More happened today but I don’t know if I have the energy to write it. ODO reads 370. Tonight I made it to Licking Creek Campsite. Long day. 71 miles. Got up about 7:30am made hot coco and thought about the day ahead. Tonight’s camp site has road noise and trains. But neither is as loud as last nights trains. Rode to Harpers Ferry, WV for breakfast. Had a hamburger and fries at a snack stand. Stairs up to the footbridge on MD side hard to carry the bike up.

Found out I can go just over two miles in the time it takes to sing 99 bottles of beer on the wall. Started to use it to measure distances. I now hate that song. Bugs hurt and the don’t taste very good either! Bike detour at dam 4 (84.4) is fairly well marked northbound. But the road starts out then takes a 90 degree bend and immediately stats about a 12% climb.

Fell over trying to climb when bike would not shift to low chain ring. Right after detour rejoins the path @ 88.1, the trail runs right on the river. Narrow in places, beach in others. Lots of loose rocks for a while. (1 mi)

Lots of different wildlife today. In addition to the bunnies, turtles, squirrels, and frogs, I saw 11 deer, 2 snakes, and one beaver(sunning though the weeds) I have a squirrel sharing the camp with me. He has been running around the treetops for a while but he just went into the nest up on the side of a tree.

Stopped in Williams Port MD for dinner only got ice water and chips – not hungry I guess (probably the heat) I am not hungry but I made myself eat some pasta for dinner.

Tags: C&O Canal

Start Odometer 242 miles.

About 11:30am stopped at Great Falls Park for a snack. Found out that I have already managed to lose one of the memory cards for my digital camera. Passed about 1000 walkers for the MS walk. Nice so far, but crowded.

Stopped for the night at Bald Eagle Island hike/bike camp site. Not my first choice as the train track is only about 50 feet away. But next camp site is 12.5 miles away and it’s already 6:00 pm. Odometer says 299 so about 57 miles for the day. Quiet so far except for the passing aircraft. Stopped at Whites Ferry for food, but they were closed for the season. Had to wait till Point of Rocks, MD. I wonder what I will have for breakfast in Brunswick, MD (only 5 miles away).

Oh, here comes another train (lots of tanker cars). Even with the trains, I think I will sleep well tonight. Well, I guess I should have brought cards or something else. It’s about 7:00 pm and I am kind of bored. I am tired, but I don’t want to go to sleep yet or I will be wide awake in the middle of the night. If I go into a town tomorrow, I will get a book. I was planning on riding all day till near dark then setting up camp and going to bed. But that is not very realistic when you are camping and the campsites are 45 minutes or more ride apart.

You can not be sure if the site you show up at around dusk will be available.. I haven’t seen another cyclist since about 5:45pm.. The recumbent is a great road bike and does fine on the dry sections of trail. But it takes allot of work to ride in the wet/mud. I met a pair of cyclists on the trail headed for Shepardstown, WV. We passed by each other several times during the day. They stopped at Point of Rocks, MD for the night.. Good ice cream and sub sandwich at Point of Rocks..

I am still planning on staying the night in a hotel in Cumberland when I get there to do some wash and take a real shower. I am sure I will need one (or two) by then. The pumps are hand operated and set up in a way that makes it hard to get under one to wash off the grime. I guess I will be sponge bathing it for a while.. Thats weird, when I got the tan (pseudo chamois) towel that I have wet from the pump, it turned a dark inky blue. I think its time to find a different towel. This thing has been weird from the start..

Well, it’s 8:00pm and I have retreated to the tent. I am slowly giving in to the urge to sleep, but I want to stay awake till 9:00pm or so. I guess it doesn’t really matter though.. The frogs are louder then the trains.

Tags: C&O Canal

While living in the Washington DC area, I happened upon some information about the C&O canal. After learning more about this 184mile park/path complete with camping spots and running water every 5 miles, a plan began forming in my little pea brain. Why not ride the canal on a SWB recumbent bicycle? In the spring of 2001, I took a week off, packed the camping gear and started on an out and back ride of the Canal. One week and 411 miles later, I have memories that will last me a lifetime

The text for this article is taken directly from the travel log that I wrote while on the ride. It is more a bunch of somewhat random personal thoughts than a story. I hope that doesn’t make it too hard to follow.

Tags: C&O Canal