Fight Club (warning: a buttload of pics)

[Twitchin Kitten]

0

Then it dawns on me...I'm going in the wrong fucking direction. I go back 7 miles, run right into the trailhead a block from where I started...son of a bitch! I wasted about 14 miles and probably 2 hours.

This sounds like something I would do.

[twisteroo]

0

Day 2

I'm back on the trail and ride back into Ohiopyle Pa, not much there at 7am on a Sunday. I ride down a side street or two and see a coffee shop/cafe kinda place. There is a chick sitting outside with her bike. She starts talking to me, asking about BOB and all kinds of stuff. This place only has coffee and muffins but you eat what you can, if you miss out on calories when you are putting in miles you will be in a bad way in 5 or 6 hours. I get a coffee and a couple of these big muffins. I continue to talk to this chick, she's from Canada, a secretary at a university, kayaking, etc, etc, etc...
She drinks her coffee and watches me scarf down my muffins and coffee, then goes inside and finds out there is a diner around the corner, she says she's going for bacon and eggs and asks if I want to join her, there was mention of her riding with me for awhile too....she says she's going to the diner if I stop for eggs great, if not, have a nice trip. I finished my coffee and had a nice trip.

I get moving and am trying to get some miles in before it gets too hot, I stopped and took a few pictures here and there. I have no cell service all morning, finally around noon time I come into Rockwood PA, there is a little shack there along the trail with a cell phone booster, I called home and checked in and refilled my water.
As I'm leaving I can hear the thunder rumble off in the distance. I roll back out into the woods, no more cell service and it is getting darker and darker, more thunder some lighting, but I'm out in the woods and have nowhere else to go. It's clearly gonna downpour now. I stopped and packed up my phone and camera and stuff in my water tight bag and got out my 4 X 8' blue tarp and had it handy.
I pressed on as it started raining, I'm wet and still riding, man it got really shitty. Finally I come to one of those benches along the trail, I leaned my bike and BOB against it, grabbed that tarp, spread it open and crawled under it on the bench, it rained like a mofo, thunder, lighting, windy, but again, where was I gonna go. I spent maybe 45 minutes there waiting for the front to move through, the rain slowed and I moved along.
Now the trail was all wet and gritty, it was kinda tough to ride and my bike was covered in grit, the drivetrain making noise and sounding rough. I think the freewheel gets full of shit when this happens and get gritty. It's still raining and some thunder and a bit of lighting, I have to cross this huge bridge over an interstate highway, it's the worlds largest or something I was told later, and haunted too. A few minutes later I see a cell phone tower and I come to a tunnel. Inside the dry tunnel I stopped, got out my phone and my trail book, found the next town (Meyersdale, Pa) and called to see if I could possibly get a room. I could get one at Yoders for $50, cool. By then it's maybe 3pm, and it turns out that the town was just a mile or two up the trail.
As I get to the town there a a few guys on bikes sitting there at the touristy train station thing waiting out the rain, I talked to them for a bit. It turns out that I would see and talk to these guys on and off for the next 4 days or so.

I check in to Yoders, shower, hit a laundromat, buy some water at a dollar store, get a plate of ham and potatoes at a bar, get my phone and camera charged up and and sleep like a bastard that night.

[Twitchin Kitten]

0

Why is it every time I read the name "Ohiopyle" I giggle like a moron? Bad enough I'm not fond of the whole state of Ohio as it is (haven't found intelligent life there anytime I've passed through and the food is downright inedible!) but seeing that name somehow justifies my feelings. Whoever named it must feel the same way as I do about the place!

I'm surprised you don't carbo load. I used to before a trail competition and I didnt' exert myself nearly as much as what you're doing.

What about military MRE's? They're easy to pack and all you gotta do is toss boiling water in them! They gotta be gross though but I bet good in situations where you can't find food.

[twisteroo]

0

I don't carb load, I just eat breakfast, although I do love cookies and pancakes and cookies and cakes and cookies and pies and cookies and muffins and cookies and danish and cookies, well you get the picture.

I used to worry about boiling water for coffee, I cannot make a good cup of coffee camping, so I gave up. I don't carry any of that shit any more. If I was gonna carry enough stuff to boil water I could just cook some real food I suppose.

