GAP/C&O-Day 7-Leaving the Nicest Guy You’d Ever Want to Meet

We slept well in the cozy little Bikepath Bed & Bath and were looking forward to breakfast. Dan had asked us what our preferred time would be to eat, and we chose 7:30 am. He said that seemed to be the preferred time for most bikers, because when asked, that’s the time they usually chose. He didn’t have any other guests last night, but it’s been a busy season for him so far. He has been full every night for some time, and is expecting 2 young ladies later in the day.

He had 2 places set at the table, and soon called us for breakfast and asked us to sit down. First he brought in a skillet of scrambled eggs and divided them between our two plates. I kid you not, we each had at least 5 eggs, maybe 6. He may have scrambled a whole dozen for just the 2 of us. Next came the fried potatoes then a big piece of ham. He had made homemade bread the day before and he cut two big, thick slices of bread and toasted them. Each slice would have consisted of at least 4 regular slices of bread.  It was all good, but would take quite a few miles to burn those calories.

As we sat eating, he sat down at the head of the little kitchen table across from Jimmy and picked up a book he had lying there with some other items on the table. He said he always liked to read an essay out of a book written by Albert Einstein, because Einstein was such a smart fellow. I don’t know if he read the same essay to each group that stayed, or if he read a different one each day. The essay he read to us was entitled “The World as I See It”. I took a picture of that page in his book, and below is a portion of what he read to us;

“How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people—first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. I am strongly drawn to a frugal life and am often oppressively aware that I am engrossing an undue amount of the labor of my fellow-men. I regard class distinctions as unjustified and, in the last resort, based on force. I also believe that a simple and unassuming life is good for everybody, physically and mentally.”

It was clear that he’d spent a great deal of time pondering those words. He was embracing the simple life, embracing the thought that one exists for other people, drawn to a frugal life and the belief that plain living was good for everybody, physically and mentally. There’s a lot of wisdom there.

We were sad to leave our new friend, but we had more trail to cover. We packed up our stuff, took a photo out in front of his home, and headed on our way, having been blessed once again by our interactions with such a nice man.

What a gorgeous day! The rain and clouds from yesterday afternoon were gone and what was left were brilliant blue skies. We were riding the last portion of the C&O Canal Towpath today, with our destination at the end of the trail to be Cumberland, MD. We hopped on our bikes, took the quick connector trail out of Paw Paw, WV and back into Maryland as we crossed the river.

We saw quite a few fishermen today, as there’s a big portion of the canal that has been dammed up and apparently makes a great little fishing spot. Each fisherman we passed waved or called out a greeting. 

The rain left more puddles behind, so we had to navigate through them carefully so as not to wipe out with our heavy loads. A piece of good advice we picked up from bikers accustomed to these trail conditions is to not dodge the puddles. It is so easy to lose control of a bike that’s fully loaded with gear. The best thing to do is to lift yourself off the seat just a bit and roll right through the water puddles. Initially, I tried to weave my way around the puddles, and it was hard to maintain balance at times. After I received that advice, I just rolled right through and it was much easier. Though my legs were much muddier…

Now that my worries about the potential bad weather from yesterday were behind me, I had a little more time to recall a warning I received on the first day. I’d put it out of my head until now. (There’s only so much room in my head). But since I knew we would be continuing our ride through the most remote region, those warnings resurfaced.

We had just gotten off the train in Harper’s Ferry and were rolling our bikes off the station platform when an elderly couple motioned us over. They were sitting in their car, parked in the space right beside the train station. They asked where we were from, what we were doing, the usual stuff. The man told us he was 85 and the woman may have been a little bit younger because she was driving. But in the course of the conversation, the lady started going over a safety checklist with us now that she’d found out we were riding the C&O.

Her: “Did you bring pepper spray?”

Me: “I have no idea, did we?, turning to look at Jimmy

Jimmy: “I have a little”

Her: “Well you’re gonna need it”

Me: “Really?  Why?”

Her: “You’ll need it for two-legged and four-legged critters” 

Me: “Oh goodness! What kind of 4-legged critters are we talking about?”

Her: “mostly bobcats and cougars”

Her: “Did you bring any snacks?”

