Reply to GAP/ C&O bike trip.

My wife and I are both 67 yrs old. We started our trip from Pittsburgh on the GAP and finished on the C&O in DC. Oct. 2-13 totaling 360 miles, doing approx 30 miles a day staying in hotels/ b&b’s all the way.

The GAP trail conditions were great even after it rained on the trail a couple of nights. No sections of this trail were closed.

On the trail we gathered info on the C&O trail about all the detours and closures from other bikers and National Parks Website. The riders provided the best info and most updated info.

At Williamsport we chose to get off the trail cause of all the bad reports of mud, downed trees, washed out trail. We road hwy 63 to hwy 65 and toured Antietam National Battlefied. These hwys were very suitable to ride and ended the day in Shepherstown.
The next day we paid for the shuttle at Brunswick. Don’t ride this detour route. Too many blind corners, fast road with no shoulders, STEEP HILLY GRADES, and no pit stops available to the cyclist. We were dropped off at point of Rocks and continued our ride on the trail with only minimal and very doable detours.

Equipment: mountain bikes, waterproof panniers, handle bar packs.

Oct 13-15 in DC and then home.
Had a great time.

Such an absolute pleasure for me to read about your wonderful trip. You have added to my enthusiasm for this journey, and I can't wait to go in May. Thank you for sharing your story. And I am pretty impressed you did it on mountain bikes!

We are also in our 60s and planning a trip in May. Would love to hear more about your trip and where you would recommend staying, etc.

Our bike trips over the years have included multi-surfaced roads and trails, therefore the mountain bikes. We have both mt bike tires and road slicks mounted on their own wheels with the same gear setups. No flats or mechanical problems. The front shocks offer comfort to the neck and shoulders thru long days on the different surfaces we encounter. Therefore we enjoy the time in the saddle rather than just endure a long hard ride. We "TOUR" rather than race from point to point. We stop often to see what you cannot see from a fast pace. This trip was a tour thru History: the steel industry, coal mining, the canal with the lock houses and the time to rescue several turtles and a praying mantis from the trail. We stopped to read the historical trail markers that took us back to another time in history. Hope you all have the time to enjoy this great trail system.

We used the Official Trail Guide Book and map to determine our mileage stops and hotels.

Because of the time of year we went and the very wet year that this area had, hotels were better than camping. Campsites looked in pretty ruff shape. High humidity in between Storm Florence and Michaels produced maneating mosquitos. Even when the tornado warnings came across our phones, we knew that this was part of the adventure of bike touring.

Enjoy your trip.