Bike trip

Aron and I took advantage of the long weekend (for those not lucky enough to get this lame holiday off, today was Columbus Day) and biked to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. It was a great trip, and certainly the farthest I've ever ridden. Our route was over 150 miles -- 70 or so in one day on the way out, and the rest over two days on the way back. There's something very satisfying about starting a vacation by rolling your bike out the front door, and finishing it by rolling it back in.

We took the Washington & Old Dominion rail trail out through Virginia, then cut north to catch the C&O Canal. The country roads in Virginia were a highlight of the trip. I'd never been to Harpers Ferry before. It's a very attractive little town at the intersection of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers; much of it is a National Park due to its Civil War history. We camped at a hostel near town.

We headed back on the C&O towpath, which offers many great camping sites along the Potomac. About half of them (including the one we used) can't be reached by car, which is really nice.


A great way to spend a long weekend, some lingering aches notwithstanding. (More pictures can be seen on Flickr.) It's possible to bike from DC to Pittsburgh without using a road, and I'd like to work up to doing that at some point.