Tag: Finishing

After a great night of sleep in Harper’s Ferry, we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel with Ellen’s cousin Peter.  We three bikers ate the equivalent of about 9 breakfasts, as we all chatted for about 45 minutes before setting out on the trail for the final push to DC!

We made our way back to the bridge over the Potomac, leading to the trail, having to this time carry our bikes down the twisting metal staircase of doom.  There were less tourists this time.  For part of the way out of Harper’s Ferry, we were also on the Appalachian Trail:

Seeing this sign made me really appreciate just how massive and impressive a trip an Appalachian Trail thru-hike would be.  It is definitely something on my bucket list, if I could ever manage to get away from my current obligations for at least 6 months.  Although, I also just genuinely enjoy biking much more than hiking.

Anyone know of any interesting Appalachian Trail blogs accounts?  Even if it’s something I may never do, I love reading about other people’s adventures.

Anyway, as we started Day 7, I think we were all feeling various aches and pains from the previous 6 days of riding: sore butts, stiff shoulders, tired wrists, and random bruises from flailing our bikes and packs around.  We mostly have written about the cool stuff we’ve seen and done, but much of the trip takes place in the saddle, logging mile after mile.

My usual view on different days was:

And:

Riding with a group, it’s nice when you all become adept at calling out various obstacles: “Branch!” “Hole!” “Section of the C&O that’s entirely missing and is now a cliff into the Potomac!”

Mentally, I try to think of a long riding day in terms of sections.  For instance, today we were looking forward to Mile Marker 36 (out of 62), where White’s Ferry was located.  We thought we would have a nice lunch there but it turns out the town was recovering from a flood so the restaurant off the trail was not open.  We ended up having a lunch of chips and ice cream, basically.  There are few occasions when a meal like that is acceptable, but biking 62 miles in a day is surely one of them.

The next milestone was Great Falls, where we stopped for a quick peak:

From here to DC the trail was quite crowded with tourists.  Near Great Falls especially, the trail was loaded with families and couples walking 2-5 people abreast. We tried to stay patient as we biked slowly around people as we called out, “Passing on your left!”  People largely seemed unaware that they were walking on a major bike trail.  But, living in Chicago and being accustomed to our Lakefront Path, that’s the nature of a popular, multi-use trail.

Once we reached DC, we just followed the path and the old-timey mile markers.  I was surprised that we were actually in the middle of DC, as the path was uninterrupted and seemed kind of below all the city’s action.  We didn’t have to ride in traffic until we made our way to our hotel!  It was really an amazing way to experience the city.

We finally reached Mile Marker 1:

A piece of litter, specifically a fast food cup, was just to the right, just out of frame.  That’s why the mile marker is off center here.  Welcome back to city life!

From Mile 1, the route got a little more complicated, and we had to maneuver a couple of blocks over to get to Lock 1. At this point, we were all out of water, it was hot, and we were quite thirsty.  But. we of course had to celebrate and take pictures:

And, welp, it turns out the trip wasn’t over!

A man from Brazil had just finished the C&O as well and his wife was there taking pictures.  When we said goodbye and started to head toward our hotel, he asked, “Don’t you want to go see Mile 0?”  We didn’t even know that was a thing, so we were glad to have run into him!

So, we hopped back on our bikes, followed the couple to a boat house behind Watergate, and saw the very first lock at the Potomac River AND Mile Marker 0!

Woo-hoo, we did it! (Now where can we get some water?)

Today’s Mileage: 62

Total Trip Mileage: 365