Biking the Great Alleghany Passage – Day 3 – Afternoon
End of the GAP Bike Ride of the Fearsome Foursome
We complete our story by recounting the events of the afternoon on the final third day. After biking 30 miles on an uphill grade since 8AM we stopped for lunch in Meyersdale at the GI dayroom Coffee Shop.
$8.79 and all the breakfast you can eat
Without a doubt, one of my favorite meals on the trail. An iconic barstool diner with delicious food. I felt like I had gone fifty years back in time.
You have to love the bottom sentance of the marker board in the diner.
After brunch, we kept slogging uphill for another 10 miles to the top of the continental divide of the Eastern United States.
Celebration at the top
The Eastern Continental Divide was the highest elevation of our trip. It is all downhill from here!
Elevation: 2,393 feet above sea level. And a gain of nearly 2,000 feet in elevation from Pittsburgh to get here.
As we biked to the divide the rivers flowed towards the Mississippi river. After we topped the continental divide all the rivers flow to the Atlantic Ocean.
Coming up on the Savage Tunnel. The longest tunnel on our trip: 3,294 feet.
The small dot in the bottom right in the below picture is the other end of the tunnel
The three longest tunnels we went through were the Savage Brush, and Borden tunnels.
Bring your bike flashlight for dark tunnels!
The finish line
From the same medallion in Pittsburgh, PA, to the one in Cumberland, MD the four bikers rejoice in victory.
Exhausted and Exuberant
Bob recorded that over the three days we trekked 158.8 miles and put in 13 hours of bike riding
Epilogue
Carl’s final thoughts: “Rekindled my spiritual connection to nature. Reinforced the importance of living a balanced life. Seek the adventures beyond your routines. Shared an experience with an awesome gorup of guys.”
C.: “It is not always how fast or how far you go as long as your embrace the experience. A new experience for me were riding 150 miles on my mountain bike. A little harder than i imagined, plus the gear that was carried on the bike. Saw some amazing views that kept your mind off the long days pedaling. A variety of animals, waterfalls, bridges, ascary high bridges and tunnels. So many memories shared between the Fantastic Four. C’s Epilogue: Would not change a thing or do anything different other than go in the other direction. In three days bike over 150 miles, climbed 3,124 feet, burned 6,231 calories! Ate my share of calamari and over indulged on gluten. You know what? I felt fine, except I’m a little sore”
Rob: “The trip from Pittsburgh to Cumberland on the GAP was truly a great one which brought a great sense of accomplishment with all of the miles ridden, but I have to say that this trip was one measured in friends rather than miles. All of the people we met along the way made me realize that most people are good at heart. At one point we stopped to speak to a man who was walking the trail. I casually mentioned to my cohorts that I was out of water. This man then reached down into his cooler and gave me a fresh ice cold bottle. Before we rode on I said to him, in all sincerity, “It’s great to be a part of your life, and now you’re a part of mine. Thank you. He then smiled, nodded, and we rode on..”
Mark: “This was an epic trip across a beautiful swath of America. We traveled through a story of the steel industry long gone and mighty railroad companies that came and went. Yet we witnessed a life of Americana that has endured…The ride on the GAP enriched my life and as Carl elucidated, our journey was life awakening in three ways: Spirituality, Mentally and Physically. Mentally, it is good for the soul to be around the beautiful flora and fauna of nature and the creatures we met: the chipmunks, the birds, the guinea hens, the snakes and the deer. Physically, biking 150 miles is an exhausting experience that makes us realize our mortality yet at the same time what we’re capable of accomplishing. The tiredness I feel is a reward for persevering the challenge. Spiritually, I saw a beautiful earth that God created and how it was meant to be. Maybe, we need to rethink how we live together in big cities..”
Don’t miss Mark’s Final Blog on this trip:
GAP POINT TO REMEMBER AND ADVICE TO OTHER BIKING TRAVELERS
