The Great Allegheny Passage GAP bicycle trail

George Washington dreamed of the Potomac river as an easy path between Chesapeake Bay and the Ohio river in Cumberland. The GAP fulfills his dream, connecting the C&O canal to the Ohio river. 

Our dreams and cycling adventures of our present life carry us by bicycle through old age, keeping us young. Further fulfilling our dream we cycled the 240 km off-road GAP all along the Potomac river in 3 long days (long for off-road travel). The tunnels, such as this Savage Mountain Tunnel, along the GAP had lighting.

My personal dream is to some day place all my cycling gear on the scenic train and to ride without packs, beating the scenic steam train uphill to Frostburg MD. But Shirley's getting stronger every day. Maybe she could carry the gear up. . . .  "In your dreams boy!"

 

The first 22.5 km of the GAP parallel the Western Maryland Scenic railroad.

This is the Western Maryland Scenic train I'm going to beat uphill.

 

In colonial days, Mason and Dixon were hired to survey a straight line that now serves as the border of several States. Here we left Maryland and entered Pennsylvania.

In the distance, from the highest elevation on the GAP, we see the mountains we have not had to cycle over.

If you cycle only one of the beautiful and long trails in the grand old USA, let it be the GAP. There are more services along the way and the surface is limestone screenings. This is a great improvement over the mud, gravel and mud puddle surface of the C&O canal towpath.

Shirley's Dream is to get strong enough to carry all the gear up to Frostburg without stopping to pick Tom up who had just collapsed on the trail. Here in preparation, she has just crossed the Eastern Continental Divide.

One secret about hills and bike riding. Big steep 15% grade hills that we get over in an hour or two, are easier on your legs than four or five days of constant 1% or less uphill grade.

We followed the Casselman, the Youghiogheny river and finally the Monongahela River to the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers. Last year, travelling the "Underground Railroad" bike route from Louisville to Buffalo, we followed the Ohio river now and then. Just don't ask me to pronounce those names!

The GAP, following what was a railroad bed, crosses many deep gorges on incredibly long bridges keeping the grade down to half a percent or so. Easy riding considering the surrounding Maryland and Pennsylvania mountains.

You just Quack me up. Please cut the chatter, I'm trying to sleep!

Dozens of small falls line the trail.

As Shirley said, "We've had a real variety of accommodation on this tour. Here in Connellsville, the town provides shelter for out-of-town cyclist travelling the GAP. This keeps the tent dry, provides lots of surface to spread stuff out and lots of privacy.  

The Youghiogheny river, in fact all the rivers, were brown due to rain fall almost every other day. We rode in some very heavy rain.

A barge moves coal for power plants or for sale to China along the Youghiogheny river in Homestead PA. Near the end of our tour, we treated ourselves to a Hampton Inn, a reward for the many nights of camping in free campsites along the trails and roads.

On this bike tour we crossed a big chunk of hilly Kentucky, the Shenandoah Valley across Virginia, a corner of West Virginia, much of Maryland, and finally lots of PA.

The panniers were taken off the bikes in Pittsburgh where we finished the GAP, grabbed a one-way car rental to Buffalo NY and picked up our car to drive home.