Day 8: 95 miles down - do I ride 5 more to complete a century? - Great Lakes to DC

September 22, 2023

Day 8: 95 miles down - do I ride 5 more to complete a century?

Slept really well and woke up ready to attempt the 75-mile destination and push extra 13 miles to Bald Eagle View campsite. First order of business is to get some breakfast and that's at a convenience store 15 miles away in Hancock. Much of that time is made up cycling the flat canal path and then detouring onto the Western Maryland Rail Trail.

On this trip to the gas-n-go, I discover they make on-demand breakfast sandwiches, and even accepted the "Do you want hash browns?" with an upcharge.

All day long the trail will be rural. Much of the view is made up of rolling through a double-track of trees, with the occasional lock or train bridge. To pass the time I monitor the mileposts, and count the seconds as I ride along until I pass the next milepost, and then try to calculate average speed in my head based on the seconds to miles. I fail miserably.

Call it monotony, call it sameness, call it repetition, call it zen. Or just call it the C&O.

Depending on the condition of the old lock, it sometimes is in somewhat of a condition through which water can sit or flow, and other times the trail routes straight through it.

An example of a lock in which the trail routes straight through the old lock rather than the towpath above.

Today's agenda has a lot of riding so I'm working to accomplish that all day long. I'm trying out using my Apple Watch to record my ride and when I do so, it drains battery a lot faster than normal use. So I stop to give it a bit of a recharge 45 minutes into the day's ride. I'm also monitoring my device usage. I have a 20,000MaH battery pack, which to recharge my iPhone takes about 30% of the battery's capacity for a full charge. The watch is only about 2-3%. But that battery pack is all the power I had since I left Meyersdale, so today it's hitting about 28% remaining.

I don't think I've posted a picture of my bike without me on it, so here's a solo picture of my bike leaning against a fence.

11:25 I roll past the 100 mile marker. That's 100 miles to Georgetown, Washington DC, and then another 3 miles or so across town to the train station.

Quickly after rolling past 100 miles I hit Williamsport. This is the last stop to get food prior to making the decision to stay at Huckleberry Hill campsite (which would give me 78 miles for the day), or push on to Bald Eagle (which would be 92 miles for the day). I decide to go for the 92-mile option which means I can get food in Brunswick and skip Williamsport.

If I didn't decide to ride the extra miles at the end of this day, I'd have to stop here to get food for the night, but I roll the "I can so make 92-miles today!" dice and go for it.

The park service has done an excellent job in making sure this trail is navigable and ridable for recreation. I especially appreciate the work that's gone into the concrete pathway jutting out over the river. That makes the trail durable and prevents erosion from perennially destroying the trail.

At this point, the C&O detours into the river, where dams have created slack water for canal boat navigation. Mules would walk on the banks towing the boats.

Here, the towpath had eroded after years of use. Wooden boards washed away so the park service put in a very durable concrete pathway - very cool.

I pass by Harper's Ferry at 3:30. There were quite a few people who were milling and walking about after walking over the bridge. If you've ridden the C&O before, you know that Harper's Ferry is not on the side of the river with the trail. To get there, you have to walk up 5-6 flights on a staircase, and then over a pedestrian pathway on a train bridge. Since I have been through there several times before I decided to roll on through to Brunswick.

Once in Brunswick, I drove straight to the destination I wanted - Beans in the Belfry. They get a lot of cycling tourists stopping through and it's an old converted church. The lady behind the counter asks if a bike shop sent me over and I responded "no." After inquiring why she explains that a particular bike shop sends over customers while they are getting work done on their bikes and they are not in pleasant moods - and I'm so friendly. So to make her feel comfortable with unpleasantness I call her Mildred (you know, going with the theme). She finds it funny. I order a Reuben sandwich, vanilla cream soda, and Route 11 "old bay crab" chips and sit down to devour it while charging up my devices.

I get dinner and a vanilla cream soda at Beans in the Belfry and eat it there rather than taking it with me and dealing with the trash. I also charge up devices during my 30-minute visit.

I make it to the Bald Eagle campsite but see the next one is 2.7 miles. It's a little after 5:00 so I look at what I've done today and think, "Can I do another 3 miles?" and I answer to myself, "Sure I can." I reach Calico Rocks around 5:30 and see that the next campsite is about 5 miles away. That means I have the potential to do a 100-mile day if I go to that campsite. It's tempting, and though my legs are tired, I decide 10 miles means about 40 minutes, which will put me in at 6:10. So I decide to stay at Calico Rocks, set up my tent, crawl in, and listen to the westbound passing MARC trains taking commuters home for the evening.

Next campsite only 2.7 miles away? I decide to go for it - that should put me into camp about 5:30 and better to do those miles today when it's not raining.

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Today's ride: 95 miles (153 km)
Total: 564 miles (908 km)

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