C&O Canal trip

[partirishman]

Looking for a potential riding partner from Cumberland to DC sometime this spring. Meet in Cumberland and share a rental car back to our starting point. First time bikepacking so any ideas/advice would be great!

[steelsteed]

Im in Victoria looking for some trip ideas around the last week or two in March. What did you have in mind for route?

[esskay1000]

Looking for a potential riding partner from Cumberland to DC sometime this spring. Meet in Cumberland and share a rental car back to our starting point. First time bikepacking so any ideas/advice would be great!

Having done the C&O a few times, my biggest piece of advice would be in the timing of your trip. I know it can be very hard to do, but you want to avoid going after there have been substantial rains or if it is muddy.  When its muddy it's a relentless trail, that will beat you down and make a mess of your bike. On one muddy excursion the trail actually ruin the drivetrain on my cross bike. It was like being in a muddy cross race, except for a hundred and eighty miles of it

[Benny]

I bike packed last fall and am planning to do that and the C&O this spring.  Most likely I would do it starting or ending on the weekend of June 13th, but will have some flexibility.  I have heard mixed reviews on the C&O with mud and rain.  Some people say that the conditions have improved over recent years, however with government gridlock and some members of congress pushing to not fund national parks etc. I'm going to take the cautious route and probably put on cyclocross tires.  I have a single speed cyclocross bike which is better for cleaning the drive train.  I used panniers last time, but have a trailer that I will only use half of if your looking for space (mud being my only concern there). 

[Benny]

Im in Victoria looking for some trip ideas around the last week or two in March. What did you have in mind for route?

I don't think there are any tunnels on the C&O, but the GAP does and they close the doors on them during the winter, so you might want to check and see when those open up if there are any.

[esskay1000]

I don't think there are any tunnels on the C&O, but the GAP does and they close the doors on them during the winter, so you might want to check and see when those open up if there are any.

There's the famous Paw Paw Tunnel on the C&O, it's awesome.  I don't think it closes at all though

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paw_Paw_Tunnel

[Terry66]

I am pretty sure the only tunnel that closes is the Big Savage on the GAP. It should be open in the early spring. Another option to renting a car is to get a shuttle. The bike shop in Cumberland offers a shuttle service to DC or Pitt. I haven't used them, but I have been in the store and they seem like great people. I have used the shuttle from the West Newton bike shop just outside Pittsbugh. They gave us a ride to Deal. We rode down the hill into Cumberland and then headed back to Pitt the next day.

[Snowbd2u]

I was planning on starting in dc and going west sometime in April after they open the gap tunnel. Unless I can manage a ride to Pittsburgh. We did a beginner ride from Pitt to Cumberland last fall. There are shuttles that will take you from cumberland to Pitt. We used them then. This year I was trying to see how fast I could do the whole thing. I'll be on a SS.... But planning on a lot of mileage per day.