Another Rainy Day

Day 3.  Rockwood to Cumberland 50 miles (only supposed to be 45 but I got lost)


I stayed at the Rockwood B&B last night and had planned on a leasurely breakfast.  But I checked the weather report and saw that there was a window of "no rain" that would last until noon.  So I asked the owner if she could provide an earlier breakfast - so I could try to outrun the rain.


Great idea - but didn't work out.  Started raining about 10 miles into the ride.  Oh well. 


The ground is so saturated that trees are starting to fall over - root balls and all.  It's rained pretty much every day for the last two weeks.  I am surprised the GAP trail has held up as well as it has.  It seems to drain rather quickly - so while it was wet and cold riding today - the path was in pretty decent shape. 


Rode over a bunch of former railroad bridges....

One interesing fact that I learned is that while most bridges only had one track - way back in the late 1800's they actually built many of the bridges to accomodate 2 tracks.  Think you can see tthe structure for the second track in the above photo. 


Wished they had thought like this when the built Route 128 in Boston!


Again the ride continued to be uphill.  I checked the GAP website last night only to learn that the first 18 miles of the day was going to be the steepest of the ride.  Having said this the promise was that once you reached the Continental Divide, it would be all down hill after that.


I was told to keep looking for a tunnel that would be the dividing line.  Kept hoping to see this damn tunnel and was starting to believe that the other riders were lying to me.  Finally reached the tunnel and lo and behold I had reached the top.

Now the photo showing the drop from the Divide to the Cumberland was almost too good to be true.  And as I unfortuntely learned in the same picture,  the first 140 miles of the ride was totally up hill.  Don't think I was able to coast once over the last three days.


Now  at least according to the mural, it looked like I was going to be able to coast the last 25 miles.  Just put the feat up on the handlebars and enjoy the downhil;!   Probably could do this on a dry day - but again due to the soggy conditions of the trail _ I still has to pedal - though I was able to up my speed from 8mph to 15mph. 


As I started to pass some of riders heading up the trail - I started saying hello with a big smile on my face.  As I passed them climbing  - all I got back was grunts.  Been there... done that.  It is amazing how your disposition changes on the downhill!


I must have missed the fact that just after the Divide, I would pass over the Mason Dixon line.  It has been a long time since I took American History in High School - but do remember at one time this was the line between "free states" and "slave states". 

I crossed over the line without incident.  Would have stopped longer at the line but it was dumping by then and I was cold and wet.  It was about 15 miles to town and I started counting down the miles. 15, 14, 13, ....  Amazing what the mind can do to pass the time.


In about an hour I reached Cumberland.  It's the end of theGAP trail and the start of the C&O Canal trail.  Phase One Mission completed!

I stopped into the C&O Canal Trail Visitor Center to see if they could proivdie me conditions on the next portion of the trail.  Luckily, I meet a couple who had just finished the C&O trail.  Like me, they were in the Center trying to check out what the GAP trail was like (they were heading to Pittsburgh).


So we were able to swap war stories though their ride sounded pretty bad. Seems they had to shuttle the last 40 miles of the C&O via van as the trail was impassible.


As Cumberland is the last town that I can reboard Amtrak back to Washinton I have to make a "go; no go" decision on whether to continue.   Though weather.com is calling for a "no rain" day tomorrow, the following day they are predicting rain with high probability of thunder storms. 


As I planned the last two days as 60+ mile days - I just can't imaging slogging though the mud.  Might not even finish before dark if I am reduced to 4-5 mph.  So I shout "Uncle", "I Give Up".


Bad news.... is that it looks like I am going to have to come back another day to do the C&O Canal portion of the ride.  Good news.... is that I must be getting smarter as I get older!  


So it is back to the Cape for some sun and surf (and great white sharks).  And of course to get ready for the Brickabetta wedding!


So until the next trip - thanks for reading!

Only the Crazies Out Today

Day 2  Connellsvile to Rockwood - 45 miles

Started out in the rain and ended up in the rain.

One interesting thing about the GAP trail is that there are only a couple of places on the trail you can stop for food or drinks along the way. When it says 45 miles to the next stop you pretty much can assume that you have 45 miles with limited support.

Despite the rain, the trail started out pretty dry at least for the first 10-15 miles.

