Biking the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal from Pittsburgh to DC has been on our biking bucket list for a few years. At the end of October, after we said our goodbyes to our DC co-workers, we made it happen. We had incredible weather - highs in the 60s most days, only one morning of rain - and blissfully no issues along the way.
Overview
To get to Pittsburgh, we rented a cargo van and drove straight to a friend's house to spend the night. In the morning, we returned the van, got the bikes loaded up, and biked through downtown Pittsburgh to the beginning of the Great Allegheny Passage trail in Point State Park, (complete with giant fountain and sports stadiums in the background. Mile 0 of the C&O Canal in Georgetown is considerably less grand; just a post hidden behind a boat house).
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| Left: Setting out from Pittsburgh on Sunday morning Right: Arriving back in DC on Saturday afternoon |
We averaged ~50 miles of riding per day; in PA on the Great Allegheny Passage, this meant we could stay in hotels/Air BnBs in towns for the first three nights. On the C&O Canal in MD, towns are 60-70 miles apart, so we tent camped for 2 nights and spent the last night of the trip in a historic lock house. Links to where we stayed, picked up food, and restaurants worth visiting are included at the end of the post.
Packing / Gear
Over the years, we've collected quite the arsenal of biking and camping gear. The only thing we purchased for this trip was our very own set of lightweight camping cookware, and now I think our collection is complete! We both rode steel frame touring bikes outfitted with racks for panniers, dynamo hubs to charge the lights, and flat pedals. My dynamo hub even has an adapter that charges phones!
Keizo rode with 4 panniers - 2 in the front (sleeping pads and jackets) and 2 in the back (food/camp kitchen and tent), and I had 2 giant panniers with our clothes and sleeping bags on the back of my bike. We each had roomy handle bar bags as well that held the map, snacks, sunglasses, gloves, etc. Insulated sleeping pads and tarps got strapped to the rear racks.
Setting out, it felt like we were carrying a lot of stuff and we were both curious to see if we had overpacked. At the end of the trip, the only things we hadn't used were some extra pairs of socks/underwear and most of the contents of the first aid kit (a very good thing not to need!)
While we used almost everything, certain things made daily appearances and worked as hard as we did:
- Spending that many hours on the saddle, the differences between a bargain pair of bike shorts and a nicer pair of bike shorts are quite noticeable.
- Riding gloves. Necessary in the morning and late afternoon, as well as give a bit of extra padding on rougher surfaces.
- Buff. I wore a merino one in the mornings, as well as at night when we camped and it kept me nice and warm. Stays on better in the sleeping bag than a hat does.
- Layers. My base layer was bike shorts and a tank top; followed by a lightweight long sleeve shirt and leggings. My outwear included a packable down jacket and waterproof shell. I rode in pretty much every combination at different points of the trip - shorts and tank top on the warmest afternoons, and completely covered up in the cooler mornings and evenings.
- Our blue tarps came in handy the morning that it rained, as picnic table / bench covers, extra waterproofing under the tent, and as overnight bike covers.
- Extra velcro straps. Keizo has a bunch of these from work, and they got used a lot for attaching things like jackets and extra water on the outside of the panniers.
Riding / Camping
The first day from Pittsburgh to Connellsville was the was our longest. We rode the last hour or so in the dark, so coming around a corner and seeing the hotel straight ahead was a very welcome surprise.
On the last day, I forgot to account for the 10 miles from mile 0 in Georgetown back to our house in Takoma Park, which made it our 2nd longest. It worked out fine and we got home just before dark, but I'd tried really hard to plan an easy last day.
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| Left: Last day on the GAP, heading downhill into Cumberland, MD Right: First day on the C&O Canal, getting ready to leave Cumberland |
For us, 50 miles/day on the C&O plus camping was a pretty good balance. It let us take our time in the mornings, have a mid-day break, and set up camp and start cooking before it got dark. If you don't want to camp, you'll need to do 60-70 miles/day on the C&O, which is not paved (but would be carrying less stuff than we did). As with lodging, the C&O Canal in general has fewer places to stop for food, especially along the eastern parts. Apart from one glorious takeout pizza dinner while we were camping, we relied on snacks and easy to cook (i.e. boil some water) meals like pasta with tuna, instant oatmeal, and tortillas with peanut butter. We also planned our days around a stop in a town for a big lunch, except for the last day when we closed out the trip with a gourmet pairing of Lunchables and mini-wine (bought the day before). We also ate a lot of trail mix and some Sour Patch Kids (instant energy) throughout the days of riding.
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| C&O in the rain and along a stretch right next to the river |
Camping just the two of us in somewhat isolated locations was right at the edge of my comfort zone as a city dweller, and I didn't sleep very well in the tent. During the day, the lack of other people on the trail was quite nice, but once the sun went down it felt a lot more remote. Setting up and taking down camp also sapped some mental and physical energy. With a multi-day trip under our belts, (we had previously only done one night bike camping trips), I totally get the benefits of credit card touring - what reasonable person wouldn't want less stuff to carry, a warm shower and a comfy bed at the end of the day!?! Regardless, I'm looking forward to our next bike touring adventure, whenever/where ever it might be!
Stay
- Comfort Inn Connellsville (right on the trail)
- Rock Stop Air BnB (two blocks from the trail)
- 1840 Bruce House (uphill from the trail, but not too far. Easy walk back downtown for dinner/groceries)
- 15 Mile Creek Campground
- Opequon Junction Hiker/Biker Campground
- Lockhouse 28
Eat
- Mitch's Fuel and Food, Confluence, PA
- Rock City Express, Rockwood, PA (cash only)
- Ristorante Ottaviani, Cumberland, MD (this was our splurge before 3 nights of camping started. I think we both devoured a whole pound of pasta each)
- Cafe Mark, Cumberland, MD (we're repeat customers here having stopped on previous camping trips)
- Buddylou's, Hancock, MD
- Tony's Pizza, Williamsport, MD (we got 2 small pizzas to-go and managed to put them on the bikes and bring them to our campsite for the night)
- Third Base, Williamsport, MD (beer to-go; cash only)
- Maria's Taqueria, Shepherdstown, WV (really good, very friendly owner)
- Beans in the Belfry, Brunswick, MD (didn't get to stop on this trip unfortunately)
- Corner Store, Brunswick, MD (the source of all our food the last 1.5 days; highlight was the wine in mini plastic bottles)
- White's Ferry Store & Grill, White's Ferry, MD (wasn't sure this was going to be open, but they had pretty good coffee!)
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