The toughest day yet was today. The comparatively easy Allegheny ended in Cumberland and we now continue south on the C&O Canal.
As predicted the night before, it rained that night and then rained all the next day turning the C&O (Chesapeake & Ohio) into a virtual swamp. We rode all day in the deluge on a slick and muddy trail which at times disappeared into a lake sized puddles. Riding through these puddles, we didn’t know if we would glide through easily or hit submerged roots or worse, a pothole which racked the bike and everything on it. All one could do is put their head down and just pedal hard… for 60 plus miles into Hancock.
I rode alone most of the day and at times thought I might end up in the canal which mostly resembled a overgrown bayou. I would emerge looking like Swamp Thing while still holding onto a set of handlebars.
There were a couple of highlights though, including the Paw Paw tunnel which runs several hundred feet. The canal runs through the tunnel with a hanging walkway resembling more like a precarious catwalk running the length along side. Only the brave enter the darkness of the tunnel while the weary take the detour up and over. I chose the fool hardy and rode my bike passed the “bikers dismount” sign with one hand on the handlebars and one on my camera all the while glancing off the brick tunnel wall and the three foot rail which somehow kept me from falling into the black abyss below.
Finally though there’s a silver lining to the end of an almost miserable day when just before being forced off the trail, because of a series of detours, I find the beginning of the West Maryland Rail Trail which,” oh sun-shining day,” is paved, making for a less painful fast 15 mile finish.
Even more fortunate though, the days of camping are over as we had a hotel room to get cleaned up, warmed up and dried. The hotel, bless them, even let us use their hose to wash the slicks and globs of mud off of our bikes and ourselves.
