That's great advice Paul. Still finalizing all the details of our trip and we were going to take the MARC out to Harpers Ferry and camp and bike home one of these Fridays as a test run for mileage.
Pat On Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 3:56:37 PM UTC-4 Bikie#4646 wrote: > Pat in DC, You are very likely younger than I am, (closing in on 75 > years,) but my travel companion for this trip is also younger by a decade > and a much stronger rider than I. We both were glad we settled on 50 miles > a day and tried our best to schedule the camps accordingly. After more than > a decade of doing rail trail multi-day trips, three things I have found > feels proper for me: > 1. A 5-minute break every 10 miles or so. Mainly to relive the butt and > resupply the tank with a small snack. (I rarely stop for a "real" lunch > unless it is some kind of coffee shop stop.) > 2. 50 miles a day, riding loaded seems to prevent being too weary and > making the trip a chore. A little time in camp, even if just a relaxed meal > preparation is nice too. > 3. No matter how fast I can ride if I have too, like making up lost time, > beating an incoming storm, etc., It's hard and unpleasant for me to sustain > 12 - 14 mph all day. I seem to always fall back to 10 mph, unless riding > surfaces, etc. are perfectly smooth and level. > However, your schedule is your schedule and if it is inflexible, you may > not have a choice. Depending on your exact start and finish locations, the > GAPCO is pretty close to 350 miles (50 miles x 7 days). > > Paul Germain > Midlothian, Va. > > On Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 9:55:21 AM UTC-4 pbsm...@gmail.com wrote: > >> Woops yeah 5 days. I figure 65 or so miles a day is a good 6-7 hours of >> riding. Seems like it would leave some time to explore. I'm also not sure >> how capable my friend and I are of doing that sort of mileage but time will >> tell. >> >> Pat in DC >> >> On Wednesday, May 26, 2021 at 6:38:52 PM UTC-4 marshmonster wrote: >> >>> Pat, you mean 5 days? It's doable but you won't have much time to stop >>> and check out some of the small towns, take a dip in the Potomac, ride >>> around Antietem, etc. C&O was my first bikepacking trip. My only regret is >>> not giving it more time, I kind of plowed through it in 3 days. >>> >>> On Monday, May 24, 2021 at 9:04:11 AM UTC-5 pbsm...@gmail.com wrote: >>> >>>> Nice pics Paul thanks for sharing. A friend and I are doing the DC to >>>> Pitt direction later this year. I've only ever done overnight bike camping >>>> trips and he's never even done that. Hoping to do it in 50 days. We live >>>> in >>>> DC. >>>> >>>> Originally had this planned for end of August, but life got in the way >>>> so now we are shooting for mid October. Gonna need some extra layers for >>>> sure. Do you know when everything starts to shut down for the season? >>>> >>>> Pat in DC >>>> >>>> On Monday, May 24, 2021 at 6:41:07 AM UTC-4 ascpgh wrote: >>>> >>>>> I really enjoy seeing all the variations of folks' trips and >>>>> iterations of outfitting on this route. I'm fortunate to be a twenty >>>>> minute >>>>> bike ride from the Pittsburgh end and frequent the GAP portions and >>>>> points >>>>> along that way that are fun detours and sightseeing. >>>>> >>>>> I started riding on the GAP with my Rambouillet which doesn't have a >>>>> load capacity for self supported travel but as a result I've refined my >>>>> options for refreshments, meals and accommodations. My favorites are two >>>>> day rides from home, either out to Ohiopyle for the night and back or to >>>>> Cumberland with a overnighting in Ohiopyle and Amtrak home from >>>>> Cumberland >>>>> at 7pm. It is the use I patterned my custom bike to support. >>>>> >>>>> Last year I rode several centuries out and back on the GAP to take >>>>> advantage of the crowd thinning weather, my familiar trailside resources >>>>> and the relatively level grades. >>>>> >>>>> Andy Cheatham >>>>> Pittsburgh >>>>> On Sunday, May 23, 2021 at 12:12:57 PM UTC-4 Bikie#4646 wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> While I have done unsupported multi-day trip from Pittsburgh to DC >>>>>> (GAPCO) a number of times, this time I accompanied friend, Dan on his >>>>>> 7-day >>>>>> trip from east-to-west in the opposite direction. A bit of a new >>>>>> perspective on the trails along the C&O Towpath in Maryland and the >>>>>> Great >>>>>> Allegheny Passage in Pennsylvania. >>>>>> I was on my Sam Hillborne, which is my dedicated touring bike, >>>>>> mostly. It serves me very well for this sort of thing. I have a Homer >>>>>> Hilsen I use for mixed-surface riding day trips and love it. It could >>>>>> probably handle touring, but I suspect the slightly stouter Hillborne is >>>>>> more reliable for multi-day loads. >>>>>> We chose to go a bit early, the end of April, and were met with a >>>>>> variety of weather conditions, from sunny (even hot) days to cold (down >>>>>> to >>>>>> freezing one night) with a bit of rain thrown in for fun. We were >>>>>> prepared >>>>>> for it so the cooler temps were welcomed. >>>>>> The benefits - especially this year when many more folks will >>>>>> undoubtedly be out riding these trails - were fewer trail users and more >>>>>> available campsites and fewer bugs along the Potomac River. (Not that is >>>>>> usually a big problem for us, even in the summer.) >>>>>> My Flickr trip album of the trip is chock full unfortunately - for my >>>>>> own memories - so I apologize in advance. This time around, however, I >>>>>> tried not to duplicate photos of the numerous and more recognizable >>>>>> landmarks for the GAPCO, which I have done before. >>>>>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/bikecrazy-paul/albums/72157719131492162 >>>>>> Happy trails to all, >>>>>> Paul Germain >>>>>> Midlothian, Va. >>>>>> >>>>>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a112b8b9-a109-457c-82f4-77dd5d1f48d0n%40googlegroups.com.
