USNA 1973 Ride-2-Remember

Day 59, 1 October: Cumberland to Hancock, MD

Today was another 0640 Start. The hotel was located right next to the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal Towpath trail.  At this point the trail was mostly single track, with numerous muddy spots, which required concentration and a steady hand.  Then we came to low fog along the river, making the ride very serene but dicey.

We are all feeling some accumulated fatigue and agreed to take it a bit easier.  That allowed us to stay together the whole ride. We took a break at 18 miles and got some photos of the locks that are located along the canal that parallels the Potomac River. Potomac to the right of us, Canal to the left.

Sally was waiting for us at 29 miles for a Support stop just before entering the Paw Paw Tunnel. Sometime in the late 1880s it was decided it would be easier to put a tunnel through the mountain blocking the towpath rather than try to follow the meandering river – shortest distance between two points as it were.  The tunnel is 3300 ft long, about ¾ of a mile.  Cyclists are directed to WALK bikes through the tunnel. A wise decision.  The path is about 4 ft wide with a curved brick wall on one side and a 3 ft open railing on the canal side.  The path itself was pockmarked with mud holes and bumps from the erosion.  I did try to get a photo of (wait for it) the light at the end of the tunnel.

After the tunnel the trail became more rocky in sections that were hard to spot, and sent jolts through already tired bodies… ugh!… but otherwise the ride was quiet with the occasional crow declaring his dismay with our intrusion.

A few miles before reaching Hancock proper, Mark met us on his bike and guided us off the C&O to back roads – hilly back roads, I might add – to our cabin sites for the evening.

As we were pulling into the cabin site, Jim and Teri Polski, friends of Bill’s from Fairfax met us – bearing a nice cherry pie.

Mark, Tes, and Dave did their spaghetti magic again for dinner, which we all thoroughly enjoyed, including cherry pie and ice cream for dessert.  We toasted today’s tributes – Gary Miller and Rich Griffin.  Rest in Peace, Classmates.

Ron Bowman