To Hancock, MD

As of yesterday, we've gone a total of 125 miles, 90 of which have been in the last two days (due to the tropical storm). Actually, we've gone more miles than that; however only 125 miles have been in the right direction. We have 60 miles left on the C & O Canal, which ends in Cumberland, MD. Our goal for today was to try to finish the Canal, but we'd pay it by ear depending on how we felt. Each day seems to bring an entirely new dynamic: Our days are filled with moments of hilarity, gorgeous scenery, new faces, serenity, and moments where we wonder what life was like when the canal was thriving. The wildlife has been wonderful! Yesterday we saw around 30 turtles, countless varieties of birds and deer (sometimes with their fawn). So far, we've seen at least 50 blue herons. Almost all of them fly away as soon as we bike by, which means we get to see their beautiful wing span. Other news, our friend, Liz, is joining up with us today!! Big dilemma though: we have no mobile data here! We have internet access, but no network connection. So, not sure how this will work out. Wish us luck! It'll be awesome when she joins.

So, the reason we have internet is because we're staying at a Motel 8 here. We made a deal with Kevin's dad, Tom: if he got a hotel for the night, we'd treat him to a proper dinner...easy!! Since last night we've been laying in a bed, SHOWERING, playing on our phones, and watching the tube...so far, not too shabby.

Oh yea...Other fun facts:
(1) remember the other biker, Rick, from Whites Ferry? Well, Tom spotted him as we were grabbin lunch yesterday. When we first met him, we were stuck underneath the pavilion during Tropical Storm Andrea. He was headed towards DC and we were off to Pittsburgh. It was awesome he caught up to us in Williamsport, MD on his return trip. Funny thing is that he's never seen us biking (chillin in the pavilion and eating lunch). 
(2) we got our first flats. Mitch (also known as Eric) was the first, which happened after Harper's Ferry, WV and Tom's went flat after our camp site two nights ago.
(3)  Our campsite two nights ago was sweet: river front access to the Potomac, camp fire, spaghetti with no forks (we fashioned forks out of sticks to make chopsticks and a hair clip).

Here are some pics thus far

The storm is over

It's about 7 am in the morn. Mitch is makin coffee, the Sherman's are slowly waking up, and the grille is open. Today, we ride! We're excited to start cruisin. Although staying at the White's Ferry 'Hilton' was awesome with stellar food, electricity, toilets, Potomac river front access, and new friends, we're ready to cruise. If you're ever in Whites Ferry, MD stop by the Grille and say hi to Yolanda and Mike from us; their food and cinema service is great ;)

Not sure where of next electricity connect will be...but when we're near one, you'll be hearing from us. Over n out.

By the way...thanks for all of your support!!!!!

Tropical Storm Andrea

Day three: averaging 12 miles a day right now due to the storm. Thankfully, we've got this sweet, spacious, covered pavilion and a grille (the owners are fun and spunky and they've got movies for us) next to us in White's Ferry, MD (which is near Leesburg, VA). We've been waiting out this storm since yesterday evenin. Looks like we'll be spending another night here. Good news is that we're forecasted sunny skies tomorrow. Today we've organized our bags, chatted, drank a looooot of coffee, watched Beautiful Creatures at the grille, and paced back and forth. There are 14 picnic tables in this pavilion, and the 5 of us (Kevin, Mitch, Tom, and this solo biker, Ritch) have managed to take up all of them.

Day one

Day one: tried to leave Harrisonburg at 11sm, but ended up leaving at 2pm (there were so many last minute things to take care of and our friends threw us a send off party the night before...). Once we finally arrived in Georgetown, we said our goodbyes to our friends and families and biked away. We didn't have any big mileage goals this day; our main concern was to ride a bit and find our campsite. We rode about 20 miles total before finding our secluded campsite along the C&O Canal. During those 20 miles, 9 miles of it was spent correcting our mistake...We took a trail parallel to the canal, which dumped us off in Bethesda, Maryland. Since we started our adventure sometime after 5pm, the visitor's center (which has the golden maps) was closed. It was great riding...We cruised at a lifestyle pace: very relaxed. Plus, we were getting used to riding our bikes with all the gear. They are heavy, but definitely manageable. The canal is awesome: simple, doable, gorgeous, gravel paths, lush, etc.. it's a great way to start the trip because we aren't dealing with cars and we can get our stuff dialed in. Blah blah blah. Today was a great riding day, until it became rainy around 5pm; so we're camped out under a store owner's pavilion playing cards, staying dry, and hanging out. Here are pics from yesterday and today.

We're in route

Kevin and I are driving up to Georgetown now. Aaron and Annie (who is joining up sometime in July after her sister's wedding) are taking us up. Before we start our trip, we'll be picking up Kev's dad; he's joining for the first few hundred miles from Georgetown to Pittsburgh.  Anywho here are some pictures from today.

Saving our Frames

So, last night we took some Frame Saver to our bikes, which is an aerosol spray that acts an internal rust protector (given that Kev and I are rockin steel frames). Here's what Surly has to say about takin care of steel frames: click.

It wasn't the only thing we did though: