THE DOWNHILL SLIDE

Today we were on the trail at 9:45. We all went this time, including David. We had another 2 miles of uphill, but along the way was the Eastern Continental Divide, that provided a photo opportunity. Shortly after that, we stopped at the mouth of the Big Savage Tunnel for another photo op. The tunnel is a mile long and provided a blast of cool air that felt great. On the other side we were on top of the world. There are amazing views from mountain tops! About a mile after that we were at the Mason-Dixon line . . . another photo op! Now were are in Maryland. At this point David & Michaela turned back . . . this gave Michaela her 10 miles and David some much needed fresh air away from the drama of the truck.

Zak, Kera, and I pushed on, but this ride was sweet! From this point on it was all downhill. Amazingly downhill! In fact, we rarely pedaled for 25 miles - no joke. The funny thing about this though was that different muscles are now being used to try to keep all your weight off the seat. We were laughing about how we were looking forward to the descent but now other muscles are sore!

Much of the trail was alongside a currently used railroad track, and I mean alongside, right against, next to the track. It was really amazing though, and we did get to experience a train coming by. It was only about 6 cars long, hauling tourists I guess. The conductor blew his horn for us too.

At 25 miles we dropped Zak off with David. They went off ahead to set up camp, while Kera and I moved onward. Although, we did stop to eat right away at a place called The Crabby Pig. It was a BBQ joint. Then, Kera had a small issue to sort out with her job on the phone. . . so we were again starting off the afternoon at 3:30pm. It was insanely hot this day! It was so hot, it was stifling to breathe. We were in the open sun for about 30 minutes, then the C&O canal towpath appeared and we were in the shade the rest of the day.

So the rest of this day we rode on the towpath along the canal, which as built 150 or so years ago. I'm sure it was something great in it's day, but now it is a swamp, completely covered with green and dead trees crisscrossing it. We passed by the locks used to get the boats up and down the canal. The locks had boarded up houses next to them, as they must have been used by the "locksmith" - ha, ha. Just kidding. I don't know what he would have been called, but he would have been there to work that specific lock. It's really neat seeing a piece of history like this. Once upon a time, people worked and thrived along this canal.

I will also say that the towpath is not a gentle path at all. It is rough and hard on the old body. Lots of potholes, mudpuddles, sticks, stones, and roots all perfectly placed to add a little more pain to the rump. At this point, my rump feels nothing but pain, which I expect will remain that way the rest of the trip. The good thing is, the pain never gets any worse; it just doesn't go away or get any better!

We saw a lot of wildlife today. A lot of deer, turtles (not only in the canal but smack right on the towpath too), groundhogs, squirrles that jump straight up in the air like a scared cat if you get too close to them, and we had to ride through a flock of Canadian Geese that hissed and honked as we passed through.

We covered 55 miles today, and none of them were going backwards!