To pittsburgh

It looks wet outside but the rain has stopped.

Big breakfast prepared by Rick: omelettes, toast, yogurt, fruit, coffee/tea, OJ, and peanut butter cups for the road. He also brings us a box to mail some more things home, which will lighten our load noticeably on this last leg. We can’t say enough about the hospitality at this quilting retreat! After a quick stop at the local post office, Rick drops us off where we finished riding yesterday and we continue.

The trail goes through Connellsville and then follows the Youghiogheny River. It is a messy start to the day. Dr. Fauci falls victim to a vicious mud-slinging campaign, not from anti-vaccine folks but from the aftermath of last night’s storm. For the first time, downed trees block our path every few miles. We make it to West Newton, PA, enjoy some free snacks that we picked up from a kind-hearted FREE stand outside of Whitsett, buy a couple of souvenir clothing items, and watch awkwardly as the lady at the visitors’ center / gift shop kicks out some mischievous teenagers.

The weather improves as the day wears on. We pass mile 100 of the GAP trail. Since the GAP is shorter than the C&O by some 40 miles it’s a sign that the home stretch is near!

In Boston, PA we find a souvenir shop / cafe to sit down and have a proper meal. Their ‘flatbread primavera’ is frozen vegetables and cheddar cheese microwaved on top of a tortilla but it’s delicious and part of an excellent lunch bargain. A very clingy rooster begs for some food scraps but we stand our ground. This is our last big rest stop before our final destination.

As we pass through the towns of McKeesport and Homestead and into the Pittsburgh metro area, we start to reflect on our journey…

This stretch of the trail is familiar to Becca from her days riding on the weekends in college. A combination of nostalgia and determination hovers over us as the trail leads us into more and more urban territory. We realize how much we have loved spending our days “outside of civilization” in a way, and it’s kind of bittersweet to trade the sounds of cicadas and wind for the click-clack of the rollercoasters at Kennywood and the hum of car traffic over bridges and highways. We will miss this, even if our saddles won’t!

Finally, there’s nothing left to do but cross the Hot Metal Bridge (Becca’s favorite in all of Pittsburgh) and follow the Monongahela River towards “dahntahn,” as it’s pronounced in the Pittsburgh accent. Someone has spray painted “Last Hill!” on the ground just before the bridge and it really helps us feel like we’re on our victory lap. A fellow cyclist asks where we’re coming from and upon learning we’ve done the whole trail from DC, shouts “Congratulations! You’re almost there!”

The trail gets confusing at the end and we accidentally wind up on some city streets instead of on the perimeter, but Becca manages to navigate us to a proper scenic route for the very last mile. Finally, we arrive at Point State Park, the terminus of the GAP trail and the place where the Monongahela meets the Allegheny. 6 days and 334 miles later, we have done it!

A stranger kindly takes some photos of us, and we hop back on our bikes for an easy ride on the north side of the city to get to our hotel. We toast our journey with Prosecco and Fried Ice Cream at Nicky’s Thai Kitchen, then collapse into bed!

Our next two days will be spent relaxing and catching up with Becca’s friends who are still in town before we load the bikes onto the Pennsylvanian Friday morning to head home!

To connellsville

We make ourselves some tea, coffee, and a couple of bowls of Honey-Nut Cheerios with whole milk, and say farewell to another group of bikers who also stayed the night at the Rockwood Trail House. Today is the second of our two shorter rides but is more downhill than uphill, making for an easy day. We set out, continuing to follow the Casselman River until Confluence, PA, where we pick up the Youghiogheny.

On our snack break in Confluence, we eat a leftover ‘veggie wedgie’ (hoagie-panini variant) from yesterday, enjoy the most luxurious campground bathroom facilities we’ve seen yet, and press on to Ohiopyle. Here we rest but again do not go into town as we are trying to get to endpoint before thunder showers get to us. We decided a couple days ago to skip Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater because of its inaccessibility to cyclists (a fellow traveler warned us not to attempt the fast and busy roads on bikes, so we’ll have to come back for it on a future visit). The good news is we’re halfway done with the GAP! Even if there wasn’t a nice marker to denote it like there was on the C&O.

Continuing the ritual of listening to separate podcasts on the afternoon leg, we pass the remaining 18 miles into Connellsville easily, arriving just after 3pm. Along the way we saw another (larger) snake on the trail and more deer. We do not miss the cicadas. Becca worries that she may have hurt/killed a baby chipmunk despite doing her absolute best to dart around it.

