Adelphi, MD
I have created a new website which describes my various adventures, including this one. So I won't be posting to blogspot any more - I have copied this blog to the new website. To keep up with my doings go to www.davidowenroberts.com. To see this blog click on Biking from Maine to Florida. You will be able to comment on a blog posting that is less than 30 days old.
I will be heading south on my bike in another couple of weeks.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Home again, temporarily
Adelphi, MD
It rained my last night on the C&O Canal towpath and my bike got a little muddy on that last leg to home. So when I got home I hosed it off and did a load of laundry. It was a delight to walk into a clean, orderly, spacious, comfortable, familiar space. What a luxury after almost seven months of living outdoors. And the mail! Piles and piles of it. So I have much to do before heading off again to Florida.
In Point of Rocks, Maryland, I met another long-distance biker and we had a long talk about our respective adventures. Come to find out he knows the people at the bike shop in Brunswick, Maine, where I stopped for repairs and purchases. So he took my photo to send it to them. This is the last photo of my seven-month beard before I shaved it off.
Current plans call for my old friend Gregg to ride with me to North Carolina to visit a mutual friend. But this won't happen for more than a month, so now is the time for a little hiatus. More later.
It rained my last night on the C&O Canal towpath and my bike got a little muddy on that last leg to home. So when I got home I hosed it off and did a load of laundry. It was a delight to walk into a clean, orderly, spacious, comfortable, familiar space. What a luxury after almost seven months of living outdoors. And the mail! Piles and piles of it. So I have much to do before heading off again to Florida.
In Point of Rocks, Maryland, I met another long-distance biker and we had a long talk about our respective adventures. Come to find out he knows the people at the bike shop in Brunswick, Maine, where I stopped for repairs and purchases. So he took my photo to send it to them. This is the last photo of my seven-month beard before I shaved it off.
Current plans call for my old friend Gregg to ride with me to North Carolina to visit a mutual friend. But this won't happen for more than a month, so now is the time for a little hiatus. More later.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Family Reunion
Point of Rocks, MD
Harper's Ferry was an important milestone on my ride. There I crossed the Appalachian Trail for the second time since I got on the bike in Maine. I stopped in at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters and took a look at the photo album of AT hikers. This year there have been over 1200 northbound and 500 southbound thru-hikers, more than ever before. I was the 188th northbounder to pass through Harper's Ferry - that was four months ago.
But the highlight of my short visit to Harper's Ferry was to be met and taken out to dinner by two of my siblings. We put my bike in Lea's car and followed Rick to the Golden Corral in Frederick for an AYCE (all you can eat) feast. Then I stayed with Lea for two nights and this morning she took me back to the trail. I appreciate their efforts to welcome me back to civilization and help ease me back to life at home with family and friends.
Harper's Ferry was an important milestone on my ride. There I crossed the Appalachian Trail for the second time since I got on the bike in Maine. I stopped in at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters and took a look at the photo album of AT hikers. This year there have been over 1200 northbound and 500 southbound thru-hikers, more than ever before. I was the 188th northbounder to pass through Harper's Ferry - that was four months ago.
But the highlight of my short visit to Harper's Ferry was to be met and taken out to dinner by two of my siblings. We put my bike in Lea's car and followed Rick to the Golden Corral in Frederick for an AYCE (all you can eat) feast. Then I stayed with Lea for two nights and this morning she took me back to the trail. I appreciate their efforts to welcome me back to civilization and help ease me back to life at home with family and friends.
Monday, September 29, 2014
The Virginians
Carroll Valley, PA
One night I camped beside the C&O Canal along with two gentlemen and a woman from central Virginia. They were biking long days so they could finish the whole 350 miles from Pittsburgh to DC in just five days. They were pumped but tired, clearly proud of themselves for keeping up their speed. I made several attempts to engage them in conversation, but apparently all they could think about was their great achievements. I turned in early and was gone from the campsite before they awoke in the morning. I saw them in passing the next day and we exchanged pleasantries.
The next night I found myself camped next to the canal with four gentlemen and a woman from rural eastern Virginia. They were among the rare hikers on a predominantly biking route. It was their first day of a five day section hike. They had just walked ten miles and they were exhausted, but easy conversation ensued. I learned about their relationships with each other, their working lives, the geography of their homeland, and their love of life. They heard about some of my own hiking and biking adventures and my love of life. We sat around that picnic table long after the sun set sharing stories and a little bourbon. I felt a real connection to these Virginians. It was the perfect ending to a beautiful day on the trail.
One night I camped beside the C&O Canal along with two gentlemen and a woman from central Virginia. They were biking long days so they could finish the whole 350 miles from Pittsburgh to DC in just five days. They were pumped but tired, clearly proud of themselves for keeping up their speed. I made several attempts to engage them in conversation, but apparently all they could think about was their great achievements. I turned in early and was gone from the campsite before they awoke in the morning. I saw them in passing the next day and we exchanged pleasantries.
The next night I found myself camped next to the canal with four gentlemen and a woman from rural eastern Virginia. They were among the rare hikers on a predominantly biking route. It was their first day of a five day section hike. They had just walked ten miles and they were exhausted, but easy conversation ensued. I learned about their relationships with each other, their working lives, the geography of their homeland, and their love of life. They heard about some of my own hiking and biking adventures and my love of life. We sat around that picnic table long after the sun set sharing stories and a little bourbon. I felt a real connection to these Virginians. It was the perfect ending to a beautiful day on the trail.
