I woke early at the Husky Haven, had my coffee and packed up.
Rockwood to Meyersdale was uneventful. Good weather. The trail forested, and slightly uphill.
You pass the Salisbury Viaduct on this stretch, which is just an embarrassingly wonderful trail connection over highways and river.
I stopped briefly in Frostburg, and considered going into town for coffee. But, I got talking to a guy from Connecticut who was waiting in the visitor's area for his brother to ride up from the south. I drank some water, looked at my guide-book, and we talked about Canada and the U.S., and he had relatives in Quebec so he'd visited Quebec a few times.
I decided to just get going again, so I continued down to Cumberland. Coasting almost all the way.
Frostburg to Cumberland was actually a little bit boring, and I didn't really enjoy sliding alongside the Western Maryland Scenic Railway the whole time. It was mid-afternoon and dust was coming up from the trail, and with every turn of my wheels, all I could think about was how hard it was going to be to haul my cargo trailer UP this climb for 20 miles on Thursday morning.
In Cumberland I hung out in Canal Place, and was talking to a young long-distance hauler named Rowen (Rowan?). He'd already done 500+ miles just to get to Cumberland, starting somewhere down the east coast. He was travelling with all his gear on his bike, in rear and front panniers, and with some stuff on his bars and on a rear rack.
In Cumberland, I stayed in a hotel, the Ramada, which lets cyclists bring their full rig up into their room with them.
Rockwood to Meyersdale was uneventful. Good weather. The trail forested, and slightly uphill.
You pass the Salisbury Viaduct on this stretch, which is just an embarrassingly wonderful trail connection over highways and river.
I biked through Meyersdale and would eventually stop at a little trail-head called Deal, where I had my power bar and guzzled down some water. After Deal, you hit several interesting things all in one fairly short stretch:
The Eastern Continental Divide
At 2392 feet, this is the highest point on the GAP trail, and you quickly descend down to Cumberland, which is at 620 feet.
The Big Savage Tunnel
Big Savage is a km of biking through near darkness. When I biked through on this southbound trip, the orange lights you see in the ceiling were out for the 2nd half of the tunnel... so the southern half. So... it was pitch black in there, though I did have lights on and a flashlight in my hand.
The Mason Dixon Line
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were a British survey team that established the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania between 1763 and 1767. When you pass this point... going south... you're now in Maryland.
The Borden Tunnel
The Borden Tunnel isn't as insanely long as the Big Savage, but is still pretty interesting when you're smack in the middle with no lights.
I stopped briefly in Frostburg, and considered going into town for coffee. But, I got talking to a guy from Connecticut who was waiting in the visitor's area for his brother to ride up from the south. I drank some water, looked at my guide-book, and we talked about Canada and the U.S., and he had relatives in Quebec so he'd visited Quebec a few times.
I decided to just get going again, so I continued down to Cumberland. Coasting almost all the way.
In Cumberland I hung out in Canal Place, and was talking to a young long-distance hauler named Rowen (Rowan?). He'd already done 500+ miles just to get to Cumberland, starting somewhere down the east coast. He was travelling with all his gear on his bike, in rear and front panniers, and with some stuff on his bars and on a rear rack.
In Cumberland, I stayed in a hotel, the Ramada, which lets cyclists bring their full rig up into their room with them.
I showered right away, with some of my clothing (leaving them to air dry). And then I figured out where the post office was, ran over there and bought a shipping box, and brought it back to the hotel and started filling it with gear that I no longer felt like I needed, and also considered useless extra weight that I didn't want to be carrying back up the mountain the next day.
All told, it cost me $55.00 or so American to mail my dirty laundry and a few other things back to Canada!
After my 2nd trip to the Post Office, I ambled through Cumberland's pedestrian boulevard to Uncle Jack's Pizzeria and Pub. I worked on my journal in there and happily enjoyed a couple of beer, a plate of fries, and a mushroom and black olive pizza.
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