We arrive in Connellsville, PA and the trail cuts directly through the west side of town via a protected bike lane. A surprisingly tasty big meal awaits us at Kickstand Kitchen, a restaurant around the corner from the bike shop. Next door is a fro-yo placed called “New Haven,” of all things! But alas, it’s only open on weekends. Many restaurants, cafes, bike shops, etc. are operating under reduced hours and sparse staffing (we learn this the hard way when at 7pm it’s already too late to order dinner from New York Pizza and Pasta).

As we eat lunch, a boy asks ‘So how many miles did you ride today?’ And I say ‘Not very much, only about 40 miles’ And he goes ‘40?! I’ve only done 25 and I’m dying!’

Right away we get a lift to tonight’s bed and breakfast from its owner, Rick, who deftly loads our bikes into the trailer he has built to tow behind his F150. He drives like an absolute rockstar, doing many-pointed turns with ease, relying only on the mirrors and not the backup camera. On the way to the B&B he shows us the town, as well as the incredibly hilly and windy roads we would have had to navigate if we chosen to bike to his place. No regrets about opting for the shuttle!

We give the bikes (and our clothes) a well-earned wash just as the lighting, thunder, and rain begin. We have the entire B&B to ourselves, including a pool table, jacuzzi, and one of the nicer grand pianos I’ve seen in a home. Now to rest up for our victory lap into Pittsburgh tomorrow!

Connellsville, PA

One of the beautiful quilts on display at the Seams Like Home Quilting Retreat Bed and Breakfast!

Goodbye C&O, Hello GAP!

It is time to allow ourselves to sleep in, or at least lie in bed for a while. “I can’t believe we’re getting back on the bikes today,” Becca moans candidly. Marty is tasked with bringing the laundry we hand washed last night to a nearby laundromat to make sure everything is dry: he comes back with $18 in quarters. There’s instant oatmeal and a Keurig in the lounge area of the B&B, where we have breakfast before embarking. On the way back to the trailhead are a couple of sight-seeing items, George Washington’s ‘Headquarters’ and the ‘first national road’ among them.

Immediately after leaving town we realize we’re struggling. It’s almost noon on a 90-degree day, and for all his planning Marty failed to recognize that today, not yesterday, would be the biggest elevation increase of the whole trip. With no protection from the sun and gravel covering the long, slow incline, our pace has slowed to 6 or 7 miles per hour. Making matters worse are the omnipresent cicadas, with their kamikaze flight paths and deafening mating calls. Becca even puts in her custom earplugs to “take the edge off.” We take frequent breaks and eventually make it to Frostburg, MD where we run into Kinton again. We decide not to go into town here (as it would require going up yet ANOTHER huge hill) but to fuel up on snacks and hold out for the next town for a proper meal.

After continuing through some cool tunnels and crossing the Mason-Dixon Line into Pennsylvania, eventually the continental divide. From here it’s all downhill to Pittsburgh! The miles pass more quickly and easily now. We know the town where we’re staying tonight is tiny and closes early, we get our fill of hoagies, ice cream, and fresh water in the lovely hamlet of Meyersdale.

We put on their headphones (podcasts for Becca, Zeppelin for Marty) and bike the final 12 miles like it’s nothing. Our bed and breakfast in Rockwood, PA is literally on the trail. We’re thankful to not have to ‘commute’ into town and get busy settling in, doing some laundry by hand, and calling it an early night. Tomorrow portends thunder showers in the afternoon again, so we plan to get as early a start as we can.

To cumberland

The innkeeper in Hancock, Joe, is incredible kind and helpful. He makes us a breakfast that rivals yesterday’s as we meet another couple from Danbury, CT riding the opposite direction on the C&O. Joe helps us retrieve our bikes from the shed (where there is a floor pump), and sends us on our way.

As usual, we set a good pace in the morning. Today’s 60 miles are a slow, steady incline and present slightly more rugged terrain than before. Marty falls once, passing Becca in the wipe-out tally. With the increased humidity we stop more frequently than our previous plan, trying to drink more water and ‘graze’ instead of stopping for longer meal breaks. We see our friend Kinton, who has camped outdoors for the night and is off to a slower start. A stranger at another campsite volunteers to take our photo. We must look like we’re in love or something.

Getting to our midway point for the day proves to be a demoralizing challenge. Construction near the Paw Paw Tunnel forces us to hike (with bikes in tow) for an hour up and down extremely steep, rocky hills. Feeling like Sisyphus, we push on until the trail emerges again. Paw Paw, WV is just across the river. We know it’s not much of a town, but it’s raining and we’re running low on snacks. Spaghetti and grilled cheese await us at a decrepit but homely family restaurant. This, along with a stop at the Dollar General and clearing skies, motivates us to continue.

[The GoPro and iPad are not cooperating this morning, so time lapse video of our treacherous hike in the rain will be forthcoming!]

For now here is the view from the top of the hike, the Paw Paw tunnel that we were denied the chance to ride, and the historical plaque about the history of the town.