After that, the intensity of the rain picked up and the path surface turned to wet mud. My speed dropped from 10mph to less than 7mph. Mud everywhere.

My rain gear helped, but everything got soaked.   The bike got so clogged up with mud that I had to stopped every once in a while and spray water from my water bottle on the gears so I could shift.

Now 45 miles at 10mph is one thing; but at 6-7 mph we are talking 7 hours of slogging in the dirt. Again limited places to stop so you push on hoping for the rain to stop.

Today I only passed 5 other riders plus one family riding two tandems with their two kids (plus a trailer loaded with camping gear).  Kids could not have been over 10 and did they look miserable!  Once they get older my guess is that they will never get on a bike again.

Funny thing though is every time you pass somebody they give a big wave and shout out. I am freaking miserable and they are all waving at me.

Did figure out one reason. They are all doing the trail from Washington to Pittsburgh. Went back and re-read the trail web site and missed one important detail. If you ride the trail West it is essentially 150 miles downhill. If you do it going East (like me) it's all uphill!  Dumbass!

New rule- if you ride next to a river that the water is flowing in the opposite direction - stop your ride and turn around.

I did make it to my planned stop in Rockwood. Good news is the B&B was right next to the trail. Bad news is that there are no restaurants in the town.  However there is a bar within walking distance so hopefully they have enough junk food to chow down on.

Tomorrow I head to Cumberland which is the end of the GAP Trail.  I am supposed to then get on the C&O Canal Trail which takes me into Washington. Problem is that this trail is 100% dirt and no crushed gravel (like the GAP).   The GAP Trail is maintained by volunteers and the Canal trail is maintained by the Federal Government. So you can imagine the difference in the two trails.

Talked to a rider today who said that unless the weather changes the C&O trail will almost be impassible.

Not sure what I am going to do. Will just have to play it by ear.

Signimg off - heading to the bar before it closes at 7.

Tough First Day

Day 1. Pittsburgh to Connellsville 65 miles.



When I looked at the weather report I saw the rain but reports said that the temperature was going to be in the 65-70 degree range. Didn't get over 50 today.  And windy.

The only thing weather.com got right was the rain part. About 30 miles into the ride it started raining and kept that way for the next 30 miles. Glad I opted to bring the heavy duty rain gear!

The ride out of Pittsburgh was tricky and I had to keep asking people for directions. The problem is that there are a zillion bridges to cross the river to get to the other side but only a couple bridges have access ramps to get down to the trail.

Like I discovered on my ride across the USA where their were a lot of closed stores in every town, Pittsburgh has scads of closed, abandoned steel mills.

Everywhere I rode for the first 15 miles there were these abandoned mills.   When I went to school the economic teachers told us how successful America would be as a service economy. Bullshit.

We need to get manufacturing back to places like Pittsburgh.

In any case back to the ride. Started off as a paved path but quickly turned to hard packed dirt.

Trail was pretty nice riding dry but I knew as soon as it started to rain it was going to be a mud. Actually I lucked out and the road stayed pretty hard. Hope luck is with me cause it looks like the rain is here for the week.

Didn't get to take a lot of photos once the rain started. Goal was to get to my hotel so I could get off my wet clothes and shower.

 Also didn't see anybody on the trail all day.  They must have been better at deciphering the weather report.

Saw more geese than people. In fact got attacked twice by some grease trying to protect their newbies.  After the first attached got off my bike on the opposite side of where the geese were ready to throw my bike at the attacker.  Luckily 40 pounds of steel convinced them I was a good guy!

Supposed to rain again tomorrow. Need some luck!

Heading to Pittsburgh

Just arrived in Pittsburgh vis Amtrak Capital Express.  Didn't know trains could go that slow.  Best part of the ride was leaving from Union Station in the middle of DC.  The don't build them like this anymore.

Bike is packed and ready to go. I must have made at least ten clothing equipment changes in the last two days given the changing weather conditions. Could not decide between a light weight rain jacket and a heavy duty Gortex jacket. Weather forecast has been shifting between rain showers and thunderstorms. In the end decided on bringing both!

As you can see there is only so much stuff you can pack in the panniers so something had to go. Opted to do the ride with no underwear - be surprised how much room they can take up!

