Would you sit in a car four hours out and four hours back in a day to ride your back thirty-two miles? On Sunday my two brothers, sister, nephew and I rode our bikes from Meyersdale, PA to Cumberland, MD along the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP). This 32-mile ride completed our ride which we started back in
May. Mom and Dad went along to shuttle our vehicles for us, that was a great help.
It was a beautiful day for a ride, clear and a bit windy, but not too cold. Most of the ride was downhill. We rode through three tunnels. One was about a half mile long - that felt long. You could not see the light at the end of that tunnel. That one was well-lit, the others were not lit; we used head lamps. The one tunnel felt like a wind tunnel. A steam engine travels between Frostburg and Cumberland for weekend riders. The bike trail follows along it. At one tunnel, a sign advises "Do not enter tunnel with oncoming train" duh!
As we got closer to Cumberland, there was a beautiful vista looking over the countryside. Cumberland looks like a really neat town. We had a late lunch there at The Crabby Big - a BBQ place along the C&O canal.
Just to log the drive/log. We left my place at 7:15 AM, started riding at about 11:45 AM from Meyersdale, got to Frostburg at about 2 PM and rode on, arriving in Cumberland at about 4:00 PM. We left Cumberland at 5:20 PM and were back at my place at about 9:00 PM.
As soon as I opened the mailbox on May 15 and held the package from my brother, the date sounded familiar. May 15. May 15. Then it came to me from the dark corner of my brain. My brother had remembered the anniversary of our bicycle trip across the USA.
On Sunday morning despite the heavy rains, we were ready to roll. We planned to ride 74 miles from Ohiopyle, PA to Cumberland, MD. Before we got on our bikes, my brother taught me some back stretches; my sister enjoyed putzing (see photo on left). We were riding by 8 am, stopped in Confluence for breakfast at Sister's cafe 11 miles down the trail at about 10:30. 
My bike was covered with dirt my trunk and so much grit in the teeth of the zipper that I could not pull it shut. I poured clean water out of my new Sigg bottle all over the zipper so I could close the bag. Sometime in the early afternoon, the skies cleared. We crossed an impressive 1900' bridge and rode as far as Meyersdale. At which point we ended our ride. I was the
one who first said (without a doubt) that I was ready to stop riding for the day. We all plan to return to complete the 30-mile stretch from Meyersdale to Cumberland sometime in 2008. 