BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Has anyone used or perhaps work for any of the outfitters that support trips to D.C. ?

It seems many here are famliar with the trail. I've only riden as far as Connelsville. Have those of you that have riden it gone DIY, if so did you camp or stay somewheres or both, I'm sensing some sort of oppurtunity here, specially when that trail opens the rest of the way in 2013.

I don't but I know somebody who might be able to help... the guy who's image is a guy in a yellow rain hat on a folder bike leads trips on the GAP, don' tknow if he's an outfitter, but he'd have your answers. Mark's his name (and handle), he's on the first page of the intro thread.

(Mark I'm not volunteering you, just saying that from memory you seem to fit the bill, sorry if I'm overstepping. Been in "get people information" mode all day, hard habit to break)

I've had people ask me, there's not much info available on the internet besides the GAP website whichshows Venture Outdoors on this end. http://www.ventureoutdoors.org/fallfoliage.aspx

It appears they only schedule one trip a year and it starts in Rockwood. I'm just wondering if that's all there is.

Thanks, I found this yesterday actually, then neglected to bookmrk it. It's the most comprehensive list I've seen. All these companies are East, even Venture Outdoors starts in Rockwood.

Expensive too, for $1500.00 I could just go to India and ride around for the rest of my life. A lot of the cost seems to have something to do with shuttling. Once Amtrak gets on board it would make shuttling almost unnecessary, cutting costs significantly.

Nick and I did it "DIY" last summer. The first night, we stayed at a $10 campsite in Rockwood with a bathhouse and precut firewood that was right on the trail. The following two nights we camped at the hiker/biker campsites along the C&O. Got a hotel in DC for a night, and took Amtrak back to Pittsburgh.

i do some of the trips for venture outdoors for the summer, VO actually does quite a few trips, most of them private...

if you want to do it DIY i'd be glad to meet with you and give you some basic pointers, if you want to set up a tour you can set it up through seth (email: sgernot@ventureoutdoors.org).

let me know if you have any questions!

I found this site for camping/lodging on the C&O end of the trip, but I've yet to do it.

http://bikewashington.org/canal/plan-lodging.php

Adventure Cycling Association does 1 trip a year from DC to Pittsburgh. Is $1150 and it is late Sept early Oct.Camping, hotels and hostels not included. I always do it myself roundtrip mostly camping. And I take 56 bus to Mckeesport safely. If you are short on time or cash you could turn around at Hancock or Harpers Ferry and still have a very long ride. Adding a Greyhound or Amtrak trip to your bike tour is not timely or economical. Did I mention $1150 is a lot of money.

The trail really couldn't be setup much easier for just going out there and doing it. Research some places to camp between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, but past there sites are every 5 miles or so.

I did it alone last year and it didn't cost anywhere near $1150.

For the two of us, we spent a total of 200 on the hotel/train/bike boxes. 20 on camping, and maybe another 50 on food.

Thanks for the info, I will pass it along.

From the bit I have rode and examining the really detailed iformation available on the internet. It would seem to be possible to just go, bring a tent and some food and do it for a couple hundred dollars. I've riden to Connelsville with three dollars and four packs of Ramen noodles. My friends can decide for themselves, they're more limited on time, plus some people get ascared in the woods and need people to tuck them in. From those who have camped past Connelsville any highlights you'd care to share.

$1,150? With camping, hostels and food not included? What's that for?

I can kind of see it both ways. The average American family probably spends $3 - $4G on a yearly vacation (figure not based on any factual research, don't get all after me). So for a single with some money who wants all the details worked out, I could see $1,150.

But I'm a diy'er too, I could cross the country on 15 clams a day, if I wanted to.

To me working the details out is alot of the fun and then something happens that's not fun but adds to the adventure.

Marko that's a great link for the C&O, it shows some Lock houses that can be rented for around a hundred dollar, and accommodate eight. Maybe I'll just ride along with my freinds and tell them what to do, then tuck them in at night, for say $550.00, that's less then half price

It would seem the trail is set up for the DIYer it'll be great once Amtrak gets on board. I'm thinking for this summer I may keep a bike locked in Connelsville.

@edmonds, I don't know where your gonna find clams in the middle of the country and all that ice seems impractical, you should bring ramen noodles.

Ha, ha! Foraging tour! Actually if you time your route and season right food from roadside stands is awesome. Ride around the southern shore of Lake Erie in late summer, you can live on corn off the stalk (watch out for feed corn, bleh), apples, canteloup. Mmm.

I did it alone, stayed at B&Bs and motels and did a round trip in 2 weeks. Stayed for free in DC. I think it all came in at about $1200.

Even where there aren't official campsites along the GAP, I'd guess stealth camping is feasible.

hey, feed corn is fantastic grilled, don't knock it!

Foraging is my favorite restaurant. I wait all winter for the first onion grass to appear, and keep munching until the squirrels get the last of the nuts. There are cherry trees in Frick Park, morrels underfoot, walnuts fall from the sky like painful but deliciously nutty rain.

It would be totally awesome to spend a season biking back and forth on the GAP documenting/munching all the food one rolls past. Fun and tasty. Sigh. Employment is a mixed blessing.

