Reply to Bike Rental and Shuttle Service

We are planning a ride on the GAP in May. We will be flying to Maryland from Oregon and will need to rent bikes. We would like to rent bikes in Cumberland and then hire a shuttle to take us to Pittsburgh to start our ride from there the next day. I was wondering if someone has experience renting in Cumberland and/or used a shuttle from there and could give a review. We are both experienced riders, but have not done multi-day rides. We will bring our seats, but want to be sure we have good bikes.

Where are you flying into in Maryland? If near D.C. it might be easier just to take the Amtrak to Pittsburgh and rent a bike there.

From your post it seems you are only riding the Gap and not C&O, correct? If so you could use the Cumberland Connection Bike Shop right there in Cumberland and their shuttle service. They quoted me $260 for 2 riders/bikes/gear and $25 each additional rider from Cumberland to Pittsburg.
Another option would be Amtrak. 2 passengers/2 bikes appx. $98 reserved coach. Only problem is one train per day and you leave Cumberland at 7:30pm and arrive in Pittsburg close to 12am. I live in Va. so I've never had to rent a bike but most shops do rent and the bikes are usually good quality. If and when you rent be sure that they understand your riding 3-4 days and want a bike that will provide comfort and be dependable for the intended use. There are several bike shops in Pittsburg also but I'm not sure how far away from the Gap they are located. My wife had to use a rental bike once. It was an okay bike. It fit her and had a rear rack for her panniers but...it wasn't her bike and although she had fun she just didn't enjoy using another bike/brand. Her's is a Trek Mamba 29'er with disc brakes,and 2" tires. The one she used was a 26" with 1.5" tires. Just not the same bike. Hope this helps. If you need more info please feel free to contact me 757 619-5522 athiker80@cox.net.

One additional comment. If you did use the Amtrak Roll On Bike Service you'd want to make a reservation early. They only have room for 6-8 bikes in the storage area. The Cumberland Station is on Harrison St. Maybe 5-6 blocks from the trail head.

Another option would be a one-way car rental. This worked best for us back in October 2015, Pittsburgh to Cumberland. Rented from Enterprise, they will meet you. Actually got two bikes and gear in the back of a VW Beetle!