First Bike Trip on the Great Allegheny Passage

Have you ever heard of the Great Allegheny Passage? Growing up I knew we had a nice trail close but I never realized what it really was. The Great Allegheny Passage is a combination of railways that were eventually turned into a trail as a part of the Rails to Trails Conservancy. It took 35 years and over $80 million to build the GAP trail. The 148.5 mile Great Allegheny Passage and the 184.5 mile Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath join together to create a combined 333-mile trail. People come from all over to bike these trails. The plan is aparently connect trials from all over to build what will be called The Great American Rail-Trail, which is planned to span across 12 states. It will run 3,700 miles between Washington D.C. and Washington State.

Ever since I learned about the GAP trail, I have wanted to do an overnight trip on it. How cool would it be to be able to say that you biked the entire 150-mile trail? Not only that but imagine all the really nifty places and sights you would get to see along the way. Knowing that I am not quite in shape enough to take on the whole trail, my friend Nate and I decided to try a section of the trail for fun.

We planned everything super last minute, but thankfully with Nate’s help and brain he pretty much had the whole trip planned in a day. Knowing that neither of us was in perfect shape we decided to not do any more than 30 miles just in case it was harder than expected. We decided to start in Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, and head to Ohiopyle, Pa which just so happened to be exactly 30 miles one way.

Here is how the trip went, and all the lessons I learned along the way. Keep in mind, I am not in the best shape of my life, and I don’t bicycle very often so it was a very interesting trip, to say the least.

Friday, Great Allegheny Passage Trail Day #1

8:00 am Friday morning. That’s when I was supposed to get up, so I could be ready for our trip. I did not get enough sleep the night before and didn’t end up waking up until almost 9. I was so busy rushing around trying to gather all of my stuff, packing the cooler, and grabbing my bike, I didn’t even realize that I never did a once over on my bike. Ugh, I knew I was going to be so late. Luckily for me, Nate was meeting me at my house, and he is way better at time management than I.

When he arrived at my house, he helped do a once over on the bike, checking all the bolts and tightening everything that could use an extra tighten. He also helped me set up my cooler rack that I had bought the day before (don’t do that). Unfortunately, I didn’t realize when I bought the rack that it didn’t come with any hardware, but I really wanted to take the cooler full of snacks and drinks I packed. We had to make a stop at Nate’s parents’ house to see if they had any hardware that we could use. Naturally, we made it work with some random stuff they had laying around. Let me tell you it was a mess of a morning. This leads me to lesson #1.

Lesson #1

When you decided to plan a trip like this, take some time and think about the things you want for your trip (like a bike rack). Make sure you have everything and then test out the equipment. You’re going to want to make sure that everything you want to take with you is comfortable and easy to work with. Also, make sure you have completely gone over everything on your bike, checking your brakes, tightening everything, and putting air in your tires. You really don’t want to be running around the day of trying to figure all this stuff out. Trust me I learned the hard way.

Finally, after everything we were on the road. We headed out to Perry, which was about 40 minutes from our houses. We decided to leave the car in a public park, that way it was out in the open and we hoped we wouldn’t have to worry about anyone bothering the car while we were gone. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t realize what kind of a trip it was going to be to get to the trailhead from the park. With a little help from a local, we decided to take the trail through the woods instead of the road. (Sometimes it really isn’t best to listen to the locals)

Probably not going to ask a local for advice again. It took us almost an hour to climb down what felt like a mountain with our bikes and all our stuff just to get to the main road. The light at the end of the tunnel was the actual tunnel and bridge that welcomed us at the end of the climb. Had we taken the road we wouldn’t have gotten the chance to see the beautiful one-way tunnel and extensive bridge that crossed over the trail below us.

An image of the tunnel in the hillside that led to this cool bridge

Lesson #2

Plan out your trip. Take the time to plan out where you want to start and finish your trip. Think about the details. Where do you want to leave your vehicle, and will it be safe there? Try to figure out how far from the trail you are willing to park. Also, try and look into what interesting things may lie close to the trail that you might want to check out. You never know what good adventure a hop skip and a jump away.

We were so glad to run into that cool little tunnel and bridge. I wish I would have known it was there in the first place that way we could have planned for it. It’s also a good idea to try to leave yourself some leeway time, to stop and take photos, take a swim in the river, or get lunch. You really never know what you are going to want to do.

Finally,

we made it to the trailhead. It just so happened that we started biking directly below our super cool little bridge. By this time it was nearly 1:00 pm, which was way later than what we had planned. The first couple miles on the trail were pretty easy. I will say it didn’t take long to realize I didn’t prepare my body enough for this trip. After the first 5 miles, I was hurting and imagine feeling that way knowing you still have about 25 more to go.