[twisteroo]

0

Day 3

I got up about 6 am, the little diner across the street was open, I had breakfast and a few cups of coffee. Went back got my bike out of the basement and loaded up ready to go. I noticed my chain had gotten rusty from the rain and my freewheel was kind of grinding. I head out into the hazy fog for the last few miles of uphill. 15 miles or so later I meet a guy, he tells me the lights are out in the Big Savage tunnel, be careful going through. A few minutes later I cross the eastern continental divide, then shortly after that I reach the big savage. I stowed my sunglasses and got out my flashlight, I wheeled right through there with my flashlite in my hand. You would never guess that a 3,000 foot tunnel could get so dark during the day.
Right about now I start going down hill, and I'm rolling 17-18 mph, even hitting 20mph at times. I'm making up for those 2 days of going up hill at 9 and 10 mph. I cross the mason dixon line and keep rolling down to Cumberland. I stopped and had lunch and stopped in a dollar store, got some water and liquid wrench for my chain and freewheel.

I rode for what seemed like ever, getting onto the C&O canal trail. At one point there was a tree down across the trail and I had to unhook BOB and the bike and carry them through the tree.
I rode for a long time, I tried to drink the brown water from one of the pumps but couldn't make myself do it.

That afternoon I came to the Paw Paw tunnel, it is on the canal, full of water and has the little tow path next to it, I wheel right on in. It got dark fast, I took my sunglasses off and got off the bike, pushing my bike almost just feeling my way through the tunnel. I don't even want to try to look for my flashlight or anything it is so damn dark.
I didn't know it, but this tunnel was just as long and dark as the last one. At one point I got my camera out of my pocket and took a couple pictures inside the tunnel around me just to see where I was. It was a long dark 3,000 feet. On the other side I talked to some guy for half an hour or so before I got going again.

Finally I came to a place called little orleans, all that was there was a campsite and Bill's. Bill's is a bar and little store, the only thing there. I ate there and bought some bearclaws for breakfast. Went across the street and set up camp. There was not running water so I stripped down to my bike shorts and took a dip in the Potomac river to was the mud and grime off of me.
There were a couple hillbilly girls there swimming, have I told you that I love hillbilly girls?

I worked on my bike, oiled the chain, douched out the freewheel with oil and looked at my shot to hell brakes. Then crawled in my tent and called it a night.
I was woken up by something chewing, I thought it sounded like raccoons in my bag eating my bearclaws or something. I even shined my light around a couple of times but saw nothing.
In the morning as I rolled up my tent and stuff I had to flick a couple of those cicada bugs off of my tent. Then I see little dime sized holes in the ground, the chewing I heard was those damn bugs in the ground chewing who the hell knows what.
I ate my bearclaws and stopped at Bill's that wasn't open and got a cold pop out of the machine out front and called it breakfast, and got on the trail.

[twisteroo]

0

Day 4

I left little orleans and Bill's place behind, rode for probably 15 to 30 miles till I got to a paved rail trail that runs along the tow path, I ran the pavement as long as it lasted, about 15 miles or so I think.
Somewhere along the paved section I came to Hancock Md, I asked around if there was a diner in town, and was told to go to the park and eat, or park and ride, or park and, hell, I don't remember.
I stopped at the dollar store, got 2 gallons of water and the save-a-lot and bought 3 bananas, then stopped at a roadside stand and bought a canalope for a buck. Then I set off to find the park and puke or whatever the fuck it was called.
Back on the trail, up the hill, down the road, and around the corner I come to the diner, had a bunch of cups of coffee, some bacon and eggs and shit, or was it hotcakes? Anyway I ate breakfast, another cup of coffee, overflowed their toilet, and got back on the trail to get in some miles.

At a road crossing I come upon 3 guys on bikes and a van from a bike shop, one of the guys just chewed up a tire and they called this shop, the guy brought him a new tire to the trail. Mighty nice of him, then he took the guys credit card number and I'm sure it all worked out in the end. It turns out that these guys were the guys sitting out the rain in Myersdale when I rolled in looking like a drowned rat. I will see these guys on and off for the next day or so. They said they were going to Harpers Ferry that night. It would have made something like a 90+ mile day for me to push on to Harpers that night, but I thought about it.

I stopped here and there to take pics and eat bananas and stopped at some old bridge thingy and used my GIANT buck knife to eat my melon. It was hot, I was seeing people here and there and seeing boyscouts riding too, pisspots.

