At dawn this past Saturday, my father-in-law (Marland) and I went on a ride on the C & O Canal trail. We’ve been planning this for weeks and it was good to finally hit the trail.
Marland rode a Trek hybrid (pictured below) and I rode my old Fuji ten speed. The surface was small gravel so I deflated my tires to 55 psi from 75 psi and they ended up working great. I also raised my stem and turned up the handlebars – all to tackle a different surface. We ended up dropping in around the 8 mi mark by accident. We planned on dropping in further up the trail but hey, it worked out fine.
All in all we did about 10 or so miles – not that far in comparison to our other rides but hey, we needed to take pictures and soak in the different overlooks. Some pictures of our ride…
Robert’s Fuji
Marland’s Trek
Mile 11
Bottom of the Falls
Mile 11 Lockhouse
Mile 15
We had an awesome time. I know that I’d like to take this trail on in its entirety to Cumberland, MD one day but I need plenty of practice on gravel – all to just get used to the roughness. I felt like my bike did great but nothing can prep you for a gravel ride’s take on your body and this ride wasn’t that far at all! All things come in time. Talk soon.
Velo Haven 