TRIP REPORT Day 4 // Bikepacking the GAP and C&O Canal Trail in 4 Days | DC to Pittsburgh

Distance	Vertical Gain	Duration
88.4 Miles	538 Feet	8 Hours 53 Minutes

Starting off our morning, the wet trail was lit up with the beams of our headlamps and bike lights with our final day on the bikes ahead of us. Finally, got the boys to start riding at 6:30 AM, my preferred start time for a big adventure. To me, moving in the dark is like free miles and free time, in that, everything you accomplish before the sun comes up feels like a bonus and somehow easier compared to starting later in the day. This made our breakfast stop in the river rafting town of Ohiopyle such a reward. Coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and for me, a chance to load up on healthier snacks and bars was a success.

Sadly, for Pat, the bad luck was going to continue for him. Shortly after our stop, when we got back on the bike trail, he unknowingly dropped his phone. It wasn’t until 17 miles later did he realize it. We thought about having me drop all my bags and push back to find the phone, but ultimately decided against the 34 mile detour. He decided that he’d hope someone would find it and we could link up, or he’d just have to drive back tonight and search for it in the dark. Miraculously, a few hours later, a person found the phone and contacted his emergency contact to let him know the good news. So he just had to stop by the ranger station and pick it up, saving him the frustrating search for a phone under the loose leaves on the trail.

After 3 days of riding, the leg stamina was simply not there. We benefited from the slight downhill allowing us to keep a 12 mph pace even with the fatigue that had set in. Could we have gone faster, maybe, but not sure if all of us would have made it to Pittsburgh in one piece without having to take an Uber. Admittedly, the slower pace definitely caused me some frustrations throughout the weekend. One, for the obvious reason that a slower pace meant a longer time in the saddle with a very sore butt, and even more-so, pushing harder on the pedals relieves the pressure you put on your but, so it helps with that as well. Ultimately though, the entire goal was to spend as much time on the bikes as possible and with my buddies I haven’t seen in years, so going faster would’ve just taken away from the entire purpose of the trip.

70 Miles into the ride, we finally started to reach civilization near McKeesport. This was the first, of many, reminders of the manufacturing mecca this steel region was during the turn of the century. Massive brick buildings, now nearly vacant, used to be the home of specific steel industries needs like piping and tube manufacturing at confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers. Of course, a shell of its former glory and most of the town’s buildings were empty, dilapidated, and struggling to stay afloat. Town by town, we passed through we’d continue to question what it must be like to live in these towns of yester-year and what industries still exist to keep these towns alive.

Crossing one bridge after another, crisscrossing over the rivers, we were shocked to see barges filled with pitch black coal, piled dozens of feet high being pushed up the river. Realizing coal is still alive and well in this part of the country, it was always a shock. If it wasn’t on a barge, it was being pushed via train in endless coal cars. The bike trail, now paved, brought us in and out of these cities to see a different side of the the region than the rural sections we’d grown accustomed to over the previous three days. The one downside, was this paved trail was bumpier than the dirt trail, which was a little frustrating.

As the miles ticked away, Pat regaled us with stores of his childhood, going to the waterpark and Kennywood amusement park for birthdays and parties. He would show us his favorite bridges, something only a guy from Pittsburgh would say. Eventually, we crossed over the Hot Metal Bridge, which signaled the near end of our ride, getting us onto the north side of the Monongahela River, near Downtown Pittsburgh. Dodging traffic and trying to navigate through the skyscrapers that felt foreign to us compared to the rolling hills of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania. Especially passing under the glass facade of the PPG Building that marks the pinnacle of the downtown. But the official end of the GAP trail was the point, where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers turn into the Ohio River.

Rolling through the park, we could see the Steeler’s and Pirate’s stadiums on the North Shore, and better yet, a physical finish line, setup by my wife and her mother. Riding through the ribbon, we could say we did it, the full C&O Canal and GAP trail, from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh, PA in 4 days. Better yet, Pat’s dad was also there to see us at the finish and of course, with a small cooler of beer! Which proves, there are few beers better than one after a long day on the bike accomplishing an incredible feat. But it was finally over. No more 8+ hours in the saddle each day. No more bike bags swaying back and forth with each pedal stroke. No more jokes between us and making fun of Ben’s endless saddle adjustments. No more Achilles pain that, at this point, was pretty horrible. But sadly, this meant I was not going to see my close friends for another long period of time.

Time goes by, and people change, but with good friends, it doesn’t matter. We picked back up as if it was the last day we saw each other on the last day of college. We are all off doing completely different things, different interests and hobbies, but the bikes were able to bring us together. No boys trip drinking in Scottsdale or Vegas could replace the memories this trip made for us. It’s a trip I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Would I ride this route again? Who knows. Personally, I think there are way more interesting trails to spend 350 miles on, but it was incredible to find a route, through the densely packed east coast, that felt as remote as it truly was. At the end of the day, this had nothing to do with the route, the bikes, or the scenery, it was a chance to get together with friends, and that was accomplished tenfold.