C&O Canal starts in Cumberland just where the Allegheny trail ends. C&O goes all the way into Georgetown in Washington DC and that was one of the major reasons why we chosed to go this way.

We had heard that the C&O would be rough compared to the Allegheny trail and the rain a couple of days earlier worried us a bit. Should the C&O be possible to ride? We started out from Cumberland in sunshine and the beginning of the trail was as good as the Allegheny. After a while the trail turned in to more of a forrest path with roots and rocks on the path but still not anything to get worried about. The rain had left some remains in the form of small pools of mud but those we passed safely by going straight through in a slow speed.

The C&O Canal trail follows the remains of the canal that once went from Washington DC to Cumberland. The canal is on one side of the trail and the Potomac river on the other. Even if it is about 90 years ago the use of the canal ended there is still a lot of remains left from the time when it was in use. Despite all the time that passed several locks and aqueducts are in good condition and gives a view of how it must have looked when the canal was in use. Most of the locks are without any gates but as we got closer to the end of the trail there where both water in the canal and gates on the locks to look at.

If the end of the canal is maintained and have the function as a tourist attraction the beginning looks like its forgotten. Nature is slowly taking over and the stillstanding water is now the home of water living animals with turtles as the dominating spieces.

As we were getting closer to Washington, our end station, we were going slower and slower. Taking every chance to stop and enjoy the present moment knowing that when we reach Washington our trip would be over.

But as with all god stories it must come to an end and so even our trip, across America. We reached the outskirts of Washington about three a clock but going the last distance of a couple of miles, passing the Washington monument and the White house, took more than three hours!

Our tour is done and we have reached our final destination. Whats left is to update with pictures from the last states and some numbers and statisticst. Please be welcome to do a recheck of our site then.

Until then, a BIG thanks to everyone! Everyone we met on the road and everyone that took their time to talk with us. And all of you back home that has followed us on the web.

Finally we got to the startingpoint of the  ”Great Allegheny Passage”. After spending several days on the US40 we looked forward to get on the trail that so many had recommended. First morning started with a hectic ride through the morning traffic in Pittsburgh. There are well marked trails in Pittsburgh on both sides of the Monongahela river. Our trail starts on the north side and changes to the south side a bit after passing center of town. Imagine the feeling of going on a trail without any traffic! So relieving not have to watch for any motorized vehicle.

For the first day our goal was set to reach the camping at Cedar Creek. It was a smooth biking on a paved trail in the beginning, that changed into still smooth biking but on crushed gravel when we came out on the countryside.

Travelling in slow pace in a beautyful scenery made us remember how this trip once started, following the Columbian river. It is more than two months since we took of from Portland, but it feels like yesterday.

Our second day on the trail did not start as easy as the first. We started of with early breakfast but had to sit and wait under a shelter while the rain pored down. Finally the rain stopped and we could leave. It took only about fifteen minutes until the rain started again.

On this stretch of the trail they have had a storm passing by a couple of days earlier. Leaving a lot of falling trees behind. For more than five miles there where several trees that we had to crawl under or carry our bikes over. This must be the toughest part we have done on our whole trip and definitely our slowest! Finally at the state park Ohiopyle we did, for the first time of all our biking days, mount a wet tent.

Even if it was a rough day we could look on the remains along the trail from times when the mining industri was at its peak. Day three and four the climb on the trail increased and we biked trough tunnels and over viaducts with fantastic views over the landscape. On our fourth day we passed over our last continental divide and the highest point on this trail and started to go downhill. A little bit from the top and just efter a tunnel opens fantastic views over the landscape. A place where one just must stop and just look!

Further down the hill you can, if you are lucky, see a steam train that goes parallell to the trail. On this trip we are lucky and we did meet the train! Very nice to see these old machines still in action. Puts a smile in my face.

End station of the trail is in Cumberland and there we also had planned our stop for the day. A visit to the small exhibition at the visitor center and a stroll around downtown ended our last day on The Great Allegheny Passage.

By crossing the states of Ohio, West Virginia and entering the state of Pennsylvania we finally reached Pittsburgh. Following US40, with some detours have been pleasant and quite easy, but it is not the varied landscape from Colorado we see here. It is very nice but the lack of variation is allmost bordering on boring. Because we now have some extra time due to the shortened route we planned for extra days in some of the bigger cities. Indianapolis, Columbus and now Pittsburgh has been honored to be the hosts during our extra rest days

But why did not anyone warn us about the hills in Pittsburgh? They call their city Capital of the Appalachian and in my mind they should rename the city accordingly. Why not Hillsburgh or something similar. If you go by car there is tunnels to use. If you travel by bicycle there is not any tunnels! We solved the problem by pretending we where driving a car… If anyone are thinking of visit Pittsburgh on bicycle, please rethink! 😉 Anyhow the city is, from what we have seen, very nice and well worth a visit with or without bicycle!

Tomorrow we will throw ourselves into the traffic of Pittsburg once again in order to get to the starting point of the Alleghainy trail.

To get out of St Louis We followed the frontriver trail until we reached the ”Old chain of rocks” bridge. There we crossed the Mississippi river and entered a new state Illinois. Turned out that this bridge also is a remain from the old famous route 66.

At first our plan was to cross Mississippi more south but a guy in a bikeshop in St Louis advised us not to. He kind of looked at us with a strange face and said, ”guys, you don’t want to go there. Don’t you know that east side is kind of the murder capital of the world!? No, we did not know that… Well it was there we decided to go north and from there hit the US40.

The last days we have followed the US40 with some detours on smaller roads, where we could find them. Our new route is not so scenic as before but US40 is called the Old Historical highway, ”the road that build the nation” so there is from time to time some informationsigns and some remains from old times to look at.

Its like if our trip has moved over from nature and scenic views to a more urban trip with more and bigger cities. We have in a way adapted to this and entered some kind of vacation mode. The biking is so easy, flat and without any challanges, so we do the biking as a transport between the different citices we are visiting.