I picked up Alice last Saturday, and we rolled out on Sunday morning for the final leg of BikeBums 2024 from Akron to DC!
- Chris escorted us for the first 20 miles in to Akron – we started north of there so we could ride through Cuyahoga Valley National Park
- We had a very wet opening to the ride, and were quickly covered in trail grit. At least I have fenders – Alice and Chris didn’t!
- Discovered Apple cider sorbet in canal Fulton, which is pretty dang tasty
- We made it to a nice free campsite on the Tuscawarus river, where we could rinse off. There was also a pub just up the trail where we got hot toddies
- Monday was more rain as we finished out the Ohio and Erie canal towpath trail. We camped in a state forest campground, where it was just us and the racoons
- Had a very rolling ride into steubenville, where we learned that they had just closed the bridge across the Ohio River! Luckily there is a shuttle service that had us back on the trail within an hour
- We rode the panhandle trail in West Virginia to the Montour trail in PA, which eventually led us to the Great Allegheny passage trail – no traffic for us!
- We slept at another cool free Trailside campground on the Montour trail – it even had free firewood and an Adirondack shelter
- The weather got drier in Pennsylvania, but every morning there is a mist that soaks everything anyway… Our gear is starting to get funky
- The GAP trail is absolutely gorgeous in the fall… Really great, easy riding through the forest
- There’s a ton of other folks riding the Pittsburgh to DC route – this trail is a giant funnel for bicyclists
- We met a cool couple – Kevin and Kate – from Richmond VA that we leapfrogged with a few times
- The riding has been great, the weather pretty good, yadda yadda yadda here’s some pictures
- We’re getting some tuneups done to Alice’s ride here in Winchester VA before we head into Shenandoah National Park
