The first and most important thing about our bike trip from Washington DC to Pittsburgh is that Team Do-Gooders Doing Good raised $6,000 for the South Hills Relay for Life. Woo hoo! Thank you to everyone who supported our ride and generously donated to the American Cancer Society’s life-saving mission.
We started at Mile 0 in Georgetown immediately after getting off the Amtrak Capitol Limited at Union Station. First destination stop was 35 miles to White’s Ferry, where we crossed the Potomac and shuttled our bikes and bodies over to Leesburg for the night.
Next day, we rode to Williamsport, a 64-mile jaunt that wore me out and reminded me that it was pointless to hope that I could keep up with the boys.
(It’s been 8 miles… it’s hot…they’ll stop to drink water soon… what? OMG, they’re not stopping… maybe they’ll stop at 10 miles… DANG IT!… eleven miles… oh crap, my Camelbak is leaking…I’m running out of water… I’m dying… I need to stop… slurp, slosh, slurp… have to keep going… they stopped up ahead… it’s been 12 miles… oh no, there’s a tiny but steep bluff to get to them… my legs are mush… will I make it?… NO…aaaghhh!)
My bike came to a complete stop in the middle of that eensy weensy bluff and I had to walk my bike about three pitiful steps to get to the top, where the boys were standing there looking as fresh as if they had enough energy reserves to climb the Himalayas.
By the time we reached Paw Paw, West Virginia on our third day (hi Dan at Bikepath Bed & Bath!), even I was acclimated to the bumpy, rutted, rocky dirt C&O Canal Trail after riding it for 156 miles. We were all looking forward to the smooth, crushed limestone of the GAP trail that beckoned us just 30 more miles ahead.
The second most important thing about our bike ride on the C&O Canal Trail and Great Allegheny Passage is this:
The Frostburg hill didn’t do me in.
I was worried about it, mostly because shortly before our trip, my husband was talking to a guy in a bike shop who recently rode up that hill and told my husband these three things:
- It was harder than he thought.
- He could only ride 10 mph towing a trailer up the hill.
- He told us to make sure that segment of our trip was one of our shorter mileage days. (Uh oh… too late.)
I wasn’t at the shop when my husband had this conversation, so I don’t know who he spoke to, but I’ve been to bike shops before and I’ve met some bike shop guys, who are often long haired, super cool dudes with tattoos and bulging calf muscles. So if one of these super cool dudes said the Frostburg hill on a 50-mile day for him was harder than he expected, then I worried that the same hill would just about kill a middle-aged mom like me on our already planned 6o-mile day.
Even though our fourth day of riding was the hottest, most exposed day of our trip, we were motivated to get to Meyersdale, knowing we faced a 22-mile uphill climb to get there.
As my excellent friend, Ann, and I plugged along at our 8 mph pace riding up the first 16 miles to Frostburg, we were looking over our shoulders the whole time, wondering where the boys were. We figured they had to be miles ahead of us, but that somehow we missed them. Then we ran into my husband, who was doing car shuttling duty and was speeding down the hill to meet us. He said he didn’t see them up ahead.
Taking a small break, he listened to a voicemail message that explained that one of the boys had to get a tire replaced in Cumberland and they were on their way. We realized we had a big lead.
“Beat the boys,” my husband said in parting, as he sped further down the hill to meet the boys and ride up with them.
So we did. The girls beat the boys!
I already disclosed that the boys had bike trouble and were delayed. I will further admit that we didn’t beat them by much, which I believe is an indication that the boys did NOT want the girls to beat them, so they rode “balls to the wall,” which is a masculine term I don’t completely understand because of the puzzling imagery it evokes, but in this case, I suspect it fits.
Regardless, the Anns claimed victory.
The truth is the Frostburg hill wasn’t that bad. Yeah, it’s a long, slow slog, but it’s doable. My mini-Waterloo was that piddling, embarrassing little bluff two days before. Go figure.
We made it to Meyersdale, and after that it was all downhill to Pittsburgh. Sort of. We rode through thunder, lightning and torrential rain to get to Confluence and spent our final night at the Connellsville Bed & Breakfast, which was so beautiful and elegant that I was afraid to walk in because we were so sweaty and grimy. Proprietor Lucille was a lovely hostess and made us feel welcome.
We rode 62 miles to Pittsburgh on our final day and made it to The Point, where a small, but enthusiastic group of Relay for Lifers greeted us with cheers and a sign that read: “Congratulations Do Gooders. You Did Good!”
Now my husband wants to know what next year’s cancer-fighting fundraising adventure will be.
Stay tuned.
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One Comment
So wonderful that you made the readers of all your messages feel like we were riding with you during your trip. Really enjoyed every bit of the ride, so glad all went well. Also waiting to see what you’ll do next year!