Fewer and fewer bikers and hikers cross our path, and no real towns exist between Paw Paw and Cumberland. For almost 30 more miles Becca rides in front, choosing which mud puddles to plow through and which ones to avoid, warning Marty of large roots or uneven ground, and timing our breaks. Wildlife, however, is appearing more frequently. More turtles, rabbits, deer, geese, beavers, another snake, and a BLACK BEAR on the path help to keep us alert.

Pulling into Cumberland, we start to feel a sense of accomplishment: three straight days of 60+ miles! The C&O Towpath, overall, is highly recommended. We rarely have to worry about taking a wrong turn or losing the trail, camp sites with portable toilets and well water appear every 5-10 miles, and the trail is mostly very well maintained. We can count on one hand the total number of pieces of garbage over the past three days. We find our bed and breakfast, lock up the bikes, and look for a place to grab a late bite only to find that most are either closed for the night, only serve meat, or have been co-opted by an angry, loud local band. We settle on a crowded, understaffed pizza pub that oozes ‘townie’ charm. It reminds us of some places back home! Beer and carbs fill our stomachs and lift our spirits but we are as exhausted as ever. Marty in particular is running on fumes (only a few hours of sleep the night before), and Becca is the first to recognize that this was the most physically challenging day so far.

To hancock

We wake up with our alarm, feeling groggy but that’s a sign of having had efficient (if not sufficient) sleep. After staging our bags and making some coffee in our suite, we head downstairs for 9am breakfast cooked by Megan, the innkeeper and chef. This breakfast is, in a word, outstanding. We meet some hikers who are traveling part of the Appalachian Trail, which intersects with the C&O Towpath in Harper’s Ferry.

Before leaving town, Becca decides to stop at the Post Office to ship a couple small items home to save space and weight. We read some 100-year-old-looking signs about the area’s Civil War-era history before descending the spiral staircase leading to the bridge out of town. On the other side of the bridge another group (headed the opposite direction, to DC) comments on our Anthony Fauci mascot. The leader of the group makes mention of his ‘wack-job conservative brother,” who is standing right there. Maybe the brother cursed our mascot because moments later we hit a particularly big bump and he fell overboard! An anonymous hiker shepherded him safely off the trail until we could backtrack and retrieve him.

A paved waterfront section of the path presents a narrower passage and denser traffic, slowing us down for a few miles. We got a late start and are already hoping for a ‘second wind.’ We meet the Metal Pigs again; they just finished going for a swim in the Potomac. Were they skinny dipping…? It’s a 40-mile grind to our scheduled lunch destination: a depressed town where the restaurants can’t afford to serve a lemon slice with their water but that has a strong social fabric. We scarf down an entire large pizza and let the cheesy carbohydrates re-energize us for the second half of the day.

Eventually mile marker 100 appears, an encouraging if merely symbolic milestone. Some podcasts and video game soundtracks propel us forward, and we devise a resting schedule for the days to come that mirrors Actors’ Equity guidelines: a 5-minute break every 55 minutes. We meet another rider, David, who embarked from Georgetown around the same time we did. No sooner had he dropped his son off in DC after riding together from Pittsburgh did he turn right back around and set out for Pittsburgh again, alone. He highlights some do’s and dont’s that should make planning and sight-seeing easier during the second half of our journey.

Becca leads a strong final push to Hancock, MD, listening and obnoxiously singing along to the cast album of In the Heights. We finally arrive in Hancock right as Act One concludes! Right off the trail is our next bed and breakfast, managed by the most professional and inviting proprietor you can imagine. Joe shows us to our room, takes our bikes to be locked in his shed, and recommends that we cross the street to grab a bite and a brew at Buddylou’s, a legendary local restaurant that is going to close if we don't hurry and get over there! Walking back from dinner we recognize yet another rider who left DC with us, Kinton. Unlike us, this young man embarked for Pittsburgh in the spur of the moment, staying at campgrounds without setting any plans in stone. We expect to see him again, but potential thunderstorms threaten to delay anyone bound for Cumberland, MD tomorrow.

To harper’s ferry

We wake up before our 6:30am alarm, scarf down some enormous muffins, and find ourselves at Mile 0, the Georgetown trailhead that begins our journey. A familiar face greets us at Lock 1: “Hey, remember me from the elevator?!” He’s a portly, bearded man who was on our Amtrak yesterday with his heavily loaded-down bike, and who we will come to learn is in a gang of bros called The Metal Pigs. They are known to hang out, drink beer, and seem to bike a hell of a lot. We learn that afternoon that they are all biking to Cumberland, MD, and basically all they brought in their bags is socks, hammocks, and beers!

