Bike Camping from Washington DC to Pittsburgh

We went on a pretty epic vacation with our kids. I'm still somewhat shocked that we managed to pull it off and actually ride our bicycles, together, from Washington DC to Pittsburgh, over 350 miles! It was also amazing in other ways....we got to spend a lot of time together with M actually taking time off work, we happened to be riding at the absolute best time to be harvesting paw paws along the Potomac, and we met so many cool people along the way. The weather was rather terrible at times, and there were two challenging detours, but mainly we had fun. So, how did we arrive at this idea? And more importantly, how did we get our kids to actually do it?

Literally everyone thought that our idea was crazy and that there was no way we were going to be able to do it. Haters gonna hate and all that. However, M and I had previously biked an equivalent distance towing 2 of the kids (an out and back to Cumberland, MD), and I have ridden on the GAP many times alone or with friends, and once did the Washington DC to Pittsburgh trip by myself. So, we were very familiar with the trails, the logistics of getting to Washington and what it's like to do a multi-day trip on bikes. M scheduled his vacation days, and I bought train tickets and booked a hotel in Georgetown. Now we were committed. 

The first time I took the kids out on bikes for a group ride, they were constantly swerving into each other, yelling at each other, failing to signal, nobody could make it up a hill, and I think we went about 4 miles. It was terrible and I was worried, for sure. However, we just kept going out, and their trail manners improved. They built up some stamina for hills. In August we made it out for several 20+ mile rides where everybody learned a lot about hydration and nutrition and Sheetz saved the day. In the meantime, we were getting our bikes serviced...there was something wonky with my headset that a mechanic at REI fixed and M took his 20 year old Surly Trucker to a neighborhood bike shop and had it spruced up. We bought a bunch of bags and worked to fit 2 tents, 3 quilts, sleeping pads, food for 5, water vessels, clothing, extra tubes and repair gear, and a stove. This was complicated by the fact that not everybody could actually haul gear, but we managed to make it work, although M definitely had a LOADED bike. 

The train to Washington leaves at 5am, so the night before we biked down to a hotel near the train station. The train ride was long, but we got there in the afternoon with plenty of time to make the 5ish mile bike trip through the National Mall and up the Rock Creek Trail to Georgetown. We stopped for some very expensive ice cream ($8 for a cone!!??) and took a look at the monuments, but it was very hot and we did not linger. When we got to Georgetown, our hotel was right on the Canal. We had time for showers and dinner out at a restaurant before going to bed. The next morning we set out on the Towpath. 

Our plan was to camp along the C&O Canal because we really didn't know how far the kids could go, but we did know there are plenty of campsites...every 5-10 miles along the entire 184 mile path. They don't require reservations and all have water, so we figured we could just go as far as we could go and always have a place to camp. If we got behind schedule and ran out of time, we could always hop back on the train in Cumberland and go to Pittsburgh. But every day the kids rode a little further than what was on our itinerary and despite truly epic amounts of rain, and two difficult detours, we got to Cumberland on the 5th day.  The hotel clerk directed us to the bike wash station and even gave us special towels to dry our bikes off. We were so muddy and smelly but she didn't even blink an eye. Then it was up to the rooms for showers and laundry. We let the kids watch tv and we ordered pizza and wings for dinner. We were pretty grimy after 5 days of pedaling in the heat and 4 nights of primitive camping. Plus the mud (oh the mud). But we had also really gotten into the rhythm of being together, of eating camp food and riding as a group, and sleeping in tents. We had 5 days left to ride the Great Allegheny Passage, and at 150 miles with a lot of downhill, that suddenly felt very achievable. 

