Allegheny Passage – contemplating straight through ride from Pittsburgh to DC

[Bilsko]

Now that the route to Pittsburgh is essentially complete, it goes on my list of rides to do.

If I can find a weekend later this summer or, more likely, in the early Fall – I’d like to do the ride either as a straight through 24-30 hour ride, or split up as a pair of 165-milers. Trail riding, especially on the C&O, will bring average speed way down, but I think with minimal stops, 30 hours is a reasonable target. Heck, some PBP riders pull off 750 miles in 55-60 hours.

I think the ideal plan would be to sort out how to get the bike on the Amtrak train up to Pittsburgh. Get in around 11PM/midnight, find a place to stay, then start the ride early the next morning.

Riding out to Pittsburgh would also be an option but I’d rather deal with travel logistics before the ride than after.

Topic

[culimerc]

@Tim Kelley 52778 wrote:

Interesting. And what is the surface like farther out from DC? I’m familiar with the packed dirt/gravel closer in to DC. Is it like that the whole way?

Since I’m without a CX bike, is this a carbon road bike with thicker tires on it kinda of ride? Or more of a 29er with slick tires and clip on aerobars kind of ride?

At 15 mph average that’s about 22 hours of moving time. Who are we getting to sag us for that long?

Do you start first thing in the morning so that you’re riding in the middle of the night when you are most tired, or do you wait until after your afternoon nap to ride in the evening when you are fresh?

If your just doing the C&O from Cumberland its “only” 184 miles. 12.5 hours of moving time @ 15mph. That is definitely doable. Start at 4 or 5 am, you’d be done before 8 even with stops.

[hozn]

@culimerc 52844 wrote:

If your just doing the C&O from Cumberland its “only” 184 miles. 12.5 hours of moving time @ 15mph. That is definitely doable. Start at 4 or 5 am, you’d be done before 8 even with stops.

Yeah, I was contemplating only a single direction. (Would have to find someone willing to drive up and drop off, of course …) I think the 15mph average may be a little more aggressive than it sounds, but that is the same sort of logic I brought to the equation. As creadinger notes, I’ve heard that the mud can be pretty intense, which may mean just not doing it if it had rained recently or budgeting more time.

I was gonna ride it with 32-35mm cx tires. My buddy was gonna ride it on a single-speed 29er (with 1.8″ tires and gearing that allowed for comfortable spinning at 18mph).

This may not end up being the year for me (baby!) but I definitely want to do this. This seems like a great cycling milestone.

[rpiretti]

Just to contribute to the conversation – a few weeks ago I did a C&O trip up to Harpers Ferry. Look HERE, I did a full report of the surfaces, conditions, even some videos. There’s a link to my FLICKR stream too on my blog. Had tons of fun.

If you average 15mph for that long of a period of time, that is quite good. But, I found dodging depressions and rocks took a lot of attn away from focusing on speed. But, I wasn’t there to focus on speed in the first place.

[Bilsko]

Quick comment to remind myself to pick up this thread again. Won’t be able to do this over weekday as I originally planned, but weekend trip may be in order for July, or August.
Nor sure about timing – originally thought early AM departure from Pittsburgh (because train from DC would get in at about 11PM night before) but afternoon departure might make more sense…

[Dirt]

@Bilsko 55241 wrote:

Quick comment to remind myself to pick up this thread again. Won’t be able to do this over weekday as I originally planned, but weekend trip may be in order for July, or August.
Nor sure about timing – originally thought early AM departure from Pittsburgh (because train from DC would get in at about 11PM night before) but afternoon departure might make more sense…

Arrive Friday evening and leave Saturday afternoon?

One-way car rental might also be a possibility.

[Author]

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