THE THREE OF US AND 2 RATS: Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh by bike

Those that know me, know I like to bike... mountain, road, tour... and to keep things interesting one has to have a goal to train, plan and drool over... Past tours have been of the Natchez Trace (2004, mellow), and Blue Ridge/Shenandoah Parkway (2007, a beast).

The latest daft (i.e. excellent) idea was posed by a riding partner last year; to ride the Chesapeake and Ohio towpath and Great Allegheny Passage from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh PA. It lets you ride entirely off road for appx 350 miles. The surface varies but is good enough to run a touring bike with 28's or bigger on... sort of. On past tours we have had almost no mechanical issues. This time out we had several, mostly due to the rougher patches on the route. Aside from things working loose, there was a recurring flat, a couple of stripped rack bolts, and a frame whose rack mounts broke. All part of the fun!

Six of us went, ages 65, 62, 58, 52, 41, and the young one-in his 20's. We got to D.C. on a scattered schedule, but two of us flew into Reagan National, put our bikes together in the claim area, and rode off into D.C. along the Potomac to points west.

We started off with weather in the 70's and clear, but as we gained elevation, it got colder and we got into some beautiful leaf displays. The last three days saw temps in the 30's, rainy and windy. One of the places we passed through was supposed to get snow the next night. We rode for eight days, and stayed in a mix of campgrounds, motels and B&B. A good time was had by all.

Now.... Where to go next????