The weather was still pretty rainy so we ended up riding part of the way up Savage Mountain - only 15 miles - and stopping for the day at a hostel in Frostburg. We got soaked the entire way. We had the leftover pizza with us for lunch and had to eat it quickly before it got soggy. It was still raining when we left the next morning but the skies did clear when we got to the top and we had a great view. We had our sights set on Confluence, so we kept moving. We camped at the Yough Overflow Campground, which was super nice and had hot showers. The next day we went to Connellsville and stayed at the KOA, with not only hot showers but also a swimming pool! The weather was looking gnarly though, and we had to make some decisions about how to get home. The kids ended up agreeing to ride almost 50 miles from Connellsville to Homestead, so that we could stay in a hotel for our last night (and not camp and ride in the rain). It ended up being a great plan, and we enjoyed another restaurant dinner and a fairly leisurely 8 mile ride into Point State Park the next day...in the rain of course. We then had to get home, which was another 6 or 7 miles, and up the dreaded giant hill. There's just no way around it. But we were all cheering when we pulled into our driveway. 

Along the way we met a French family on a 6 month bike tour of North America, a retired couple who had ridden a tandem bicycle to Maryland...from Oregon, and a disabled veteran who was walking 1,300 miles with his dog towards the 9/11 memorial in Somerset. 

We ate dehydrated meals I prepared at home, Kraft mac, tortillas and crackers, cheese, pepperoni, peanut butter, loads of candy, oatmeal, PopTarts and paw paws! We used our Jetboil to heat water, for lack of a better cooking system. Cooking for 5 is pretty time consuming, but this worked out ok.

We saw herons, egrets, bald eagles, turtles, frogs, toads, cats, and a bear.

We slept in an ancient Mountain Hardware tent and a new Hogback tarp tent. One regret is that although we also carried a sil nylon tarp we didn't have a good way to set it up to make shelter for cooking or sitting under. More line? Extra poles? I'm not sure what the solution is but I'll definitely be working on that before our next camping trip. 

We thankfully didn't have many mechanical issues, but did have one flat tire (in a rain storm, of course). We tried to patch it but ended up swapping out the tube. Maybe the glue didn't set because of the rain? We were lugging enough stuff to be able to stop and help another cyclist with HIS flat tire, and even had a spare tube to give him, since he didn't have the right one. That felt pretty good.

We kept safe by carrying a first aid kit, foil blankets, water filtration, and being first aid/CPR certified and experienced in backcountry safety and risks. We wore helmets. But probably the safest thing was being away from cars. I am definitely up for more rail trail or gravel riding, but I would not take my kids on a road tour any time soon. 

We have a bungee strap called a TowWhee, which I used to give Max a boost, since he's on a 20" bike with 3 gears (just not a fair fight, lol). It loops around his handlebars and loops onto my saddle. It definitely requires good communication between riders. Max still has to pedal and balance and brake and all that so it cannot be used if a kid is totally exhausted or not able to pay attention. We probably used it about 30% of the time. When we were not using it, I just stowed it in a little cupholder that I attached to his handlebars. 

And finally, how did we keep everyone motivated? We knew that we each had different strengths and weaknesses and that we would all be supporting each other...and needing support in different ways. The boys did not ride as fast as the rest of us might have liked. But they were also the best at finding paw paws and delighted in catching toads or playing games. All of us got down from time to time. It is actually kind of hard to be dirty and tired and far from home and very wet. We brought a lot of candy. We took breaks whenever anyone asked for one. When we were actually riding, we could go around 10 miles per hour. If you can do that a  30- 50 mile day is really only 3 to 5 hours of pedaling out of like 14 hours of daylight. We also sometimes rode very slowly for many hours. But we knew we definitely had time for all those breaks and slow miles and we leaned into them and enjoyed them. In one rainstorm, Marko kept pulling over to move turtles off the trail. It's not what I would do, but it's actually a pretty thoughtful act. We spent the days exploring river banks and reading historic signs and telling each other stories. At night, we would light a campfire if we could, and read aloud. We suffered from a lot of bug bites and a few cases of road rash, and nobody can believe this, but we were not sore at all. I think because we never rode too hard, or maybe because it felt like we were constantly getting on and off our bikes. 

Pedaling towards your home is very motivating. Every rotation a little bit closer. Beyond offering delicious snacks, we didn't bribe the kids. The reward was finishing, and doing it together, and we all definitely feel really good about that.