Bike Trip

In 2010 my friend, Len, invited me to do a bicycle trip from Pittsburgh to Washington. I arrived in Pittsburgh on Friday Aug 6. I borrowed Len's son's bike. We got set up and did a practice ride on Saturday, and on Sunday Aug. 8 we started the trip. We finished a week later on Saturday Aug. 14 in Washington. On Sunday we took the subway to Union Station, got our luggage, including bikes, checked in and then spent the early afternoon sight seeing. We got back to Union Station for a 4:00 PM train and arrived back in Pittsburgh at midnight. Monday was a buffer day for delays that didn't happen, so we did some Pittsburgh sightseeing, and I flew out to my sister's the next day to continue my vacation.

Map of First Half of Trip - Part 1	The first half of the trip was along the "Great Allegheny Passage", which is an abandoned railroad right of way.
Map of First Half of Trip - Part 2
First Day	On Sunday, Aug. 8, Len's wife Barbara dropped us of at Sutersville, about 25 miles south of Pittsburgh. Since we will follow an old railroad right of way grade is extremely constant, and in this direction it is not very steep. We will take about 100 miles to gain 1600 feet.
First Day
First Day
First Day	We initially followed the Youghiogheny River.
First Day	Bridges are built on the old railroad tressels and only take up half of the width of the tressel.
First Day
Bridge into Ohiopyle	We came into Ohiopyle across this bridge. Ohiopyle is a small tourist trap town along a very pretty section of the Youghiogheny River.
Ohiopyle
Ohiopyle Railroad Station	The railroad station was converted into a tourist information center sitting right on the bike trail.
Youghiogheny River at Ohiopyle
Second Day at the Confluence	We are on our second day, not too far out from Ohiopyle and on the confluence of the Youghiogheny and Casselman Rivers. We will follow the Casselman.
Second Day
The Casselman
Second Day
Second Day
Pinkerton Tunnel	Sections of the tunnel have collapsed. We followed the trail that detours the tunnel by following the river.
Inside the Pinkerton Tunnel	I stuck the camera between the fence slats to take this picture. It came out better than expected.
Rockwood	We ate lunch in the commercial district of Rockwood. This building IS the commercial district of Rockwood.
Salsbury Viaduct	The Salsbury Viaduct is the longest bridge we will cross on the trip and is quite impressive.
Train Station at Meyersdale	Meyersdale again had an old train station sitting right on the bike trail.
Burgess House in Meyersdale	We spent the night at the Meyersdale Burgess House B&B.
Burgess House in Meyersdale
Burgess House in Meyersdale
Third Day	We started out again on the third day.
Third Day
Third Day
Third Day	We got to the Eastern Continental Divide separating the East coast and Missippi water sheds.
Third Day
Third Day
Third Day
Third Day
Third Day - Eastern end of the Continental Divide	Looking out over the Eastern end of the Continental Divide.
Third Day - Eastern end of the Continental Divide
Third Day - Eastern end of the Continental Divide
Third Day - Eastern slope of the Continental Divide	We paralleled train tracks down the Eastern slope of the Continental Divide.
Third Day - Eastern slope of the Continental Divide
Third Day - Eastern slope of the Continental Divide
Third Day - Eastern slope of the Continental Divide
Third Day - Cumberland	We spent the night in Cumberland, at the bottom of the Eastern slope.
Map of Second Half of Trip - Part 1
Map of Second Half of Trip - Part 2
Fourth Day - Leaving Cumberland	We hit the North branck of the Potomac at Cumberland and follow it East. We are now following along what was once the Chesapeak and Ohio Canal tow path.
Fourth Day - Canal Lock	This is one of the locks and its gate keeper house that have been preserved.
Fourth Day - Canal Lock
Fourth Day - Canal Lock
Fourth Day - Canal Lock
Fourth Day - Canal
Fourth Day - Wierd Bug
Fourth Day - Canal Paw Paw Tunnel	Canals have tunnels too. Who knew?
Fourth Day - Canal Paw Paw Tunnel
Fourth Day - Canal Paw Paw Tunnel
Fourth Day - Canal Paw Paw Tunnel
Fourth Day
Fourth Day - White Rock	We ended the day at White Rock camp ground near Hancock. We were picked up here and driven to the B&B we stayed at that night.
Fourth Day - B&B Overlooking Potomac Valley
Fourth Day - B&B Overlooking Potomac Valley
Fifth Day - Another Lock
Fifth Day - Fort Frederick	We stopped at Fort Frederick, which was about 1/2 mile off the trail.
Fifth Day - Fort Frederick
Fifth Day - Fort Frederick
Fifth Day - Fort Frederick
Fifth Day - Fort Frederick
Fifth Day - Fort Frederick
Fifth Day - Fort Frederick
Fifth Day - Dam 5 above Williamsport
Fifth Day - Dam 5 above Williamsport	We spent the 4th night at a Williamsport motel and then continued on.
Sixth Day - Rebels	Len was caught by rebels heading toward Harper's Ferry.
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry	We are just entering Harpers Ferry, where the Shenandoah flows into the Potomac.
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry	We crossed the Potomac to get to the town.
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry	The bikes don't have fenders, so you get some mud.
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry	A number of train lines seem to converge in Harper's Ferry.
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry
Sixth Day - Harper's Ferry
Seventh Day - Harper's Ferry
Seventh Day - Harper's Ferry	We had a brew before dinner and then stayed at a local motel.
Seventh Day - Harper's Ferry
Seventh Day - Monocacy Aqueduct	The canal turned into an aqueduct over the Monocacy River.
Seventh Day - Monocacy Aqueduct
Seventh Day - Monocacy Aqueduct
Seventh Day - White's Ferry
Seventh Day - White's Ferry
Seventh Day - Edward's Ferry
Seventh Day - Lock 25
Detail Map of End of Trip	We're getting near the end of the trip.
Seventh Day - Great Falls Park
Seventh Day - Great Falls Park
Seventh Day - Great Falls Park
Seventh Day - Great Falls Park
Seventh Day - Great Falls Park
Seventh Day - Great Falls Park
Seventh Day - Great Falls Park
Seventh Day - Great Falls of the Potomac
Seventh Day - Great Falls of the Potomac
Seventh Day - Great Falls of the Potomac
Seventh Day - Great Falls of the Potomac
Seventh Day - Lock Right before Washington
Eighth Day - Washington at Hotel Restaurant	We crossed to the South side of the Potomac and our hotel for the evening. The next morning we had breakfast on the top floor of the hotel.
Eighth Day - Washington at Hotel Restaurant
Eighth Day - Washington
Eighth Day - Washington - Capitol
Eighth Day - Washington Monument
Eighth Day - Washington Train Station	We got to the train station in the afternoon, got our bikes packed up, and then took the train back to Pittsburgh. We passed through Harper's Ferry on the way.

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