Seems to me that somone on last years "Crush the Commonwealth" did some foageing near Roackwood.

"Ranks?" That's thge word that sticks in my head, but I can't find any thing on the web that defines "ranks" as some food you might forage for ("We picked up three colonels and 2 lieutenants in the woods...")

It would be totally cool to do a foraging camping trip on the trail.

My inclination would be to make beef jerky and biscuit stew with herbs, mushrooms and nuts, but I'm not much of a purist and I am a pig-dog carnivore type.

Ramps, or, wild leeks.



Those should be coming up pretty soon.

Holy crap, this is Saturday!

http://www.richwooders.com/ramp/ramps.htm

I always tour solo and camp a lot. Also like to shower a lot and wash clothes. At the C and O bikeshop in Hancock you shower in portojohn. Some ladies call there screenhouse a chickenshack and refuse to stay there. Swimming or bathing not allowed in Potomac River. Swimming or bathing in ok in Youghiogheny River. And there is lots of spaces at Ohiopyle Kentuck campground in the spring and fall. They are known to sell out weekends and holidays in summer. I stayed at most of the camping spots and some of the hostels. Took a free shower at Brunswick family campground. And Brunswick is where to resupply and do laundry. Harpers Ferry got little supplies. Paw Paws will be ripe in August. Dandelions can be added to Lipton rice or noodles. There is a large produce store in Confluence. And the Millshop in Rockwood makes dehydrated foods. Guided tours are expensive so I travel alone.

atatrail.org is the Allegheny Trail Alliance's website on the GAP and has all details, including suggested itineraries and how to DIY.

FYI, my company does organize private bike tours on the GAP, but it's very DIY-able and does not need to cost a lot. You're probably better off just doing it that way. More on my bike tour services for those interested at www.bike-the-gap.com.

ramps are delicious. would NOT eat them raw (did once, enjoyed it, was antisocial for days). Sauteed with butter over toast is fantastic. REALLY want to grow some, but haven't found a source.

^maybe you could collect seed this year from wild ones?

Does dumster diving count as foraging? After a few years of staying out of the local dumpsters, I was inspired to start up again when I saw a picture somewhere on this website of riders with late night free bagels from a Brueggers.

@ejwme: Cultivation of the ramp is difficult but not impossible: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-449.html

I've sown seed in the wild successfully. I still have seed, though I don't know if it's viable. Contrary to popular belief, they do occur close to this city, though I'm responsible for at least one patch.

Even cooked, when consumed in quantity, they can make one reek of a rotted corpse, hence WV's public school system's prohibition on student consumption.

@edmonds59: Ramps, (Allium tricoccum or the four leaved variety which apparently I can't post as the Latin contains a combination of letters prohibited by the auto screening software for this board), have been up for a week or so, and are nearing prime condition. Have only found them in one "safe" location within 30 miles of Pgh. Look in "flood plains" of small streams. Please be responsible and judicious in harvesting as the plant is delicate, and will likely be endangered here too now that it has made it way to fine dining plates.

Morchella (morels) are just beginning. Please familiarize yourself with Gyromitra esculenta (http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/may2002.html) and the Verpas (http://www.mushroomexpert.com/verpa_bohemica.html) before foraging. Assume what you have harvested will kill you.

PA is one of very few States or Commonwealths which explicitly allows gathering wild mushrooms from State lands.

St Mary's MD has a slug festival. Easy pre-peeled escargot anyone?

@edmonds59: Ramps, (Allium tricoccum or Allium tricoccum, var. burdickii), have been up for a week or so, and are nearing prime condition. Look in "flood plains" of small streams. Please be responsible and judicious in harvesting as the plant is delicate, and will likely be endangered here too now that it has made it way to fine dining plates.

Morchella (morels) are just beginning. Please familiarize yourself with Gyromitra esculenta and the Verpas before foraging. Assume what you have harvested will kill you.

PA is one of very few States or Commonwealths which explicitly allows gathering wild mushrooms from State lands.

St Mary's MD has a slug festival. Easy pre-peeled escargot anyone?

Hmmm. Ramps=smell like death. Morels=death.

Easy choice.

I've never had morels, but I hear they're wonderful.

there are several free campgrounds on the GAP, morels ARE delicious, and most of the trips that cost 1000+ are supported by a vehicle, and the money goes to paying a guide to be your slave and the use of the car, as well as setting up all accomodations (i can't say all places do this, but VO does) and providing lots of local knowledge about lodging and eating along the way!

Food is included on guided $1000+ tours. And spare bicycles are on the sag wagon. But cycling is supposed to be cheaper than driving. And Amtrak is installing bike racks on used freight cars. You will have to remove panniers or bags off your bikes to lighten them to load on train.

cycling i think is supposed to be whatever someone wants to get out of it... i know lots of people that put more money into bikes than they do into cars, and there are lots of families that are willing to pay extra to have a skilled mechanic or skilled cook along the ride... just depends on how well you do with the stress of cycling trips i guess. there are quite a few 1000+ tours that don't include most of the food, other than things that come with the b&b