In the afternoon there was a detour, you had to run roads for about 6 miles. Now this sounds like it would be cool, to be on pavement for 6 miles, but roads mean hills, I was riding all rail beds and tow paths so far, all flat, I always knew BOB was behind me but it was not that bad.
Holy fuck!!! Hills!!! That six mile section of road will seperate the men from the boys, I'll tell you what. There were guys right on my tail when we got to that section that I never saw again. I got a workout on those damn roads.

Finally back on the trail in the woods and rolling again, mid afternoon and it was hot, the detour hurt me. My right thigh was aching, I must have pulled a muscle or something. I rode for probably 10-15 more miles and saw that I had cell service. I got out my book, the closest real town was Shepardstown Wv, "hello, comfort inn?? You got any rooms?"
Fuck that, I limped into Wv and into my motel room, bike, bob, and all.
A/C, shower, lasagana supper, cable tv, internets, nice bed, I slept like a bastard. I was only about 15 miles short of Harpers Ferry, and that is where I planned on spending the next day.
Being off the bike made my leg feel lots better, by morning I felt almost normal again.
Did I mention that I loves me some hillbilly girls?

PS: don't mind my spelling and stuff, I can't make myself proof read this crap.

[twisteroo]

0

Day 5

I feel good again, my leg feels fine.
I destroy the breakfast bar and the motel. Post a PM or two on their internets, check out the hostel at Harpers Ferry and make a reservation. I had to put $.90 on my credit card to hold my bed. Yep, 90 cents.

I finally get all my shit together and get rolling, I only plan on doing the 15 miles to harpers today because I need to rest. As soon as I get going my leg starts hurting again, it seems that 10 hours is not enough time to rest/heal my torn ACL, rotator cuff, hamstring, ligament, what ever the hell ache I have in my leg. I gimp on. I'm blazing at about 7 or 7 mph. No hurry anyway, and it don't hurt going slow and taking it easy.
I stop to take some pics and get talking to some bridge repairing guy, by the time I get done shooting the shit with him there are 3 more guys on bikes over by my bike. I go over and get in on the conversation. On of the guys is from the trio of guys I've seen on and off, he opted out of going to tour a battlefield in the 99 degree heat and got himself a room last night too. I also meet Terry Tabb, the guy that took the pic that was my desktop this month, (allready changed to nudity BTW)
we talk quite awhile, the other guys leave, we shoot the shit some more. We ride together, still talking about damn near everything, we take a break, talk about bikes and the tour de france, we ride into harpers, he took me right to the hostel so I didn't have any problems finding it. Real nice guy.
He left me checking in at the hostel and gave me a leaflet for the town, one of his pictures is on the cover. I threw a bag of clothes on my rack to claim it for the night in the dorm room, dropped BOB off the bike and rode into harpers. I had to carry my bike up a staircase to get over the bridge into town. Did I mention my leg hurt like a fucker? My leg hurt like a fucker.

Harpers ferry is a little old touristy town, civil war reenactors and stuff are around. Pretty neat place though. I ride around and find a place to eat lunch. Not the best experience I've ever had.
I ask the broad if I saw a bottomless iced tea on the menu. Yep, gimme one of those, fuck man, I'm thirsty!! I order a taco salad, I can use the fiber. I get one iced tea, and my salad, the salad is kind of bland. I poured an entire bottle of hot sauce on it to liven it up, I mean an entire bottle. She asks if I want more tea, well hell yeah, I didn't come in here to fuck around I ordered the bottomless tea so I could drink fucking tea. She leaves and never brings more tea.
Finally she shows back up, I'm done eating, she's sorry she didn't bring the tea.....dumb bitch.
She get me more tea and then leaves the picture on a nearby table and leaves, I forced myself to drink the entire pitcher of iced tea while she was gone.

I just king of hung out in harpers ferry, looking around, tried to find the real town but never really did.
I ate ice cream and got a couple of apple pies and took them back to the hostel with me.
There were a bunch of kids there on the same bike trip I was doing, they were only doing 40 miles a day and had a couple of young adults guiding them. It sounded like their parents paid to have them go on this thing. The two guide people were a guy and a girl, the guy was kind of strange to talk to, not wanting to share too much. The girl was a bit friendlier, and pretty hot. I remember she was from around Ithica NY or somewhere. Did I mention she was hot?
There was also some old guy named Larry there too.
I got up at 6 am grabbed another shower, packed up my shit, ate my apple pie and a bottle of water and got the fuck out of there before any of the kiddies got up.

