Group Ride Indication of Interest: Great Allegheny Passage

I am looking to do a six-day ride from Pittsburgh to DC on the Great Allegheny Passage/C&O Canal Towpath. Ride is ~333 miles point to point. Trail is packed gravel mostly, some slightly more rugged/bumpy paths further in. I am looking to see if there are any hardy folks that want to put a contingent together and do this thing in six days or less. 

Kick it around if you are interested and post your reply below. We can figure out how to get in touch and discuss later. For now, I just want to see if there is any general interest. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Allegheny_Passage

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Permalink Reply by Tricolor on March 1, 2020 at 7:01am

Any idea of when? I rode it in 2013 in late October in five days with a day in Pittsburgh and two in DC. I booked rooms in Ohiopyle, Cumberland, Hancock, and Harpers Ferry which I don't regret as it rained all three days I was on the C&O. It is nowhere near as new or well maintained as the GAP but you can still slog 65 miles a day on it.

Pittsburgh to Cumberland would be a decent two-day trip and in theory you could catch the train back to Chicago that second night and be downtown around nine in the morning but you really should have a shower before you board.

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on March 1, 2020 at 7:36am

I should have said the ride was five days. The time in Pittsburgh and DC was extra.

Permalink Reply by SixtyTwoPercent on March 2, 2020 at 1:20pm

This could be a tuneup ride for me as well. I am not opposed to riding for two or three days to see what's what. Love the bike. That is my next consideration...upgrade my tires on my Novara Express or go full Rambo and get a bike like yours. Love the fenders and f/r panniers. 

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on March 4, 2020 at 12:47pm
It was so much better just three years later when I rode it. The trail from downtown to McKeesport was finished in 2013, though I crossed the river downtown at the Smithfield Street bridge and used a local trail rather than ride down the middle of the Penn highway on the official trail. The GAP crosses the river a mile or so later at the former J&L works and joins the local trail on the south side of the Monongahela.
Permalink Reply by Tricolor on March 5, 2020 at 5:14am
Big Savage Tunnel is scheduled to open on March 20. It's the only link in the trail that closes for the winter. It's a little over half a mile long and after climbing for so long when you come out on the east tide you see how high up you are and have a long down down to Cumberland.

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