Day 48 Poolesville, MD to Washington, DC

Day 47 Gettysburg to Poolesville

Leaving Gettysburg was harder than most of the towns we have spent our rest days in. Beyond the tourist and historical spots to be seen, the town itself was a very pleasant place to be. Early on we discovered The Ragged Edge, a coffee, pastry, sandwich shop. John and I stopped by there for breakfast and I fell in love. Great food and brew and an awesome atmosphere. Later in the day I returned to have lunch while John had lunch in a nearby brew pub. I caught up on a couple blog entries and chatted with other patrons. It was a great way to while-away the afternoon. Later I explored the town and found a new purse and some earrings. Just as the day was about to wined (wind?) down, Jessica called to see if I was interested in going to a movie. Buck, a Cannes film festival winner, was playing at the local theater. It is a documentary about the real horse whisper. It was will worth the time.I give it two thumbs up.

Our lunch spread.

We began the day welcoming back Glen, Caitlin's father, to the ride, and singing Happy Birthday to Caitlin. Today she turns 18, a memorable day for most people, made even more memorable by her father's visit and the closeness of Washington DC. Caitlin's mother sent real New York bagels, so our breakfast was much better than the norm. After our briefing on the day's route, John and I took off. We had planned to stop at The Ragged Edge on our way out of town since we had a mere 63 miles to go that day, but changed our mind and got on the road. It turned out to be a good decision, since 5 or so miles into the ride, we got a flat. If we had stopped for coffee and a flat, we would have been at least an hour behind the group. Not a tragedy, but also not a great way to start the day. On top of the flat, there was a reroute due to construction. It ended up adding 8 or so miles, turning the day into a 69 mile day.

We made it to Maryland!

Our day ended in Poolesville MD and a dinner celebration at Bassett's Fine Food and Spirits. Bridgett was back with us and sprang for the dinner :) Free food is good food! On a typical day we will burn almost 5,000 calories, so as  usual, we all ate like there was no tomorrow. It is going to be a challenge to go back to eating normal amounts of food upon our return! Bridgett handed out certificates of accomplishment. I cannot believe tomorrow is the end. I a looking forward to seeing my family but it will be hard to say good- bye to all our friends.

Day 46, Gettysburg rest day

What can I say about Gettysburg? If you can possible come here to experience the history of the battle, you should. This was a big battle. More Americans were killed and maimed during this three day battle than in any other battle in the Americas. It proved to be the turning point of the war; never again would Lee's army attempt to invade the north.

If you are interested, go to the library and get Bruce Catton's Glory Road, and read the section on Gettysburg. Heck, go read the whole three volume series. The DVD of Tom Berenger's four hour film, "Gettysburg," is available for less than $6 on Amazon. Of course, Ken Burns' Civil War DVD series is a wonder in itself.

As to the mundane matters of existence, we once again did laundry, but this time only two jerseys and shorts each. We only have two more days to ride.

I am anxious for the ride to be over, while at the same time I want it to never end. There are 28 people with whom I have shared these last seven weeks, many of them I may never see again. There is a real feeling of loss here. What will life be without Eric passing us like we are standing still in the last few miles of each day? How will I know of Jessica's son, Joseph's, latest accomplishment? Kate B won't be looking for morning coffee; Kate M won't be looking for IPA's. Noel won't be singing. James won't be in Subway. I could go on, but you get the idea.

We have 62 miles to ride to Poolesville tomorrow and our last new state. Or, I guess we could head back the way we came. A street sign in Gettysburg, PA points the way.

Day 45, Bedford to Gettysburg, PA

Well, here we are. The cue sheet reads, "Huge day on the bike. This is the "final exam." The first 40 miles features several big climbs and treacherous descents..." Joy. Oh, it's raining for most of the day as well.

Cindy, who is driving the route in support of her husband, Noel, loves to quilt. I think she may have missed this shop in Bedford.

Margaret and I talked a lot about how we would handle today's ride. We decided to discard any timetables but our own, and ride today the way it felt right to us. That meant we would not push on the early hills, but rather spin up them. No reason to expend all our energy in the first half of the day. Once through the worst of the climbing, we would re-evaluate how we were feeling.

Our day went very well. There was some very stiff climbing, and some sections of very busy and confusing traffic. We actually went through the middle of Breezewood, PA on route 30! The picture on the left is on the climb after leaving Breezewood. We also went through some beautiful Pennsylvania farm land. We took pictures when it wasn't raining too hard.

Lunch was at 52 miles and after that the hills flattened out a bit, and we were able to pick up some speed. The last 20 miles or so into Gettysburg were mostly down hill. All in all, today's ride was not as tough for us as the previous day's was. We had a great time today.

If this was indeed a final exam, I'd say we passed with top grades.

Rest day tomorrow, then two more days of riding until we reach DC.

Day 44, Confluence to Bedford, PA

Today was to be our second day climbing in the Pennsylvanian Appalachians, but we started with 31 miles on the rail trail. While it was a steady 2% grade, it was beautiful, peaceful, and traffic free. There was an option to avoid the trail entirely, and instead spend the first 30 or so miles climbing up to the highest peak in western PA. If you know us and our tandem, you know which option we chose.














We were planning to have a second breakfast in Meyersdale where we exited the trail. While on the trail, we passed a blue heron who also was looking for breakfast.








