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Anonymous from Wolfeboro, NH on 3/8/2021 11:52:09 AM:
My husband and I are hoping to ride the GAP and C&O this spring. What kind of tires (size) do you recommend with the dirt surface? Thank you for any advice.
 
John W. from Pittsburgh, PA on 3/8/2021 1:14:11 PM:
If you ever ridden a crushed limestone rail trail, pretty much any tire will work maybe perhaps not those super skinny racing tires. The GAP is all rail trail and is 80% crushed limestone and 20% paved asphalt. The C&O is part mule path dirt and part crushed limestone.

Of course no one can account for rain, the C&O can get quite muddy even a day or two after rain.
 
Rivnuts from Homestead, PA on 3/8/2021 7:29:19 PM:
Just to follow John W’s remarks and specific to your question, you can ride the GAP in 28mm road or hybrid tires in all but the worst of weather, albeit wider is always generally more comfortable. As John notes, the C&O Towpath is a mixed bag of surfaces and conditions and vulnerability to rain. If you plan to ride the entire length, in all but the driest of weather, I’d recommend a minimum 32mm tires and maybe even 35’s. Knobby tires would be good except, perhaps, on the paved WMRT if you choose to ride it, where road tires would be sufficient. In the worst sections under the worst of conditions, a fat bike would be much appreciated. :-)

Fortunately, recent resurfacing of the C&O between Shepherdstown and Edward’s Ferry has improved a significant portion of the C&O.
 
Bill in Houston from Houston on 3/17/2021 1:03:05 PM:
Not to be a wet blanket, and I would never contradict Rivnuts, but we rode the part of the C&O just outside of Cumberland a few days after a rain, and it was still a mud bog in places. The day after a rain, it would have been nearly nonstop soupy mud. I don't know what tires you personally would choose for that.

GAP is rideable on any hybrid or mountain bike, as it is nearly entirely really nice gravel.
 
Rivnuts from Homestead, PA on 3/17/2021 7:56:53 PM:
There's no contradiction with Bill from Houston whatsoever. AAs Bill notes the worst part of the C&O in wet weather in my opinion is from Cumberland to Spring Gap and even on to Little Orleans. As I mentioned, under wet conditions a fat bike would be the biker's best friend.

Given the sewer construction on the GAP between Port Vue and Buena Vista, we'll have to see if the trail restoration work returns the surface to its preconstruction condition which was quite good.

I rode the section of the trail from Boston to Greenock (Twele Road) this afternoon. The good news is that the trail itself was not excavated for the sewer as the sewer runs along side the trail and not in it. The bad news is that the trail has been used for construction traffic and, as noted by others, it is rough as a cob. Hopefully the trail surface is leveled and returned to its original condition or better.
 
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