The Clean Potomac
Carroll Valley, PA
When the sun is low in the sky it can shine on the surface of the river in such a way that you can clearly see the bottom: vegetation lined up with the current, clinging to mud and sand, with the occasional branch from some long forgotten tree. I never expected to see all the way to the bottom of the Potomac River. Perhaps all of the government's efforts to reduce agricultural runoff have met with satisfactory results. But also, the river seems very shallow right now. In fact, while I was camping at the water's edge just downstream from Williamsport, I saw two all-terrain vehicles make it all the way across to the West Virginia side.
Just fifteen miles downstream from the fordable Potomac is the Big Slackwater, miles of water kept deep by dam 4. Here, the cliffs come so close to the river that the nineteenth century engineers decided not to dig a canal at all, but to route barges into the river instead. When I came through there four years ago the towpath along Big Slackwater had washed and I had to take a long detour while contractors were building a new, flood-resistant towpath. That project is now finished and it is a delight to ride along a hard and smooth pathway between the cliffs and the great Potomac.
When the sun is low in the sky it can shine on the surface of the river in such a way that you can clearly see the bottom: vegetation lined up with the current, clinging to mud and sand, with the occasional branch from some long forgotten tree. I never expected to see all the way to the bottom of the Potomac River. Perhaps all of the government's efforts to reduce agricultural runoff have met with satisfactory results. But also, the river seems very shallow right now. In fact, while I was camping at the water's edge just downstream from Williamsport, I saw two all-terrain vehicles make it all the way across to the West Virginia side.
Just fifteen miles downstream from the fordable Potomac is the Big Slackwater, miles of water kept deep by dam 4. Here, the cliffs come so close to the river that the nineteenth century engineers decided not to dig a canal at all, but to route barges into the river instead. When I came through there four years ago the towpath along Big Slackwater had washed and I had to take a long detour while contractors were building a new, flood-resistant towpath. That project is now finished and it is a delight to ride along a hard and smooth pathway between the cliffs and the great Potomac.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Visiting Tim
Cumberland, MD
I can remember clearly the day I met Tim Snyder. It was fifty years ago this month in French Class. My first semester as a member of the class of 1968. I was telling some girl about my adventures as a college dropout and Tim was listening in. Before long Tim and I were not only talking about adventures but experiencing them. He taught me how to sail and introduced me to caving. We both joined the bagpipe band and piped our way across North Carolina. We drove to Montreal in my VW over Christmas break.
Yesterday I paid Tim a visit at his home in Frostburg. It seems that whenever we get together we start right in where we left off, as though no time had passed at all. But this time he described to me how his girlfriend Nancy saved his life by getting to the hospital when he was having a heart attack. Then the same night she died in a tragic head on collision on her way hoe from the hospital. I shared his trauma and his grieving, but I am amazed at how well he seems to be holding up under the weight of it all.
It is so rewarding to me to have long term friendships. I feel blessed to have Tim and friends like him in my life. It is a web that binds us all together and the longer we live the stronger it seems to get.
I can remember clearly the day I met Tim Snyder. It was fifty years ago this month in French Class. My first semester as a member of the class of 1968. I was telling some girl about my adventures as a college dropout and Tim was listening in. Before long Tim and I were not only talking about adventures but experiencing them. He taught me how to sail and introduced me to caving. We both joined the bagpipe band and piped our way across North Carolina. We drove to Montreal in my VW over Christmas break.
Yesterday I paid Tim a visit at his home in Frostburg. It seems that whenever we get together we start right in where we left off, as though no time had passed at all. But this time he described to me how his girlfriend Nancy saved his life by getting to the hospital when he was having a heart attack. Then the same night she died in a tragic head on collision on her way hoe from the hospital. I shared his trauma and his grieving, but I am amazed at how well he seems to be holding up under the weight of it all.
It is so rewarding to me to have long term friendships. I feel blessed to have Tim and friends like him in my life. It is a web that binds us all together and the longer we live the stronger it seems to get.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Busy Railroads
Frostburg, MD
I used to think that railroads were an obsolete mode of transportation, but just a few minutes on the GAP trail proves otherwise. The bike trail parallels active railroads all the way from Pittsburgh to DC. And are they busy! All night long the trains clank and clatter, the ground shakes, and the whistles blow. You see miles of coal cars loaded with fossil fuel. You see miles of auto carriers filled with the latest models of products from the American automotive industry. Tank cars, box cars, and empty cars going back to be refilled. All night long.
When I rode this trail four years ago they were removing the top of a mountain over a tunnel and laying it to one side. Why? The tunnel was too low to allow double decker trains to pass through. Now the tunnel is gone, there being sky where the mountain used to be. Containers on flat cars are stacked one on top of the other so each train can now carry twice as much cargo. Yes, I would say the railroad industry is doing just fine.
I used to think that railroads were an obsolete mode of transportation, but just a few minutes on the GAP trail proves otherwise. The bike trail parallels active railroads all the way from Pittsburgh to DC. And are they busy! All night long the trains clank and clatter, the ground shakes, and the whistles blow. You see miles of coal cars loaded with fossil fuel. You see miles of auto carriers filled with the latest models of products from the American automotive industry. Tank cars, box cars, and empty cars going back to be refilled. All night long.
When I rode this trail four years ago they were removing the top of a mountain over a tunnel and laying it to one side. Why? The tunnel was too low to allow double decker trains to pass through. Now the tunnel is gone, there being sky where the mountain used to be. Containers on flat cars are stacked one on top of the other so each train can now carry twice as much cargo. Yes, I would say the railroad industry is doing just fine.
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