Hi all,
Can anyone comment on two overnight places to stay? The first is the Donges Motel in Meyersdale, PA. The second is Apex Lodging in Paw Paw, MD. All the other places we are staying during the Pittsburgh to DC trip have lots of comments about them. Thanks.
Hello kind keepers of gap trail knowledge!
I'll be in Pittsburgh for work in late July, so I figured I might as well take a train and bike home to DC after. I've been wanting to do it for years—carpe diem and all that.
Looking forward to something of a physical challenge, so I'm thinking 5 nights / six days of riding. I'll do some training leading up to it, but I've been riding centuries roughly quarterly for a few years now, so I think I know what I'm getting into.
Here are some questions I'd love opinions on:
Hello, planning my trip now, will be doing in at the end of June.
This is the cheapest one I've found : Holiday Inn Express & Suites Pittsburgh-South Side by IHG . Do you recommend it ? I see most of the hotels in the area have prices starting at $150 per night , just trying to find something decent and not as expensive to spend the night before starting the GAP on June 30th . Thanks a lot.
Hi- I'll be in Pittsburgh for a few days in August for a bike planning conference. Looking to get out on the trail afterwards, and would have up to 4 nights on trail. I'm a decent rider, and will probably be credit card touring since I don't want to pack too heavy for the work trip. First day would be light, like maybe a half-day of riding, but I'll be solo and can probably just lock in and ride the other days.
I can fly into either DC or PGH, but will need to rent a bike in one of the places, and probably a one-way rental to drive back to my origin point and fly out. I've already done the first 30 miles out of PGH (rented from Golden Triangle bike) but would do it again.
Looking for logistical ideas on how to do this the smoothest way possible- TIA!
Setting out this weekend from Pitt to DC over 5 days. Camping 3 of the 4 nights. Lots of rain in the forecast. Sure hope it’s wrong
I’m riding the Gap and C&O June 6-12 this year and curious how bad the mosquitos and no-see-ums are going to be so that I can plan accordingly.
This will be my first time on the trails, so any insight you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
Had a great ride from Pitt to Cumberland but the Amtrak train we have booked doesn’t look like it is coming… rough ending to a great ride…
I'm talking the whole GAP And C&O at once. Either direction doesn't really matter. This may hit harder if you camp vs hotel but this is my biggest takeaway from my 6 day bike packing trip along the GAP and C&O.
The shock of going from 6 days of riding in nature, listening to wildlife, flowing water, not seeing a person for sometimes hours to...arriving in Georgetown (or Pittsburgh id imagine) and being greeted with rush hour traffic on a Tuesday, was, a shock to my system I did not like at all. I don't even want to go back into town to do the museums tomorrow. I'm looking forward to going back to my quiet small town
Good God it was sketchy today. Guy being brought in at the police station door right on trail in handcuffs. Shady homeless people down by the water. And then trail goes by what I could only classify as a ghetto. Kids outside in just diapers, etc, etc.
Has it always been this bad? None of you guys ever showed that in your you tube videos that I have seen.
Not too stiff, very nice steel bike. Currently 700C x 35 Gravel King plus or something like that, tubeless. Have herringbone thin tread. Seemed to do OK on the C&O at 40 psi. Didn't try loaded. They look thin and get mildly (no issue) squirrely on recent softer trail patches.
Would it be adviseable to pick up tires with more tread for riding a few days on C&O / GAP? I'm primarily thinking of overall tread thickness, but grip is also a consideration.
I can't fit larger tires with sufficient mud guard clearance, much as I'd like to pop up to 42 mm tires.
I can rig a balanced light touring load or take my BOB trailer. Very tempted by the trailer rig. But it adds some weight. Opinions/observations/warnings/funny stories?
Hey folks, don't forget to sign the books at the welcome centers if you stop. Trail organizations use the registries as trail usage evidence when applying for funding. They also use them to highlight where trail visitors are from.
I rode the GAP from Pittsburgh to Dravo, then back with a detour to Homestead's Golden Age Brewing for Jazz Brunch with some of the family. To add a few more miles, I headed to and through the Color Park, and then climbed my way back home.
The trail was still sparsely populated. Even when it's nicer out, I'm still not seeing more than 5-10 riders out, which is weird. I'm also not seeing any of my "regulars", what I call the walkers I normally see on the path at the mall. This saddens me. I hope they're ok.
On the flip side, when I stopped at Boston, the welcome center was open. When I signed the book, I saw a good number of riders, and some interesting international ones at that. At least that's encouraging.
I also saw two large groups (4+) loaded with gear for a multi day ride. Until now, I've seen a few solo riders. Nice to see we're starting to ramp up the season.
Found a pannier in the road. Moved it out of the road and put it against a sign on the trail. Hoping the owner finds it 🤞