As noted train travel is not that glamorous but I do have to admit the seats are wider and the leg room is enormous compared to American Airlines.  Just wish they could go faster than 10 miles per hour! Trip to Pittsburgh to 7 1/2 hours.

One thing you immediately notice is there is a whole different social economic class riding trains.   Love to see Hilary or Trump spend a day riding the rails as they would gain a while new perspective on America (seems I learn this on every bike ride across America).

 Unfortunately the weather report has changed since planning the trip.  Originally it was 73 degrees and sunny to now 50-60% of rain/thunderstorms each day.

Shit.

Going to have to wrap each piece of clothing in individual plastic bags and "double up" by then putting the individually wrap items inside 30 gal garbage bags.

Hopefully the storms are at the end of each day so I can start early to beat the thunder and lightning!

Thank god I opted for hotels and didn't go the camping route

It's about 6 am so going to have to get ready to roll. Check in later provided my tablet survives the weather.

Riding the Gap - May Adventure

Going to start the bike season (May 8-13, 2016) with a quick one week ride on the Great Allegheny Passage (the Gap) and the C&O Canal trail.  This is a 335 mile ride from Pittsburgh to Washington DC.

Here is the trail's website that provides all kinds of stuff about the trail....

The Gap Official Web Site

As the path is not paved (gravel and dirt), I'll be taking my old trusty 1995 Trek mountain bike.  I bought some new 40 mm semi-slick tires to deal with the soft ride surface.

This is a self directed ride - so no support wagon or luggage shuttle.  But I've booked hotels and B&B's each of the nights so no need to carry tent, sleeping bag, etc.  Clothes will go on the back of the bike in panniers.  Plan is 3 days of clothes with washer/dryer refresh at the 1/2 way mark.

Right now the forecast calls for thunderstorms and showers pretty much every day.  When I checked out the long term forecast when I planned the trip weather looked fine.  Not worried about getting wet as much as trying to ride 50+ miles in mud.  Can make for a long, long day.

Only hope is that weather.com is way wrong!

Only saving grace is that it is expected to be 70 degrees - a welcomed  relief from the 45-50 degree with 15-20 mph winds and rain we have been experiencing on the Cape.

I'll take Amtrak from DC to Pittsburgh.  The train has space for only 7 bikes so reserving early was key. Train leaves DC at 4pm and arrives in Pittsburgh at Midnight.  So getting to the first hotel will be fun!

Plan is 50-60 miles a day - given the road surface and conditions.

Pittsburgh to Connellsville

59

Connellsville to Rockwood

45

Rockwood to Cumberland

43

Cumberland to Hancock

60

Hancock to Harper's Ferry

63

Harper's Ferry to DC

61

One of the guys that I rode across the US with provided me a spreadsheet that listed his GAP itinerary.  But it was for one more day than I expect to complete the trip in so I had to make some modifications to his ride.

But his information was pretty helpful in mapping out my own route.  Some of the towns are really small and are "restaurant challenged" with BYOB pizza joints (closing at 7pm) as the only viable food option .  Even Yelp drew blanks in some of the places.

In any case going to try to blog most of the trip - really depends on internet access and whether my computer survives the rain.

Last Day! 50 miler to Costa Mesa

The 2015 Ride the West is now in the history books!.  Last day was a fast 50 miles from Marina Del Ray.   A bunch of riders left last night so we are down to about 5 people that have done the entire ride. Today I rode with Sarah (skier from Copper Mountain).  We had to go through some sketchy neighborhoods (the kind where the doors and windows have bars on them) so I told her I would ride with her as she was concerned about being by herself.  Ended up being a nice comfortable pace day.

I didn't take any photos - just couldn't do another day of stopping every 10 minutes.  Mike Monk,  the ride leader, is providing us with all the photos he took of the tour - so worst case I will have his shots for the last ride day.

It was a great tour.  The ride was harder that I had expected - but in the end - the United States still amazes.  The Pacific Coast is just stunning and I hope my photography has captured at least some of its beauty.

It was advertised as a 1400 miles ride and according to my bike computer - it was just as advertised. My computer does not track altitude but I am pretty sure we got close to 76000 feet of climbing.

Here are my statistics....

Distance: 1,387.06 mi

Time: 107:53:00 h:m:s

Avg Speed: 12.8 mph

Calories: 75,212 C

My average speed was almost 1 mile an hour slower that when I went across the USA.    Again the hills just took my average speed down (or old age is creeping in).

