July 7, 2016
Day 37 Cumberland to Rockwood, PA
After miles of type 2 fun yesterday, we were ready for some type 1 fun today. We left our hotel at the wonderfully civilized hour of 10AM and headed down to the plaza where the C&O Canal Path ends and the Great Allegheny Passage begins.
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As we were riding in, we saw Patty and Martin, the tandem riders whom we had met yesterday. They were starting our on the C&O to Washington. We got another tandem trio shot before we parted ways.
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We stopped at the C&O Visitor's Center. They had interesting displays about the history of the canal. They also had poorly trained and informed rangers, but Kerry found the Coke machine in spite of them! About 11AM, we started our ride on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP). This is the trail we will take to Pittsburgh. The surface is so much better than the C&O. It is hard packed crushed limestone and pretty comfortable to ride.
The first 24 miles of the trail rise 1786 feet to the Eastern Continental Divide. It is a gentle 1-2% grade the whole way and not hard to climb. BUT, going even a few feet off the trail can involve a steep climb. We stopped at the town of Frostburg for a break and a snack and everyone except me thought it would be a good idea to ride UP to the store. Now this store is only 2/10 of a mile from the trail, but the road is very, very steep. I was afraid to try to ride up it. Kerry and I pushed our bike up and that was hard. Team A rode their bike to the top. I was impressed. They are very strong. After a rest (and ice cream), we all took the longer switchback bike path back down to the trail.
The next stop after Frostburg was the Mason-Dixon line and the Maryland-Pennsylvania border.
There are 3 tunnels on this stretch of the GAP. The longest is the Big Savage Tunnel at 3295 feet. It is paved and lighted overhead and was fun to ride through. We arrived at the Eastern Continental Divide and found this picture showing the GAP elevation profile. From there, it is downhill all the way to Pittsburgh.
Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 1,860 miles (2,993 km)
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