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Cycling the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
y colleagues thought I was a bit nuts as I arrived in Washington with suit under one arm, bike under the other, and tent and other cycling gear in my suitcase. However, after three days of meetings and other work in Washington DC it was time to escape from the suit and tie and enjoy the Easter holidays. I started by exploring the sights of Washington DC by bike. I thought that cycling in a busy US city would be a horrifying experience, but I soon found that US drivers are far better than their Kiwi counterparts. (This may have something to do with the fact that there are more lawyers per head of population in the US than anywhere else in the world.) It was great to cycle past the White House, the Capitol building, Abraham Lincoln’s statue and many other amazing sights. Having seen briefly the sights of Washington DC I figured something more physical was in order and decided to cycle the 185-mile Chesapeake and Ohio canal (commonly referred to as the C&O Canal). The C&O Canal runs parallel to the Potomac River up to the town of Cumberland. The C&O Canal has a ton of history, and the areas the Canal goes through are also steeped with history. The Canal was built between 1828 and 1850 and was meant to-be ameans of transporting goedsfrem. - Chesapeake Bay (in Washington DC) as far as the Ohio River, where goods could then be further transported by barge inland into the interior of the United States. Well, the Canal was a good idea in theory, in terms of transporting goods, but flood damage and the development of the most cost effective railroad system, meant that the Canal would not last. In 1971, the entire Canal became a National Historic Park and as a result the towpath next to the canal
Wayne Stevens where the horses used to tow the barges up-river, has become a really valued walking and mountain bike route. The Canal begins in downtown Washington DC. I found it really unusual to be cycling past the White House one minute and then a short time later heading off along a mountain bike/walking trail. The first 20 miles or so of the trip, being so close to Washington DC, are quite popular with the locals and the track condition was first class. About 15 miles from the start of the C&O Canal I came across the Great Falls area on the Potomac River. These falls were quite spectacular with the recent rains adding to the high water volumes in these waterfalls. The Great Falls were in many ways similar to the Huka Falls, but with one difference — the river was brown and seemed to smell a little. (I was somewhat surprised to hear later that the Potomac River was used for Washington’s water supply — they sure must have good water treatment facilities.) The second day started with overcast conditions but the rain soon developed and became steadily heavier as the day went on. As I rode further out of Washington the track conditions deteriorated, and with the rains, it became quite muddy. By around lunchtime when I reached Harpers Ferry it was really -pouring-down,-with-thunder-and-lightning —yuk. One thing that really struck me about cycling the C&O Canal was the amount of historical places there were, particularly in relation to the Civil War, in the area around Washington. Harpers Ferry was famous for a rebellion that was led by John Brown in 1859. John Brown was strongly opposed to slavery and led a raid on the armory that was located in Harpers Ferry, with the objective of gaining arms to arm the slaves and spark a national rebellion. John Brown was caught and hung, but the incident did draw attention to the issue of slavery and helped precipitate the Civil War. There were also several significant battles in the Civil War which were fought in the area adjacent to the Canal, with the battle at Antietam with 23,000 casualties being the most brutal of the war. The amount of engineering that went into the Canal was impressive. There were 74 lift locks, 11 aqueducts, and a 1-kilometre tunnel built along the route. The aqueducts were designed to carry the Canal barges along a canal that was at a higher elevation than the river below. These aqueducts were quite special, but the highlight of the trip was the Paw Paw tunnel, which I reached on the third day of my trip. The Paw Paw tunnel must be seen to be believed. It is a tunnel that contains a canal in the middle of it, with a towpath at the side. It took 14 years to construct this tunnel and it would have made an unusual sight, seeing barges being towed through this long tunnel. My last night was spent camped just outside of Cumberland, next to one of the main railroads north from Washington DC. Some local kids decided to have a party that night and despite the noise from the trains and the crappy rap music these kids were listening to, I slept like a rock. I was really tired after 2 days of cycling in pouring rain. The last day was a short ride into Cumberland, but I had to admit that even though I really enjoyed cycling the Canal and learning all about the history of the surrounding area, it was great to finally get out of the rain and take the train back to Washington DC.
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