Brad – Page 10 – Pedaling America

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Brad · 3 Comments

Eastern Continental Divide (June 26)

I got a really late start today. I only planned to ride about 32 miles and thought I didn’t really need to get started early. The first stop was at the bike shop again to have my brakes looked at. I have noticed the past couple of days that my stopping power is pretty bad. They had to replace the rear brake pads and adjusted the front brakes.

Before leaving Cumberland, I stopped at a place called the Fruit Bowl hoping they would have some Diet Pepsi. Despite the name, the store was at least 75% candy, mostly pick-a-mix. I haven’t seen pick-a-mix in years. I got the Diet Pepsi, along with some locally made chocolate covered peanut butter squares. Delicious.

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Brad · 1 Comment

Paw Paw (June 25)

I actually got an early start this morning, leaving the campground a little after 8:00. I only rode a little bit to the next town called Little Orleans where they were supposed to have a store of some sort. Turns out, it is part cafe and part convenience store. Unfortunately, the cafe did not serve breakfast and the store did not have much selection. I ended up getting a packages sweet roll for breakfast. While I was eating, an eastbound cyclist pulled up. We chatted for a bit and he guaranteed that the GAP was a much nicer riding surface, drains better and is not covered in mud. I guess I will found out. Because it has not rained since yesterday morning, the canal trail started to dry out in places. Other places still have plenty of mud, though.

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Brad · 1 Comment

Long and Winding Road (June 24)

Since the canal follows the river, it also follows all the twists and turns, and there are many. I feel like I ride and ride and ride, but only make a short distance further from the coast.

The weather forecasts have been a mess. It wasn’t supposed to rain last night, but it rained all night. There were supposed to be scattered showers all afternoon. Other than a few sprinkles around noon, it was dry. I guess it is better for the rain to come when I am in my tent rather than on my bike.

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Brad · 1 Comment

Wet and Muddy (June 23)

Everything is wet and muddy. It rained again early this morning, pretty hard. It has rained every day since I’ve been on the C&O Canal, not necessarily while I was riding, but at some point during the day. I used this morning’s rain as an excuse to sleep in. By the time I got up, everything was wet and muddy. I also went into Sharpsburrg to look for a grocery store. All I found was another convenience store. I really need to find a real grocery store. Between sleeping in and riding into Sharpsburg, I got a really late start.

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Brad · 1 Comment

Hiking the Ol’ Appalachian Trail (June 22)

Unfortunately, that is not a euphemism for visiting an Argentinian lover. Rather, a small section of the tow path is part of the Appalachian Trail. It is only about a mile or so going east from Harpers Ferry. The first hiker I saw I thought was lost. The second hiker I saw actually was lost. She thought she had passed her turn off the tow path. I whipped out my map of the canal and we were able to find where she needed to turn. She hadn’t passed it yet.

The storms yesterday must have been stronger than I thought. On the way to Harpers Ferry, there was a tree that had been blown down across the whole path. The only way across was to carry everything over the tree or try to go into the woods and go around the tree. It looked like it went pretty far into the woods, so I had to unload my bike and carry everything across bit by bit.

My bike is in there somewhere. At first I thought I might be able to just lift the whole thing over.

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Brad · 4 Comments

“You win the cool guy of the day award” (June 21)

The weekend with the family was a lot of fun. Not everyone was able to make it, unfortunately, and some were only there for a very short time. One thing that I liked about this trip is that, when I left, I was able to tell people, “See you in a few weeks.”

I got back to the Washington area yesterday. My flight from Dallas was delayed by almost and hour and a half. That meant I didn’t get into Dulles until after 8:00 p.m. By the time I got through the airport and got a taxi, it was already dark. Originally, I had planned to pick up my bike last night, but because it was so late, I picked it up this morning.

Posted on June 17, 2016June 26, 2016 by Brad · 2 Comments

Washington (June 16)

With the short day, I took the opportunity to check the map for a route into Washington other than highway 1. I found the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. From Google maps, it looked like it had a shoulder, but it is a limited access highway, so I wasn’t sure bicycles were allowed. I also checked the Strava heatmap, which shows what routes local cyclists take. None of the popular routes on Strava would take me into Washington and it didn’t look like locals ride on the Parkway. I watched for signs very carefully as I entered the Parkway. I saw a couple signs prohibiting trucks, but nothing about bicycles. It turned out to be a great option with a wide shoulder, no big trucks and no stoplights. Some of the off and on ramps were tricky to navigate, but other than that it was just about perfect. I ended up getting into DC in about an hour and a half. I wonder what the drivers must have thought of seeing someone on a loaded down bicycle riding the Parkway, bopping my shoulders to the music on the radio (dance, dance, dance, yeah). I must have been quite a sight.

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Brad

Oh, the Humidity (June 15)

It was raining when I got on the road this morning, not heavy, just enough to wet the ground. After I got through Baltimore, the sun came out, the temperature rose and with all the moisture in the air, I was soaked with sweat within half an hour. I was wetter once the sun came out than I ever was in the morning. I kept stopping every five or six miles to find some shade to cool off and dry out. It made for slow going. I think the humidity finally got to me because I made it a half day instead of a full day. I was close enough to Washington that I probably could have made the whole distance today, but stopped about 20 miles northeast of the capital.

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Brad · 2 Comments

You shall not pass (June 14)

For some reason, I did not take many pictures today. I’m not sure why; nothing really caught my eye other than a very patriotic elk in Elkton, MD.

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Brad · 1 Comment

Urbia (June 13)

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.

After yesterday’s disappointment, I had to try again. This time, I took mass transit across the river to Camden. I was able to find Whitman’s grave. There were no signs in the cemetery pointing to it, so I walked passed it at first. It is kind of off to the side from the entrance behind some trees. It was a family mausoleum, with what looked like his parents and at least some of his siblings. Walt got top billing, though. Most mausoleums only had the family name above the door. Whitman’s had “Walt Whitman”. One thing that surprised me a bit, at the graves of other authors I have visited (Emerson, Thoreau and Alcott), some people had put stones on the gravestones. Some had put pens on the gravestone or graves. At Whitman’s grave, there were only a couple of stones and no pens. I gathered a fistful of grass to put at the gate. It seemed a fitting tribute.