[KayakCyndi]

@KLizotte 89019 wrote:

^^^
Awesome! Looks like you got better weather than we did.

How would you rate the GAP surface against, say, the C&O?

Were bugs while riding a big problem?

Where did you start and end up? Did you double back?

Are there water stations along the way?

I’m thinking of hitting the GAP over the July 4th wknd (but staying in hotel(s) if I decide to do some overnights).

It was awesome! Although I’m not sure about better weather. It poured Friday night and we had some rain again on Saturday. Fortunately the surface of the GAP is better than the C&O which meant while it was wet it wasn’t a total muddy mess. Don’t get me wrong, we got plenty dirty but at least it wasn’t the kind of mud that impedes progress like the C&O has.

We didn’t have any bugs but I’m sure that will change as the weather warms up. That said there isn’t a ton of just standing water so maybe it isn’t as bad.

We rode one way. Liz rented a mini-van from Enterprise which we picked up in Fairfax and dropped of in Pittsburgh near the train station. The drop off point was just a few blocks from the start of the trail. From there we rode to Cumberland. You can check out our Strava feeds for the routing, distance etc.

Water is easy to find. There are hiker/biker sites with water and towns with water. Food though is another story. Pretty slim pickings in some of the trail towns.

The GAP website has lists of the hotels and B&Bs in the area but CasyKane50 is right that they might be booked up already over the 4th.

[KayakCyndi]

Eminva and I had an awesome time riding the GAP this past weekend.

This little video will give you a flavor of the trip. Enjoy!

[video=youtube_share;o9GnzJTlAD4]http://youtu.be/o9GnzJTlAD4[/video]

[KayakCyndi]

Liz and I were just discussing this while riding the other day. Science says that a routine of exercise then eat breakfast teaches the body to burn more fat. While I get the concept I’m dead if I don’t have a cup of coffee and something before I commute in. Lately I’ve taken to scaling back the at home breakfast to a piece of toast or some fruit and then having second breakfast at my office. Upside is I get to eat twice!

[KayakCyndi]

@ShawnoftheDread 88197 wrote:

How’d you convince Dave to buy a fancy bike?

Bribed him with a trip to explore the Idaho 50 Hot Springs Route and our good friends at Bikenetic helped convince him this would be perfect!

[KayakCyndi]

@dcv 88182 wrote:

sorry, it was slick out there. hope you didn’t break anything on you or the bike.

Indeed it was slick. I was the person gingerly walking their bike around the corner on the trollheim bridge this morning. That was until I realized my tires had better traction that my shoes!

[KayakCyndi]

Not mine but here is the latest to join our fleet — Dave’s Jamis Dragon 29er from Bikenetic!

[KayakCyndi]

@PotomacCyclist 87556 wrote:

Has anyone tried the bike box/checked baggage process between D.C. and Richmond or Williamsburg? How smoothly does it go? Any unforeseen or foreseen hassles or problems? $15 for a box isn’t outrageously expensive. (I was worried that it would cost much more, like $100 or higher.) But does the bike arrive unscathed? Any difficulties at the destination station? Lost bikes?

There are now two annual triathlons in Willamsburg each summer, plus many people may just want to go for casual scenic rides around the Williamsburg/Jamestown area. There’s also a gran fondo this Sunday, the day after one of the triathlons. It would be awesome if the bike box system works fairly well. While I’m not doing any of the Williamsburg events this year, I’ll probably do one or two of them next year. I’d love to avoid the awful experience of driving from Northern Virginia to Williamsburg and take Amtrak instead (then rent a car locally in Richmond or Williamsburg).

http://www.setupevents.com/?fuseaction=event_detail&eventID=2516

FYI – Registration for the Jamestown Gran Fondo is open until tomorrow morning.

Alas, Williamsburg is a stop without baggage service and so for now, at least according to my understanding, that means no boxed bikes. Richmond would be an option. As far as I’ve heard, boxing the bikes is easy as the Amtrak boxes are HUGE and they arrive in good shape.

Personally, I’m considering a folding bike just to be able to take it on the train to WB until some type of roll-on service becomes available!

[KayakCyndi]

@acl 87445 wrote:

And all it cost me was about 14 bruises, an apparent ride through (fall into?) a thorn bush, and any dignity I started the day with!

Excellent! I can relate to all of that as I was just commenting on the lovely shade of purple my elbow, knee and shin are taking on.

[KayakCyndi]

@acl 87167 wrote:

…totally contrary to any reasonable person’s judgment.

Reasonable people don’t have much much!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5797[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]5798[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]5799[/ATTACH]
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A few other photos from the day are over at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kayakcyndi/.

[KayakCyndi]

@rcannon100 86976 wrote:

Not unless it was the other rcannon (Rachael Cannon, and it would be a long ride for her, she is in Alaska). I am sitting at home with these:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5780[/ATTACH]

Can we change your forum name to puppypusher?

[KayakCyndi]

@dcv 86955 wrote:

Want to start at 9? last year we started too early for the stops and finished before they tapped the keg.

I’m good with that. I’d happily sleep a little longer!

[KayakCyndi]

@Phatboing 86947 wrote:

Me me me!

I thought long and hard about biking the 13(?) miles to the start, but this is more appealing.

Ok. I’ll PM you. See you Sunday.

[KayakCyndi]

Ok, bumping this. Don’t forget Nova Epic on Sunday June 1. I’m in for the 40 on the Viaje. Coming from Falls Church and have space for another bike if anyone wants a ride. See you at the start in Lake Fairfax!

[KayakCyndi]

@vern 86691 wrote:

Thanks. The detour signs were still up this morning so I didn’t bother to look and instead, just headed up Eads (but only one tour bus parked this morning!).

I was just commenting to Shawnofthedread on the way in today that I’ll likely never know when they open the trail again as I’ve gotten so accustomed to riding straight up Eads!

[KayakCyndi]

@rcannon100 86558 wrote:

Well, Matt had his blue jeans on.

And I wore a skirt. We’re also convinced that Shawn wears his cycling cap at his desk.

[Author]

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