bike trip

Just got back from riding 135 miles over three days, from the Pittsburgh area to Cumberland, MD, with nine others. Great time! Overall this trail was much better than the C&O Canal trail, albeit a bit harder, because it offered better views and the trail was in considerably better condition. (This one was a much newer trail too, though, so no surprise there.) It had more hills, and some tough ones, but it also had about 24 miles of good trip-ending downhill work that was almost steep enough to coast down. It also had plenty of great viaducts and some tunnels too, including one that required riders to get creative to get around a couple of rather annoying barricades that the trail alliance had put up. (Presumably they had been put up for safety reasons of some sort, and it was easy to see why upon entering the tunnel, but when the other option is pedaling an extra mile and a half when you've already pedaled 30+ miles of mostly gradual uphill stuff that day, safety takes a back seat to route length.) We stayed in a great hotel the first night on the trail and a cool B&B the second night, and we had good stopping places for meals too, so the accommodations were awesome as well. And heck, the weather even cooperated for the most part. How often does that happen? Overall a very good trip that will likely be repeated with an even bigger crowd next year.

Pics will likely come, but after I get a picture CD. I didn't take but a few this time, mainly because I was often too worn out during breaks to mess with the camera and I knew I could rely on our unofficial tour guide to handle that end of things anyway. But I've already seen some good ones so I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the CD.

Interesting side note: During the trip, someone in the group pointed out to the organizer that he puts together enough group adventures that he ought to start his own non-profit company whose purpose is putting together outdoor excursion packages for clients to keep them healthy and active, and then come tax time he could write off all of his research expeditions, gear purchases, organizing time, trip expenses, and all that stuff. That's an incredibly brilliant idea that could totally work. The guy's an idiot if he doesn't do it. Heck, I'll start the company and employ him if I can get a slice of the write-offs.