the size of the fire, Jim and I assumed that it was a controlled burn by some park rangers. Catman, however, having been in the area for a few days, decided to go and investigate. When he got there, he found a couple of idiots, beers in hand, had set fire to a gigantic pile of driftwood. The fire was so high it was quickly getting away from them and was threatening the whole area. Catman yelled at them and they began to use the lids from their cooler (I told you they were idiots) to try and splash water on the fire. Useless! We all ran back to the campground and brought back buckets and our camping pots to put it out. Jim and Catman got there before me, and when I arrived, I saw the two of them working hard to pour water on the fire and the two numbskulls just standing there watching – really!!!! With the three of us, we formed an old fashioned bucket brigade. And the others? Well, they jumped into their canoe and made their escape – truly truly amazing! How could anyone be so dumb?
When we finally felt that the fire was out, we trooped back to the campground. By now, Jim and I were feeling more than a little sweaty, so we grabbed our towels and soap and headed back to the river to wash off. How delightful it was to splash cool water over ourselves and come out smelling not of fire, sweat and sunscreen – nice!
As I sit writing, Jim and Catman are sharing tales – that guy sure does have a lot of them! It will be wonderful tonight to do some of the things we have always done when bike touring – play cards, read and go to sleep early. Let’s hope the earplugs work and we don’t hear the train!
Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 389 km (242 miles)
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