[twisteroo]

0

Geeze, just a quick scan of that last post, can you change my pictures to pitchers?

Anyway day 6.

At the hostel I got on google maps an see where I can get off the trail and make my way over to route 15 in Leesburg Va, this will mean that we can avoid the actual pick up in Georgetown in the mid afternoon. So that is the plan, I will make my way to rt 15, my wife will stay on 15 down into DC and she will just pick me up roadside.

I wasn't in too big of a hurry, she left home about 6 am, I got going before 7am, she had a 7 hour drive, I had like 35 miles to do. I was still hurting.
To get out of the hostel and back on the trail pulling BOB, I have to go down a giant hill (that I had rode up twice already) and backtrack to a bridge to get across to the trail, but I remember a shortcut the Terry had shown me. I had to cross some railroad tracks and go down a steep hill. I had to drop BOB off the bike and carry everything across the tracks and down the hill to the trail.
I finally got going, and was taking it easy.
I came into Bruswick Md, it looked like everyone from around there got on the train and commuted into DC. I looked up the street and can see the town, I'm looking for a diner and breakfast.
Right up the road is Mommer's diner. I go in, order coffee and pancakes with bacon. It's a real local place, about 3 people in there. An old guy behind the counter and Mommer doing the cooking.
The guy behind the counter just works there for something to do, he don't even take money, not tips, not pay, nothing, It goes to Mommer. Thinking back he probably works for blowjobs or something. Anyway, I have me about 6 cups of coffe and some of the worst pancakes I've ever had.
But these little diners are cheap, and fun. The old guy behind the counter swears like a sailor, probably worse than Twitchy,
and doesn't seem to care who is in there or who hears him. Mommer had come out front for something, she at least glanced around before she swore, saw me and held her tounge. My kinda place, I sat and drank my fill of coffee and talked for awhile.

Back on the trail as I was nearing DC there was a lot of trees down and wind damage. They had a big storm down there about 5 days before and were still cleaning up. They were already ouyt on the trail cleaning up also. I asked one of the crews about getting over to rt 15.
At White's Ferry Md, I crossed the river into Va, I think anyway, never did look at a map. But anyhow, had to take the ferry over, cost me a dollar or 2 for me and my bike if I remember right. Then right up the road a mile or 2 I come up to rt 15.
My wife is about an hour out, I sit and wait, watch the traffic go by till she gets there.
As soon as I get in the car and start driving people turn into pricks again.
I mean for the better part of 6 days on the trail almost everyone I met or ran across was nice, plesant, helpful, and kind. Trading information about what to expect up the trail, offering help with breakdowns, etc, etc....then WHAMMO!!!! Back to reality, bunch of pricks. We stopped at a Popeye's for something to eat, more pricks, and so it went.
We spent the night at the brother-in-law's place in Va, snuck outta the house at 5am and was back home just after noon on friday.

I'm going again next year if anyone wants to go.
I have not decided if I'm going to try to run lighter and faster, or take the same stuff and just slow it down and take my time.

Here is a current working link to all 400 some pics I took during the trip. http://s837.photobucket.com/albums/zz295...P%20TRAIL/

[Twitchin Kitten]

0

Well it seemed like you had fun, and a lot of it doing that ride. I don't know if I'd be in any shape to do something like that next summer but I'm sure trying to get in shape period to do SOMETHING outdoors on a new bike. It seems due to the nerve damage it's taking a lot longer to get in shape than it used to before my accident. It's kind of frustrating.

Funny how when you're doing something different than the rest of the 'world' everyone doing the same thing with you is nice, the people you run into are nice and it's almost like going back to when we were kids and people in general were much less asshole-y than they are now. Except in Jersey. Even in the woods I find all the assholes.

Geeze, just a quick scan of that last post, can you change my pictures to pitchers?

Done! I hadn't even noticed when I read it yesterday.

[twisteroo]

0

I was kind of like a pioneer experience, people trading info about what is ahead, what is behind, what to expect, where to get food and water. People willing to help each other out if need be.
Even the chicks that I said jokingly that they must be lesbians at the campground checked to make sure that I was able to get a campsite. I'm pretty sure they would have asked me to just share theirs if I had not. Probably not in the penthouse forum kind of way that I had imagined, but I'm pretty sure they would have let me camp next to them.