I had been biking at the gym to help prep for the trip. Everyday I went to the gy I went about 8-12 miles on the bike. I thought that if I could get through that easily then I should be okay along the Great Allegheny Passage. I really thought the trial would be easy. Now maybe it is for others that bike all the time or for people that do some hard-core mountain biking. For me, by the time I hit mile 10 I was really struggling.

I will add that I didn’t realize that the slight incline up the mountain would even be noticeable, but it really is. I also have to add in that my bicycle is not particularly meant for those types of trips. Luckily our midway point was Connellsville so I only had to make it a few more miles.

Lesson #3

Prepare your body. Take the time to prepare your body before you take a long trip on a bicycle. If you aren’t a person that bikes often then you are going to want to get yourself in shape for a bike trip. Bicycling using so many different muscles that you may not typically utilize, and you are going to want to be prepared. Don’t do what I did. I did practice biking at the gym quite a few times, but it wasn’t enough. The bike at the gym and your bike are two different things, and they ride completely different. You also have to account in all the other details, you might be carrying a heavy backpack, and are you going to be biking up and down hills?

Those last few miles into Connellsville were tough. I could not wait to sit down and eat. The best part about coming into down is the nice downhill coast all the way into town.I think we were both ready for a little break and some grub. Anyway, we ate at Kickstand Kitchen . It is basically just a sandwich shop, but the food was really good. Instead of eating at the little quick restaurant, we decided to grab our food Togo and go sit somewhere in the grass along the trail. Had I planned better I probably would have chosen a nice place by the river to eat, which would have been really relaxing, but unfortunately, we were running a little behind.The little town of Connellsville is super cute, I wish we had a little bit more time to explore honestly.

Side Note.

Connellsville is a really historic town with so much character. Back in the day it was the king of coal and coke. They had more millionaires per capita than any other place in the country. Quite a few of my favorite places I have explored are around that area. For instance, Robinson Falls, East Park, and the Abondoned Overhold Distillary are just a few. Right before we entered Connellsville we actually passed the Old Overholt Distillery across the river.

Lesson #4:

Take your time. Enjoy the ride and everything around you. Along the ride, you are going to see some really cool things, whether it’s a beautiful view, a neat little campground, or a really cool abandoned building. Don’t be afraid to take a few minutes to enjoy some of the cool things you’re going to see, in a timely manner of course.

Once we scarfed down our food it was back on the trail. The last 15 miles were a little tough, we even switched bikes for the last leg of the trip. My legs were killing me and my bike was a little harder to petal and Nate’s rear end was killing him since he didn’t have a comfortable seat on his bike. Switching up bikes for a little really helped us kick it into gear for the last leg of the trip. It only took us all day but by 9:00 pm we made it to Ohiopyle. Exhausted, starving, and sore we went straight to the little Airbnb we were staying at showered and tried to head out to grab some grub.

Lesson #5:

Timing is everything. Had we known what time these places closed we could have hustled a little more and put in for a to-go order beforehand or something. This one goes back to planning the trip, but really try to plan the important details. Food is important. If we knew we weren’t going to make it to eat we could have even ordered an extra sandwich in Connellsville to eat later. Unfortunately, we didn’t think the town food places would be closed so early on a Friday night. So you’re going to want to look into those things.

Of course, nothing was open that late for food. Our luck. It was really frustrating. We decided to settle for a liquid dinner, and go out for a few drinks at the local bars instead. We started at the Falls City Pub and then wandered over to a little place called Ohiopyle House Café that had karaoke. After relaxing and enjoying some drinks it was time to head back and hit the hay. After all, we did have to go all the way back to Perryopolis in the morning.

Saturday, Great Allegheny Passage Trail Day #2

We got up early grabbed breakfast, and relaxed for a bit before we packed up and headed out around 12:00. The trip back was significantly easier. Surprisingly, we were moving so good we had time to stop and take breaks. We even sat down for an actual dinner in Connellsville. We ate at an awesome little restaurant called Ruvo’s Italian Kitchen which was an awesome Italian place. The food was so delicious. (Image featured above is of our yummy Raviolis). I highly recommend taking some time to enjoy some of the awesome food and amenities that are available to you. There is so much history and cute little buildings to see. Connellsvilles especially was a really cute little.

After we ate, it was time to head back out on the trail. We really took our time coming home. We stopped at the creek for a breather. For about an hour or so we listened to music and drank a few beers we had in the cooler. Being as the ride home was soo much easier (atleast in my opinion) we seemed to have more time to relax and enjoy the trail. It is was more fun to take your time and enjoy the little pieces of the trail and the nature around you while you travel.

And just like that, right before dark, WE MADE IT HOME!!!!!!! We started a few miles past mile marker 100 but we had to take pictures there because that meant we were almost home. I had an absolute blast. Mind you I was sore for almost two whole days afterward. I can not wait until the next Great Allegheny Passage trip!! I recently learned that you can take the Amtrak trail from Pittsburgh to Cumberland so I am thinking maybe this fall we will try to hit up a bigger section and take the train back!!