Cumberland, MD.

We had a pretty hard day planned so we both got up around 5:30. We had 22 miles left of the C&O Canal before reaching Cumberland MD. Then we had wanted to do around 28 miles of the GAP (Great Alleghany Passage). I made coffee for us and started packing up. Our peaceful breakfast was interrupted by lots of thunder in the distance. The threat of imminent rain really makes packing up go a lot faster. HaHa. Thankfuly we got everything packed just as the first few drops fell. We gulped the rest of our coffee and finished of the rest of the snickerdoodle cookies then pushed our bikes up the hill to the trail. With Roger Miller singing River In The Rain, we started pedaling toward Cumberland. For some reason anytime I hear that song I always think of the Potomac River. Also anytime I’m along the Potomac and it’s raining, I always play it. Today was no exception. Rose has a small bluetooth speaker on her bike that our phones connect to. We usually ride beside each other and it is loud enough we can both hear it. We don’t usually ride with music, but some situations just call for it. Being able to play any song that you can think of is one great benefit of having a cell phone.

I don’t mind riding in the rain. When it’s warm I don’t even use rain gear. But depending on the part of the canal, it can get really muddy. We were on what I think is about the worst section for mud. Our tires are Schwalbe Marathon touring tire. They are excellent tires for almost any road condition exept mud. We had a few close calls but neither one of us wrecked.

Even though neither one of us fell off our bikes in the mud,we still got plenty of it on us.

Despite the mud, we made it into Cumberland without incident.

We were soaked and muddy by the time we got into Cumberland around 1 pm. That was almost 3 hours later then we had planned. The deep mud had made the going tough and slow. There is a Fairfield Inn literally right on the path. A hot shower and a roof sounded really good. Storms were predicted for most of the night. After a quick discussion we decided to check in. We had one hotel night budgeted. I hated to use it so early in our trip but I am happy we did. The Hotel was very cyclist friendly, there was a bike stand with tools for repairs, they even had a bike washing station and offered us rags to clean them with. I guess that makes sense since all us cyclist take our bikes into the room with us.

There is a great bike shop that we stopped in to buy fuel for our stoves. We aren’t out yet but I like my food too much to risk it! Right next door to the bike shop is an excellent resturant I have eaten at several times. The Crabby Pig. We could smell the food when we got back to our bikes. The smell of burgers and fries had my stomach rumbling. Our plan had been to cook lunch in park but the food smelled so good we headed there instead. The cheeseburger with BBQ pulled pork on top was delicious!

When we leave Cumberland , it’s 22 miles up hill to the top of Big Savage Mountain. A good night’s sleep will be great!