Did a quick recce into town to find some decent coffee (Clatter Cafe) and warm up the aching legs – it seems that every road in Frostburg us uphill in both directions. A hearty breakfast and a chat with the owner of the Allegheny Trail House about the trail ahead of us. Then re-packing, a bit of bike maintenance and we were off – at 77.3 miles – this was our longest distance but having crossed the continental divide we were mostly heading downhill or flat.
It was a pretty damp start but we managed to dodge the rain. First stop was Cumberland where the GAP and the C&O connect and there’s a well stocked bike shop right on the trail. Cumberland is a good place to stock up on snacks as there aren’t too many food options for the next 50 miles or so.
Our lunch stop was the School House Kitchen in Oldtown – very basic food but it did the job. I suspect this place only stays open due to it’s proximity to the C&O trail – like a lot of the towns you pass through on the GAP and C&O the collapse of the mining, steel, and coke industry is a big economic gap to fill. Reminds me of areas in the North of England – similar landscape, remnants of the industrial past and signs of economic distress.
The big event of the day was the Paw-paw tunnel (3,118-foot-long canal tunnel and significant feat of engineering). To ride this without lights would be very difficult – the surface is rutted and washed away in places. Stopped for coffee / break at Bills Place in Little Orleans only to find out it’s been closed for about 5 years. Hammered through to Hancock and our AirBnB for the night.
Hancock a decent sized town but it was mostly closed down (I guess it’s a seasonal town) so it was Pizza Delivery, beers from the gas station and a night of laundry and yup – you guessed it – Five Crowns.
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