The G.A.P. and The C&O Towpath - Long Bike Trips

[1990C4S]

I just did them. Anyone else here done the entire route?

All told 335 miles, Pittsburgh to Washington DC, virtually all gravel/paved paths, almost no roads.

It's a challenge, depending on how many days you take and the weather you encounter.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Cool! (or... hopefully it was cool )
I've done Harper's ferry to DC and back.
I'd love to do the whole thing, but logistics seems to need to be thought out.
How did you break up the trip? Where'd you stay?

[Seahawk]

When the kids were little we biked sections of the C&O all the time...no overnights.

It is a really neat thing to do.

[1990C4S]

We broke it into nine days. Average 40 miles per day, but some days were in the 20's, last day was over 60 miles, including getting to the hotel.

There are some very tough (at my age) hills (i.e. south bound into Cumberland) and some REALLY steep hills getting to hotels. Williamsport is like San Francisco...who knew?

Paw Paw, and the Paw Paw tunnel were great (in a down to earth kind of way), and the Levi Mansion is really something worth seeing.

We went a few weeks ago, great weather, aside from one day of rain (uphill into Cumberland).

It is amazing how close to big cities you are, but how undisturbed the settings are.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Good to see Paw Paw tunnel is open again. Last I checked there was a big walk around.

Climbing out of Harpers ferry to that hotel must have been fun .

It's amazing to ride through the woods into DC and suddenly be at the capital. Hopefully great falls was not too crowded.

I'd like to check out the bike museum in Pittsburg if I ever go.

[1990C4S]

I honestly thought I might be hallucinating when I first saw the hill...'that can't be real'...

[rwest]

What kind of bike did you ride? Could a person use a road bike or was the gravel too loose?

Sounds like a great trip!

[MMARSH]

That looks like a great trip. Wasn't familiar with it.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by rwest

What kind of bike did you ride? Could a person use a road bike or was the gravel too loose?

Sounds like a great trip!

There are lots of types of riders, but primarily it is either 'older' people on electric bikes (some glorified motorcycles, some pedal assist), hard core riders whizzing by on race bikes, and day trippers on mountain bikes.

We had cheap mountain bikes, the majority of MB riders we saw were hard core carbon fiber bike riders.

I got by on my 21 speed MB, my partner struggled with a 5-speed cruiser, but she did it every inch of the route.

There is some loose gravel, some big puddles on wet days, some REALLY bumpy sections, but 95% really good trails.

Bottom line: any bike can do the trial end to end. It's more about endurance than the bike.