Once off the trail, the climbing began in earnest. This was a very tough day for us. Part of our difficulty was that we did not want to hold up our support crew by lagging behind. The other difficulty was that we climb very slowly; we get up the hills, but at our own pace. I have become accustomed to seeing the speedometer reading between 3.6 and 3.9 mph while we work our way up 9% hills that are half a mile long and longer. We have not walked a single inch of any hill on this ride, and intend not to do so.


Our cue sheet warned of a big climb (what the heck were we doing up 'til then?!) at the end of the day before a "huge descent" into camp. We were also warned that the descent would be steep and have many sharp curves. We were advised to, "Control speed, feather brakes and cool rims if necessary."



At 66.3 miles, we passed the Bald Knob summit sign. What a wonderful, 6 mile, 8 to 9% descent! I have to take a moment to thank Nate at Village Bike in Jenison, who installed our 203 mm disk brakes. They have worked flawlessly going over and descending the Cascades, the Continental Divide, and now in the Appalachians. Controlling a 400+ pound bike on long, steep grades is not easy. These brakes were absolutely wonderful.



Margaret got a picture near the top of the descent.

We arrived in Friendship Village Campground tired but not the last ones in. Tomorrow is billed as the toughest day of the ride, the "final exam." We go 102 miles from Bedford into Gettysburg, with the toughest climbing of the ride.

Day 43 Washington, PA to Confluence PA

Mingo park covered bridge.

 Leaving Washington PA we expected big hills; we're entering the Appalachian  mountains after all. Our expectations were met and then some. The steepest one was 17%! Many were long and steep, but we made it up them all; no walking the bike for us. About 20 miles in we went through Mingo Creek County Park. It was gorgeous, but we had to rejoin the real world and
                                                                                       returned to Route 136.

Sculpture at our lunch stop.

YRT passage.

After toiling through the roads of PA, we were thrilled to enter the Youghiogheny River Trail (YRT) (try saying that 3 times fast!) It is part of the Great Allegheny Passage, a non-motorized  multi-use trail. The surface is crushed limestone which is fine for the tandem's wide tires, but I wondered how my skinny tired brethren were doing. It turns out, they did just fine.  

On one side of the passage is the  Youghiogheny (pronunciation???) river. On the other, trees seem to grow out straight from the hillside which rises 50 or 60 feet high. It is hard to describe. I took scads of pictures and none did it justice. In places the forest grew so thick the trees blotted out the sun. Huge boulders jutted from the soil, defying gravity. Cliffs rose up sometimes right next to the trail and others beyond large stands of trees. The trail itself ranged from a wide well worn path to a two track trail. I guess it just depended upon use. One element that surprised John and I was the lack of amenities... like water. The cities were few and far between. For city dwellers like John and I, it is hard to remember that there are such remote places left in America.  The YRT is a rail-trail, which means it cannot exceed a 2% grade :). It was built on the bed of an old railway. In some spots the trail widens and then narrows. John and I wonder if that is a legacy of the the railway having two tracks in some places and single lines in others.

Just when you think you are out of touch....

At lunch we were treated to a meal by a Big Ride alumni, Fred Husak. He provided a huge spread for us: subway sandwiches, chips, fruit, cookies and drinks. It was located in a park that is in the path of the trail. John and I lingered over lunch enjoying the company of Fred and his family. We had just 30 miles of trail to go.

Our climb (and fall) for the day.

Caution: rocks may fall

After lunch, the trail became more of a two track and yet we began to pass more housing. Sometimes it was rows of homes and others were single dwellings on big pieces of land. After crossing a bridge we came across Ohiophyle, a city on the trial. It is on the river and had all the tourest shops one might look for. I found myself explaining to a local, that we had started our journey in Seattle, Washington, had ridden that day from Washington, PA and were on our way to Washington DC! Quite a coincidence. As usual, they were surprised we had ridden all that way on a bike...but then again so are John and I.

Later, at the campgrounds, I spent thirty or so minutes sitting waist deep in the Youghiogheny. I was right outside of where it is damned and the water that feeds it comes from deep below the surface of a lake. The water was cold. It felt good to sit on a boulder in the water and enjoy all the sounds of nature around me.

Day 42 New Waterford OH to Washington PA

Dawn in New Waterford.

This was our first day in the central time zone, so morning seemed to come early. Getting up "early" was not a big deal. I never want to get up, so no change there, but it was dark. It is amazing the difference light makes. I should be used to it living in Michigan, but it still came as a surprise. As we ate breakfast, the sun peeked through the trees... another beautiful day on the road.

The long and winding climb.

As we approached Pennsylvania, the terrain began to roll. Pennsylvania has a lot of up and down but not much flat. We were told that we would know we were in PA once the road changed. Sliding down a hill, suddenly the road was filled with ruts and cracks. PA must have the same road repair ethic as Michigan. With that said, we had to weave our way through construction on and off all day. The drivers were surprisingly patient as we held them up, slowly pedaling through the alternating lane changes.

Shortly after entering PA we passed a nuclear power plant that we had been able to see since Ohio.  I've never seen one up close, and the towers looked huge. The smoke coming out is actually steam. It takes a lot of water to keep the towers cool, something the Japanese knows all to well unfortunately.

PA nuclear power plant.

High fog in Ohio as we start our day.

That night we stayed at Whispering Pine Family Campground. It had a nice pool that I took advantage of. It was in much better shape than yesterdays digs where less than desirable.