Heading home to the Cape tomorrow for some R&R.  Might not get on my bike for at least a week.  

Ellen and David are getting married next year so no big ride in 2016.  But after having ridden with John, Sarah, Jim and Rodger - it's clear I have some more years of quality riding ahead of me!!!

Thanks for following my ride.  Hope you enjoyed following my adventure.

Oxnard to Marina Del Ray, 54 miles

Today's ride was a lot of fun.  We got a little concerned that about 30 minutes before we were scheduled to leave - we got a downpour that lasted about 15 minutes.   Must have dumped 1/2 inch of water.  But we are in Southern California so by the time we were 1 mile out of town, the roads were dry.  Everybody had taken put on their rain gear and we all had to stop and remove our gear as the temperature quickly went back into the 70's and 80's.

 At nine miles out of town we passed a Navy airbase and got to see some "previously used" weapons.

 The fun part is that everybody got to have their picture taken as if the missile was on your back.

Right after the Navy base we had to get on Route 1 - which is generally loaded with cars.  They are either whipping by you or parked on the shoulder of the road, so it normally can be a pretty scary ride.  But because of the rain - the roads were empty and there were only a few people heading to the beach.  It was if we had the road mostly to ourselves for the first 30 miles.

We had a couple of hills but most were either pretty mild or my legs are getting stronger and the hills did not seem to bother me.  At about 35 miles we rode into Malibu and started to see all the "movie star" houses hugging the coast.  I wonder what happens to these houses when there is a strong tide or storm.  I doubt seriously that they are able to get home insurance on these houses - but perhaps they don't care.

After passing Malibu we got on a bike path that took us directly to and through Venice Beach.  I have been there in the past and it seems to have changed - from a really hip place to a tourist trap that has three kinds of stores - henna tattoos, bad street art, and pizza by the slice.   Lots of people living on the strip and the strong smell of dope in the air.    Just not a cool place any more and decided that it was not worth stopping so I jumped back on my bike and headed to our hotel in Marina Del Ray.

We have one more day of riding (shortest day on the tour) and when we get to the hotel we will break down our bikes and get the ready to ship them back home.  Most people will leave tomorrow and only a couple of us (who have to get a plane back to the East Coast) will stay the night.

We had a "farewell party" this evening and got to thank the staff for an excellent tour - and  we got to say goodbye to new friends.

One funny story.  We had two couple from Europe join us about 10 days into the tour and before they joined the tour in Crescent City, they were reading Mike's blog where he was highlighting the Oregon portion of the tour.  They got concerned when they looked at the rider photos and they thought they were joining a senior citizen tour and had figured they had signed up for the wrong tour (all of us at the beginning were over the age of 60 with at least three riders in the 70's).  But as they said during their farewell remarks - they were super impressed on how well us seniors ride and it gave them inspiration and motivation to keep riding until they reach our age - in 25 years!!!!

I must admit even I am impressed that John (76), Rodger(72), Jim (74) and Sarah (69 with a birthday next month) blasted though this ride.  Give me hope that I myself will be riding (and skiing) for at least another 10 years. Quite remarkable when I think back to what our parents did when they were in the mid 60's.  And hopefully our kids will even be better as they age.

So tomorrow we head to Costa Mesa on our last ride.  I think it is about a 40 mile ride - so we should get to the hotel fairly early.   Hopefully I can get in one more blog entry.

Slovang to Oxnard - 80 miles

Our last "hard" day of riding started off with heavy fog and 20 miles of climbing.  We were on Route 154 and there was literally no shoulder.  Cars were zooming by at 60-65 and I was pretty freaked out.  Last night at our daily briefing they said they were going to try to find a way around 154 - but were unsuccessful in re-routing us.

Had they told us that the the road was as dangerous as it was - I would have asked to ride in the van.  I kept looking for the support van but it did not pass me until mile 15 (and by that time I was off Route 154).  Just was not safe.

When we exited Route 154 we got on Stagecoach Rd.  This originally was the main road between Solvang and Santa Barbara.  Not really sure how the heck horses ever pulled a stagecoach up this hill.  About 1/2 way up I was able to take a photo of the bridge on the road they built to "replace" the stagecoach trail.

