Welp, Day 5 was an adjustment, in terms of riding.  We woke up from our hotel in Cumberland, biked to Mile O of the C&O Towpath and, as anticipated, found that it was indeed quite bumpy.

While the GAP is primarily crushed limestone, the Towpath is a 1-lane dirt road covered with tree roots, sticks, mud puddles, and horse manure.  Running parallel is the old canal, which fell out of use in the 1920s, and is now green and boggy.

Mentally it was a difficult riding day, as it was one of our longer ones at 60 miles. But, we also know that every adventure trip has its ups and downs, and knew we would soon rally.

A cool point in the ride was seeing Paw Paw Tunnel, which we had to walk our bikes through for the entire 0.6 miles. It was much cooler in the tunnel than outside, and the ground inside was very uneven and bumpy. I remember looking to my right a couple of times at the wall and seeing large chunks of brick missing (a perfect spot to hide a treasure if you ask me).

A high point was stopping at Bill’s Place for pizza and crab cakes.  Although, it did have a Confederate flag on the ceiling and some interesting signs:

I have no idea what this means.

Along the Towpath, every couple miles is a lock, which is cool, as each one also has an old lock house:

Now, remember our flat tire a few days ago?  Well, when Ellen and I were at the bike store getting some tubes, the owner gave us a tip to pick up the Western Maryland Rail Trail, which is paved and runs parallel to the Towpath for 22 miles. That started about 50 miles in:

Wonderful, heavenly pavement!

At the end of our ride, we made it to Happy Hills Campground.  This site was teeming with people and families celebrating the July 4th weekend.  Despite the crowds, we were happy to shower, set up our tents, and eat supper. Lauren cooked a delicious meal, complete with pie for dessert:

Everyone was very friendly at the aptly-named Happy Hills.  Some of the regulars there, those who seem to pay for spots on a seasonal basis, have quite impressive campers and set-ups.  The family next to us had a massive camper, complete with a big TV, a front porch, a shed, and a cool tripod grate (which they let us borrow to roast our pies over our campfire!)

A couple hours after we arrived at Happy Hills, a few guys probably in their mid-20s showed up after us who had also ridden from Cumberland. Although, lucky them, a man was supporting them via truck and had set up their tents for them, brought them a cooler, and inflated air mattresses for them.

Not going to lie, we were proud of ourselves for doing the ride completely self-supported, and for being at least a decade older than them.

We then made our campfire and, later, retired to our tents to the sounds of a live country music cover band, underage girls drunkenly talking, and random young men shouting “whooooo.”

Onward we go!

Today’s Mileage: 60

Tomorrow’s Itinerary: Hancock, MD to Harper’s Ferry, WV