September 10, 2013

Pittsburgh to DC Bike trip in a massive nut shell

If you have been following me on Facebook, it's possible you are sick of hearing about this. Alas, I need to do an "official blog post" about it! My husband and I have been planning and training for about a year for this! When we first started riding our bikes more often, 20 miles felt like SO FAR. When Travis mentioned that he wanted to ride his bike from Pittsburgh to DC Labor Day 2013, I thought that was a crazy idea. I mean...I knew I could do it if I trained, but it just seemed like a little much. LOL! But yea, Travis and I have this problem with goals. If we get one, we usually make it happen.

So after many weekend rides and lots of preparations...we were ready and on our way!    Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013
We left Pittsburgh September 1st. We originally planned on leaving from Point State Park, but silly Siri couldn't get us there (I decided that everything that goes wrong on our phone is Siri's fault). We just decided to start at Station Square instead. It would be easier for us to park and Dustin to drive home after we unloaded anyway.

Day 1: Pittsburgh, PA to Connellsville, PA - 60 miles.

The day over all was very easy. Right before we came into Connellsville, Travis broke a spoke. Thank goodness we caught Bikes Unlimited still open! They stayed late just to fix his bike. We were so thankful!

Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013

Day 2: Connellsville, PA to Frostburg, MD - 76 miles.
The second day was tough. The elevation hike was a little harder, and we also had two flats. It was also the hottest day of our ride. Other than that, the trail was great! If you ever get a chance to ride the Great Allegheny Passage...do it!
Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013

Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013
Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013
When we finally got to Frostburg we were flippin TIRED. To our dismay, Frostburg is a city on a mountain. Before we got to our B&B, we had to climb this switchback.
frostburg switchback
Then to get to the rest of the town for dinner, we had to climb this:
Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip
Needless to say, our legs weren't working so well at the end of the day. LOL!

Day 3: Frostburg, MD to Hancock, MD - 76 miles.
Ah!!! Down hill for 15 miles. Exactly what we needed after a hard first two days. Not to mention it was beautiful! We did end up having one flat...no biggie. 
Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013 A little view from our ride today!
Cumberland is where the Great Allegheny Passage ends and the C&O Canal Towpath begins.
Almost half way there!
Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013
The C&O Canal Towpath was really interesting. I didn't know anything about the canal until our ride!

My body was ready.
Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip
Tons of old locks and misc ruins along the way.
Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013 Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013

Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013
This tunnel was SUPER CREEPY. It was really really long, wet, deep and dark. The floor was really uneven so you had to walk your bike through. I did not like it one bit! :p

Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013
Poor Travis. He got really good at changing inner tubes!

Day 4: Hancock, MD to Harpers Ferry, WV - 64 Miles
This was the first "uneventful day". Lots of pretty stuff again. Long long trails in the woods. That's about it! 
Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013 Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013
Harpers Ferry was a pretty cool place. Lots of history and nice scenery.
Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013 Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013 Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013
My only complaint was...everything was closed in the evening! We were lucky to find one place to eat.
All we wanted was dinner and a beer. . . God Bless Secret Six Tavern!Ah! One one place open to eat around here @ harpers ferry. Whew!

Day 5: Harpers Ferry, WV to Washington DC to home in Alexandria, VA -  74 miles

WOOHOO! Last day! This day was really pleasant.
Probably because we knew that there wasn't much more. 

Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013 
Found this awesome tree! You know this one will show up in a painting sooner or later! 
Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013 Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013 Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013 
Finally made it to mile marker ZERO! The bike trail didn't exactly lead up to it. Some nice trail patrol guy named "Norman" gave us a paper with directions on how to find it. Kind of tricky!  Right before we got to Mile -0- Travis broke his bike again. Poor guy! We were riding and I suddenly heard a loud sound and saw a puff of dust coming off of his back tire. We originally thought he broke another spoke, but it was the metal part that the spoke attaches onto at the hub. HA! He wobbled all the way home. 
Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013 
Heck yes. Notice awkward photobomb in the back.
A couple peacefully basking in the shade, gazing into each others eyes. Pittsburgh to DC Bike Trip 2013 
About 10 more miles...and we're home!! WOOHOOOO!
It was quite anticlimactic. We rolled into the parking lot, took a selfie and put our bikes in the basement. 
Wahooooweeee! We made it! Pittsburgh to DC to home!

It was definitely an amazing adventure I will never forget. We were blown away by the perfect weather too! The first two days were supposed to have rain, but we managed to miss it all. While we were riding, we decided to make a goal...bike tour in New Zealand! Well, we'll see. That's wayyyy in the future. But we will do it. Oh yes we will.