8/21-So Many Things Today!

I think the easiest thing to do for today’s post is start at the beginning (okay, that’s kind of what I always do anyway). 

I rode over to the Outflow campground and met up with Sarah. She gave me this sweet flower to look at today. 

Sarah packing up

We headed back to the GAP. It was actually, dare I say, a bit chilly this morning. I put my rain jacket on just for warmth. 

One of many bridges/viaducts

Photo by Sarah

We weren’t sure if this was bees or wasps.

We also saw numerous waterfalls.

Our first town/trailhead was Rockwood. Dorene was the GAP volunteer who was at the trailhead. We chatted with her for awhile. A couple of colorful guys came by. 

The orange jacket guy was riding the same kind of e-bike as Ken and Vivian.

We continued on to the next town of Meyersdale.

No Wanda! You can’t go in the water!

Tiny little cemetery 

The Salisbury Viaduct

Nice view!

Notice 217 miles to DC!

Meyersdale was supposedly known as Maple City

It seemed to be more about the trains

We had just 8.3 miles to the Eastern Continental Divide. We also passed this.

GAP mile 27!!!

We stopped at a little Amish farm stand. They had all kinds of things. The young girl (maybe 14 or 15?) had a cute accent. When I commented, she smiled and said I wasn’t the first person to say that. She had 8 siblings. A bunch of them came in on a tractor.

The kids in the back looked like they were having a blast.

After we ate our snacks, we continued on to the Eastern Divide.

Bill and Sue took our photo. I took theirs for them.

Glad we were going down the steeper side!

All downhill from here!

Next up was the Big Savage Tunnel. It was long, but lighted.

Big Savage

I still had my headlight on

The view on the other side was pretty great!

We flew down the trail (sometimes exceeding the 15 mph speed limit). It was very fun!

Our next thing was the Mason Dixon Line (aka the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland).

State #13!!!

Literally standing on the line!

Yep! We have entered our final state! As we rolled on into Maryland, Sarah said she liked it. It was the only state she hadn’t gotten a flat tire in! That probably won’t last long because her rear tire was slowly losing air all day!

We counted down the mile posts. For awhile, we were riding alongside the train tracks. We couldn’t tell if it was an active line. Turns out, it was!

Cool farm

Riding along the tracks

Oh look! A train!

The train was one of those sightseeing trains. Sarah tried to get the engineer to blow the whistle. He didn’t.

We rode the rest of the way into Cumberland.

Look at those rocks!

A canal (is it the C&O?)

One more mile!

Sarah needed to go to a grocery store, and I was heading to my hotel. Once again, we said our goodbyes. Will we see each other again? Hard to say! But, it was awesome riding with her today!

As I came to the very end of the GAP, there was the C&O!

See where it says GAP Mile 0?

As I rode on to my hotel (just a few hundred yards up the C&O), a guy said, “Welcome to Cumberland!”

I got checked in to the Fairfield Inn and Suites. As one might expect, there are many cyclists here. I talked to a few guys that are starting the GAP tomorrow. 

Laundry going, I went to the Crabby Pig for dinner. Had a delicious pulled pork sandwich. Also stopped at the bike shop and got a GAP & C&O sticker for Wanda. Now I need to inventory my food as food is a little tricky to find on the C&O.

Today was my last bigger mile day. The remaining 5 days of riding are only in the 40s with the last two being even shorter. I’m sleeping in tomorrow!

Day 70 and 5 days with less than 200 miles to go!