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The Click & Clack of bikes
Best ride segment: Meyersdale, PA to Cumberland, MD, particularly from Frostburg on. It's all downhill, right next to the steam engine tracks for a good ways and the views are awesome.
Worst ride segment: I had two, although "worst" is relative.
Cumberland to Little Orleans, MD: it is indeed rougher coming out of Cumberland - ruts that will be dry or mud, depending on your weather. But I had trained on paths hat were similar, so I frankly wondered why everyone I talked to made such a fuss about it. White's Ferry, VW to Georgetown, MD: both the beginning and the end few miles are rough. The beginning had lots of mud and puddles and roots. The ending was rocky, like rolling on cobblestone.
Best B&B: Wow. Hard to call just even one or two out. I will do a full B&B report in another blog, but if I limit myself to two, I'd say the Levi Deal Mansion in Meyersdale, PA and the Town Hill Hotel in Little Orleans, MD. Both had outstanding innkeepers and outstanding breakfasts.
Worst B&B:The Town Inn, historic Harper's Ferry, VW. Technically not a B&B because they don't serve breakfast (they have a restaurant on the ground floor). But the innkeeper was scatterbrained or overwhelmed and the place was not very clean.
Best dinner: The Press Room, Shepherdstown, WV. Nice bar to sit at, friendly locals. Good meal. (Known for their selection of oysters if you are into that.
Best trail: GAP and C&O are very different kinds of trails. GAP follows rail lines and has lots of train history and old bridges. It's in better condition than the C&) - a smoother ride. C&) is a mule path, much more rustic, but you learn a lot of civil war history along the way. You see lots of locks/aqueducts and nature. I like trains better than history, but I loved the "deeper forest" feeling of the C&C -- so it's a toss-up!
Best bike shop: I stopped at many, if only to say hello and get my tire pressure adjusted. Just loved the Click & Clack brothers at Bikes Unlimited in Connellsville, PA. The Confluence Cyclery was also real friendly.
Best starting point: Homestead, PA, just south of Pittsburgh. I liked going West to East personally; I did not find a reason to want to go opposite that if I did the ride again. And until they finish the gap in the trail at the water park in Pittsburgh, local PGH people warn against using the roadways that bypass the waterark; they are very dangerous for bikers.
Worst ride segment: I had two, although "worst" is relative.
Cumberland to Little Orleans, MD: it is indeed rougher coming out of Cumberland - ruts that will be dry or mud, depending on your weather. But I had trained on paths hat were similar, so I frankly wondered why everyone I talked to made such a fuss about it. White's Ferry, VW to Georgetown, MD: both the beginning and the end few miles are rough. The beginning had lots of mud and puddles and roots. The ending was rocky, like rolling on cobblestone.
Best B&B: Wow. Hard to call just even one or two out. I will do a full B&B report in another blog, but if I limit myself to two, I'd say the Levi Deal Mansion in Meyersdale, PA and the Town Hill Hotel in Little Orleans, MD. Both had outstanding innkeepers and outstanding breakfasts.
Worst B&B:The Town Inn, historic Harper's Ferry, VW. Technically not a B&B because they don't serve breakfast (they have a restaurant on the ground floor). But the innkeeper was scatterbrained or overwhelmed and the place was not very clean.
Best dinner: The Press Room, Shepherdstown, WV. Nice bar to sit at, friendly locals. Good meal. (Known for their selection of oysters if you are into that.
Best trail: GAP and C&O are very different kinds of trails. GAP follows rail lines and has lots of train history and old bridges. It's in better condition than the C&) - a smoother ride. C&) is a mule path, much more rustic, but you learn a lot of civil war history along the way. You see lots of locks/aqueducts and nature. I like trains better than history, but I loved the "deeper forest" feeling of the C&C -- so it's a toss-up!
Best bike shop: I stopped at many, if only to say hello and get my tire pressure adjusted. Just loved the Click & Clack brothers at Bikes Unlimited in Connellsville, PA. The Confluence Cyclery was also real friendly.
Best starting point: Homestead, PA, just south of Pittsburgh. I liked going West to East personally; I did not find a reason to want to go opposite that if I did the ride again. And until they finish the gap in the trail at the water park in Pittsburgh, local PGH people warn against using the roadways that bypass the waterark; they are very dangerous for bikers.