The first morning on the trail is exciting! And a challenge with all of our bags (full of clothes and an iPad, not beer) in tow. But we’ve got plans tonight to redistribute the weight, which should help immensely. About an hour in we got a chance to check out Great Falls, VA. Gorgeous scenic overlook of the whitewater! We also run into another Metal Pigs member, who compliments our Dr. Fauci doll that is sticking out of Marty’s rack bag. It is stagehand tradition to bring a mascot when going on tour, so we figured it was appropriate here, and could think of no better choice after this year we’ve all had!

We keep leap-frogging with the Metal Pigs for a few hours and they’re cheering us on at each rest stop. They stop every 10 miles to share a brew and keep inviting us to join, which we decline because we’re worried about losing too much time. After we run into them again on our stop at White’s Falls, MD, they tell us about a great brewery in a little town outside of Harper’s Ferry where they’ll be spending Happy Hour, and can they please buy us a pint there? We finally acquiesce, and this gives us something to look forward to for our afternoon of riding.

It’s the same terrain and scenery for most of the 62 miles: a winding gravel path between the Potomac River and the canal locks that were bought by the C&O Railroad in 1890. We hear the buzzing drone of cicadas and see squirrels, turtles, a deer or two, a giant heron, and were told there was a copperhead lurking in the grass somewhere around mile 25 but didn’t risk hunting him down for a photo-op.

We get to the small town of Brunswick, MD to find that a unique cafe (built in a church) had just closed for the day. But sure enough, at 5pm there’s a line out the door for happy hour at Smoketown Brewing, and our friends the Metal Pigs arrive just in time! They are such great company for us and such great friends with each other that the combination of socializing, a beer flight, and a giant pretzel give us the energy to ride the remaining handful of miles to our destination.

When we arrive at the bridge to Harper’s Ferry, WV, Becca convinces two Uruguayan youths to watch our bikes as we team up to schlep them up a long flight of spiral stairs. The quaint, historic town is a sight to behold, but the final mile to our hotel was the steepest incline we’ve seen thus far. “You mean you’re walking your bikes instead of riding up the hill?” a townsperson asks. We give him the finger (not really; everyone we’ve met has been exceedingly kind). Another guy notices our mascot and says “Is that Anthony Fauci?” Marty keeps thinking we might be in anti-vax territory and the doll will start a fight, but he keeps being proven wrong. We eat a fantastic vegan dinner at a local restaurant next to our historic hotel, build over 200 years ago. Marty submits a homework assignment. We are too tired to do anything else.

To DC

The cat’s dropped off at the sitter, the mail is stopped for the next 10 days, and it’s time to board the Amtrak to our nation’s capital to begin our trek. We stow our bikes with some difficulty, keeping a watchful eye on the two-wheeled machines that will carry us 330 miles to PIttsburgh. “Nobody wants your bike,” a caricature of a born-and-bred Baltimorean insists. “That what we used to think,” we say to ourselves.

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at New Haven Union Station

Fighting traffic at DC Union Station

Becca navigates us across the national mall to our tiny hotel room in charming, gentrified Georgetown. We unpack, repack, and meet Becca’s friend William for tacos before taking a long walk around downtown as the sun sets. William, a DC native, offers some genuinely interesting insight for us tourists. We see where the January 6th insurrection happened and Black Lives Matter Plaza, where protesters of George Floyd’s murder were pepper sprayed last summer.

Nothing left to do but get some rest. Unfortunately I have that “too excited to sleep” feeling and the yuppies are still noisily dining 3 feet outside our ground floor window…

WE LEAVE IN TWO DAYS!

It’s been a stressful year for a lot of people, and the Stoll-Wirt family was no exception! But after making it this far, we are determined not to let anything ruin this much needed vacation. Not even the horrible discovery on Saturday that Becca’s beloved bike, Marina, had been cut from its lock chain and stolen. On that front we are in the process of getting the serial number from the shop where it was purchased so that we can file a police report and see if we can get a reimbursement from our Renters Insurance. But it’s a real bummer to say the least.

The last two weeks, on top of working nonstop, we have been finalizing our itinerary, packing, and shopping for last-minute supples (including of course an unanticipated purchase of a new bike for Becca). We are so grateful to those of you who contributed to the honeymoon fund on Wanderable (and to the amazing community at Ledyard Congregational Church who pooled in money on their own for us), it meant that we didn’t have to freak out about how we were going to pay for the newest member of our cycling family, Rosalita! Rest assured, we are keeping both bikes INSIDE the apartment until we leave, even if it means having to navigate around them to get to stuff.

Can’t wait till Wednesday morning when we finally board the train to DC! Until then, send us your questions, biking advice, or recommendations of places we should stop along the way!