Me: “ well, yes I brought some snacks to eat along the trail in case we get hungry”

Her: “You better be careful. Those wild cats can smell a snack from miles away”

Me: “ok, I’ll be careful”

Her: “If those wild cats get hungry, they will eat whatever they can find, even you”

Her: “and if they smell your snacks, they’ll come running from miles around. If you stop to eat a snack, you better eat it fast.”

Me: “I’ll certainly keep that in mind!”

I was beginning to wonder if this was all a bad idea. We hadn’t even made it out of the parking lot, and I was already worried I’d starve to death on the trail. Or worse!

So as I’m riding along today, I was thinking about these wild animals. I already feel it’s my duty to be the official snake spotter on every bike trip. I saw 3 yesterday and already 1 today. Jimmy just doesn’t give that job the vigilance I think it deserves. He just rolls along, taking in the view, enjoying the sites with hardly a glance at the trail surface. I on the other hand examine every stick, every shadow, every unusual shape for any threat, real or perceived. It’s amazing how a brown curled up dead fern leaf looks just like a poisonous snake from a distance. Now I found I was on the lookout for wildcats, cougars, bobcats, whatever. And let’s not forget bears. I know they’re out there. Here’s a scene that stopped me in my tracks (allowing Jimmy to practice stopping on a dime with no warning as he followed behind). That looked exactly like a huge snake! It was just a vine.

It’s impossible to ride along and not eat a snack for energy because of the calorie burn. But I tried to do it as quickly and efficiently as I possibly could. I keep snacks in my jersey pockets for easy access while riding. I figured if I could get the whole snack in my mouth at once, the bobcats wouldn’t smell it as much. I nearly choked to death on a whole granola bar trying to keep my mouth shut around it, praying to God that Jimmy knew the Heimlich maneuver and could recognize the universal distress signal if I had to use it. Did he? I’ve never actually asked him that! I’ll have to find out before I stuff another granola bar down my throat.

I got that chewed up and swallowed (barely!) and realized my fingers were sticky. Darn it! I must have gotten some honey granola on my fingers trying to shove the whole thing in my mouth!  I could just imagine the smell of honey, oats, and almonds wafting behind me as I rode. I’d have every predatory cat in the county after me if I weren’t more careful.

The ride continued to be through beautiful country. I took several more pictures today.

Thankfully, we continued on without being attacked and were soon at Spring Gap trailhead. Dan had advised us that we could avoid the last 8 miles of the roughest section of trail by taking highway 51 into Cumberland. We typically avoid travelling on roads with cars, but will do it if we have to. The last stretch of the canal to be built was the section that arrived in Cumberland. By the time they made it there, the canal project was out of money, and the railroad had beat them to Cumberland by 8 years! Instead of spending money they didn’t have to build the last 8 miles of towpath, they decided to let the mules make their own towpath alongside the canal. The last 8 miles are dirt, and after yesterday’s rains, would be a slippery, muddy, pothole mess. That last 8 miles would take a long time with our heavily loaded bikes that would likely have to be pushed over trail hazards. No thank you. So to the road we went. It wasn’t a bad ride. We had a wide shoulder to use most of the way and there was one pretty good size hill as we climbed out of the canal elevation, but after that, we basically coasted all the way into Cumberland.

As soon as we made it into town, we stopped and had lunch at a DQ while we checked Google maps to find the best route to the B&B.

We got back on the road and made our way downtown, passing many historic buildings and homes as we went. We got a nice little tour of downtown Cumberland by bike.

We arrived at The Inn on Decatur and were  told to check the mailbox for the key. It wasn’t in there, we were earlier than expected, but the owner was home and welcomed us in.

She showed us where to lock our bikes overnight and provided a hose for us to clean up the bikes after the muddy ride. We loved our room and had the whole top floor to ourselves since we are the only guests for the night. We also had a kitchen with a basket of “Health food”, as she described it. (There may or may not be a Reese’s missing…) We have use of a washer and dryer once again, and were glad to use it on our muddy clothes.

At the owner’s recommendation, we walked to the old downtown area, where they have a very cool pedestrian mall, called Canal Place. The area of old downtown buildings has been restored and repurposed into shops, restaurants and outdoor dining.

We ate at Ristorante Ottaviani. We definitely carb loaded. The food was delicious.

Today we say goodbye to the C&O Canal Towpath, which makes us sad, but tomorrow, we say hello to the Great Allegheny Passage!