As we climbed I was able to get under the bridge and take a shot directly underneath.  Should give you a feel for how high it was above me.  Just after the bridge there are a bunch of white crosses.  I asked the tour director what they were for and he said "jumpers".  It appears the bridge is a popular place to kill yourself.  I think the Golden Gate is a better place to do it - much softer landing.

We kept climbing until we were just above the bridge.  If you look in the second photo you can see the road we climbed up (just below the left side of the bridge) to get to this point.   Thank god this is supposedly our last big hill of the ride!

The downhill was pretty cool. When we started down we got our first view of Santa Barbara and the Pacific Ocean.  It was pretty hazy so my pictures are not very clear..  

We passed through Santa Barbara and then got onto a bike path that took us parallel to Route 101 heading to Ventura.  All along the road there are RV's.  Must have been at least two miles maybe three miles of RV's jammed together on the road.  And these were not your "cheap" RV's.  Big bucks.    

We rode right next to the ocean and saw surfers and bathers.  Hard to believe it is October.

The ride ended in Oxnard.  We did not get to ride next to the Ocean in Oxnard as it appears to have a lot of oil facilities along the water.  The town itself is pretty rough as well.  The hotel is fine but I doubt I would say to Cathryn.  "Hey, I have an idea - let's go to Oxnard for the weekend".

Two more days of riding.  Tomorrow we pass Venice Beach and end up in Marina Del Ray.  Weather forecaster is calling for rain which will be a bummer as there is nothing like people watching  in Venice.

Santa Maria to Solvang - 40 miles flew by

Today was the perfect day.

 A 40 mile ride with a couple of hills but mostly through the flat agricultural regions dotted with hills loaded with vineyards and wineries.   We had a 15 mph tail wind which really helped on the ride.

Again the valley is brown, brown brown.  Jim who lives in the area said he has never seen this valley so brown.  While we started out at 9 am, midway through the ride the temps started hitting the mid 80's.  Close to 90 by end of the day.

We needed water - thank god for the sag stop in front of one of the local wineries!!

We have probably rode past a zillion wineries and as I mentioned before,  I have never every seen one of these wines in our local stores.  But we took a left onto Chalk Hill Road and I am a super fan of the Chalk Hill Chardonnay.   So was stoked to see the winery - but never found it.

Also on Chalk Hill Rd was a nursery that also created a bunch of animal scrubs.  Someone must have to come out and water them - else they would perish in this heat.

Had a couple of great downhills and arrived in Solvang which appears to be a Danish town in the middle of nowhere.  Some Danes founded the town in the early 1900's and tried to recreate their home land.  They must have quickly imposed a strict building code - as ever building looks like it could be in the middle of Denmark.  Lots of fake windmills.  Even our Holiday Inn looks like its from Europe.

It's Friday (I think) so there is a lot of traffic and the streets are filled with tourists (I guess I am one).  There are a bunch of wine tasting rooms and a brewery.

Decided I would start at the Brewery and then branch out to the Wineries.  All about the replenishment of your body fluids!  Pretty good beer - except they got a little cute calling them by Danish names (Danes Indian Pale Ale).  But pretty good beer in any case.

Rodger from Pittsburgh, found a two for one coupon for one of the wine tasting rooms in the hotel lobby and went there by himself.  He handed them the coupon and told them to pour two tastings of each wine for himself.  Ended up getting 10 tastings of the 5 wines.  Pretty smart - will need to think of this next time in Napa.

Made a mistake of eating at the place the tour provided.  It was supposed to be a Danish smorgasbord so I was curious to go check it out.  Ended up being really bad.  Not even the jello tasted any good.  The joke of the night was that even Ikea makes better Swedish Meatballs and the Danes should stick to cheese.  

Mark (retired baby doctor from England) and I decided to head back to the brewery as it was only 6:30 after dinner.  We grabbed a table outdoors and enjoyed the night (temperature drops immediately as soon as the sun goes down) with a pre-bed brew.

Tomorrow we have out last long ride with hills (84 miles).  I hope we head out before the heat hits as this will make the day a challenge.  The the last couple of weeks we have had a rest day every Saturday - but we are pressing on to the finish.  Nine days of heavy riding without a break is pretty hard.

Got to grind it out tomorrow!!  On to Oxnard wherever this is.