Day 1: Williamsport, MD to Antietam National Battlefield (30 miles)
Our first ride was in the middle of a very hot day. Although I had asked, "Do you guys all have enough water," and the answer was, "yes," I should have checked for myself. A young man typically needs more than 8 ounces of water for a 3-hour mountain bike ride in the heat, but that's about all they brought. Needless to say, I was emptying my camelback into their bottles until we could refill at one of the C&O pumps. Just prior to that, at least one young man discovered just how refreshing a cool spring could be on a hot day.
Not far from Snyder's Landing (about halfway into the 30 miles), I saw a few chickens just off the towpath, and a sign that read, "Eggs for sale." I couldn't ride by without asking. So I dropped $3 and carried 24 farm-fresh eggs in my backpack the rest of the way to Antietam.
If the spring water didn't kill the young men, maybe these eggs would ...
In reality, the eggs were delicious, and we ate almost all of them the next morning. Here is a snapshot of our incredible campsite. We basically had the place to ourselves. No mosquitoes, quiet and cool, and a couple of rope swings were a short walk away. It doesn't get better than this!
Our second day we hauled logs around Antietam for a service project, then hit the road again. The ride into Harper's Ferry was beautiful, though we had a couple of mechanical issues with the bikes. One bike had front brake issues that led to a brakectomy, and another bike had a chain tangle so bad that two links were twisted to about a 30 degree-from-straight angle. Adventure? Yes! Our final half mile into the campsite was a decent climb. Just enough to wake up everyone's legs.
I log plenty of miles on my bikes every year, but this week brought me back to my childhood when my only form of transportation was a bike. I got a bit nostalgic when we rode our bikes to the service station in Antietam to buy sodas, like a gang of kids looking for trouble.
Did I mention there was a rope swing near our campsite? The Ranger asked us if we wanted a free tour of the Battleground, but our young men just wanted to spend a couple more hours on the rope swing. The adults were outvoted.
Day 3: Harper's Ferry
I've heard more than my share of West Virginia jokes, and after camping at the WV KOA Kampground, I'm here to tell you that every one of them is true. I love people-watching, and there is no better place on earth than a KOA -- especially in the heart of West Virginia.
We ate well on this trip. In addition to farm fresh eggs, we had dutch oven dinners three nights. Shepherd's pie & peach cobbler, Creamy chicken with rice & blue cornbread & brownies, and chicken pot pie & brownies.
I've tried to replicate this cornbread in my oven at home, even using dutch ovens, and it's just not the same as cooking it outdoors.
We spent one whole day in Harper's Ferry doing a zipline/canopy tour and floating the river, and resting our bike muscles for the big day ...
Day 4: Harper's Ferry to Swain's Lock (50 miles)
The Cycling Merit Badge requires a buildup of successively longer rides -- 10 miles, 10, 15, 15, 25, 25, then a 50-miler to finish it off. Our 50 was a beautiful ride along the river and canal from Harper's Ferry to Swain's Lock, just a few miles north of the District of Columbia. This photo was taken at the start of the ride -- nobody was smiling near as much 6 hours later when we rolled into Swain's Lock.
Everyone survived the ride, though our average pace slowed by about 25% every hour after hour 1. We celebrated at the finish with Five Guys burgers and greasy fries.
Day 5: Swain's Lock to Washington, DC Temple (20 miles)
The next day we cooked breakfast in the rain and set out early toward the DC Temple. It is amazing to me that DC has so many bike paths winding through the city that you can get from the canal all the way to Kensington (where the Temple is located) without riding on city streets for more than a block or two. After the 50-miler, this ride was easy peasy.
Although the high adventure trip was a deviation from the normal training routine, I was reminded of a few things: 1. I had forgotten how uncomfortable a mountain bike is compared to a roadie. 2. I had forgotten how much fun a rope swing can be on a hot afternoon. 3. I had forgotten just how refreshing an adventure could be when it doesn't involve a stopwatch or heart rate monitor.
Sigh ... back to training!
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