After Steve whipped up a fantastic and never ending breakfast we said goodbye and moved on for the third day of riding. We thought we were going to do 80 miles, but we added about 10 miles as a result of some exploring and the one detour in the trail that takes you on roads. Prior to this trip a 90 mile ride seemed like a major undertaking. Today, it seemed like a leisurely ride. When we woke up the temperature was 45 degrees in Little Orleans. By day's end we were riding in mid-80's weather. After 5 fairly muddy, rutted miles on the C&O we were able to switch over to the smoothly paved Western Maryland Rail Trail. It was a nice change to ride on a smooth, flat surface. Where we were doing around 16 mph on the C&O we were able to do about 20 mph on the paved trail. The other nice feature was that we were riding parallel to the C&O and could look over at it from a different perspective. The mid-point of the paved trail was the town of Hancock. We stopped there for a few minutes at a bike shop in town to load up on Gatorade and water. This is also a very nice little town that we often see on route 70 between Pittsburgh and DC. The trail runs next to the highway for a few miles.
There are several nice bike shops along the trails. We tried to make a point to stop in, say hello and buy something. These shops in small towns perform a valuable service to riders. The owner of this shop won the right to operate it in an essay contest.
After the Western Maryland Trail ended we reentered the C&O. After riding for a little while we reached Ft. Fredrick. This was a beautiful park and a nice place for a rest. They also had excellent clean bathrooms which were most welcome after Steve's massive breakfast and strong coffee. This also allowed us to take the obligatory tacky pictures of each other in the stockade. Yes, they caught up to Stritty for riding through the Paw Paw Tunnel.
Going forward we rode past the Little Pool and Big Pool sections of the Potomac. We met up and rode for awhile with a group of riders from Erie PA. They had started from Boston PA the day before us. We also met some filmmakers who were shooting a documentary about a group of kids walking from Boston Mass. to Washington DC. We stopped for lunch in the small town of Williamsport, MD. We rode into town and noticed the grand opening of a leathers store, which was a giveaway that this town might be a little shady. We found a deli/grocery and had good hoagies. After lunch we reached the detour, which became a longer detour for us because the detour wasn't so well marked. It was kind of nice riding rolling hills and winding roads for about 7 or 8 miles. I noticed how much more comfortable I was riding with the loaded pannier bags. Coming down the home stretch of the ride we passed Sheperdstown WV, which is supposed to be a nice town with good restaurants and accommodations. We also decided to bypass the Antietam battle field, as it would have taken us several miles off course and we wanted to save time to wander around and enjoy Harper's Ferry.
We reached the part of the trail directly across from Harper's Ferry. We could see our hotel, sitting way up on the hillside looking majestic. To get across the river to Harper's Ferry we had to cross a hiker's bridge that was part of the Appalachian Trail. The trail intersects Harper's Ferry, crosses the bridge and follows the C&O. The headquarters for the Appalachian Trail is in Harper's Ferry as it is near the half way point from Georgia to Maine. Crossing the bridge after biking all day was no easy task. We had to carry our fully loaded bikes up a metal spiral staircase and then cross a narrow, busy path while pushing the bikes. When we got to Harper's Ferry it was impressively restored in authentic fashion as it is a National Park - a Civil War era version of Williamsburg. Our hotel was in the upper part of town. To get there we had to climb a long, steep hill. About half way up I noticed my rear tire was extremely low. I stopped to pump it up. As Jeff came by I waved him on. As I was pumping I was rushing and broke the tube valve. Not wanting to change the tube there, I pushed the bike up the hill the rest of the way in the sweltering humidity. All the while up I was thinking of taking a shower, and relaxing with a cold drink and nice meal at the hotel.
When I actually made it to the hotel I was sorely disappointed. From a bit of a distance the Hilltop House Hotel looks like a quaint and historic hotel, but there is a thin line between "quaint and historic" and "old and tired". The Hilltop House has seen better days. At check in I was informed that the restaurant and tavern were closed for two weeks. That meant we had to hoof it back down the hill for dinner and then back up after. A nice couple from Nebraska offered to wait while we showered and changed and give us a ride back down the hill. They were just another example of wonderful, friendly people we met in the small towns along the trail. We had dinner in a nice tavern and then walked all over the historic section of town as well as the upper part of the town. We saw the Jefferson Rock, an historic hilltop cemetery, what was once the nation's first Black college and the Appalachian Trail headquarters. It was a very interesting several mile walk. Who would have thought it would have been fun to go for such a long and steep walk after biking 90 miles.
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