August 18, 1998 - Sharpsburg - Leesburg

DISTANCE TRAVELED: 49.67 Miles

TIME: 4 Hours 40 Minutes

AVERAGE SPEED: 12.8 Miles/Hour

TRAVEL CONDITIONS: Warm and sunny all day. The evening started to have some storm-like clouds appear but they never developed into anything.

ROAD CONDITIONS: The trails in the early morning, were horrible because of mud, water, and gravel. Most of the roads were good except for one which was dirt for 2 miles. The second trail that we took, was very good since it was completely paved.

TERRAIN/DIFFICULTY LEVEL: The trails were very easy since they were all on either old railroad beds or the gentle downfall of the canal. The roads consisted of some rolling hills which were tiring but fairly easy to ride over.

DAILY JOURNAL COMMENTS:
I got up at 7:30 with Matt so that we could get an early start. After packing up and eating a banana and some grapes for breakfast, we pulled all 11 bikes out of the SAG and put the wheels back onto ours. We were finally ready to go at 9:00 and we rode out to the trail which ran right along the Potomac River.(Picture102,Picture103) We rode alongit for fifteen miles dodging puddles, mud, and branches that were in the way. We finally came to the turnoff for Harpers Ferry. We dismounted and carried our bikes up the stairs which took us up to a railroad bed that had a walking path along the side. This then turned into the bridge that took us over the Potomac River to Harpers Ferry. We looked around the historic town for a while and then went into a fudge shop where I bought some mint chocolate swirl fudge that tasted great. I just wish that it wasn't so expensive. After looking around for 45 minutes, we continued on the bike trail for another 10 miles until we got back onto the busy roads. We passed over a bridge and then went onto a dirt road for a few miles which took us up and over a small hill. After passing over this, we got back onto normal roads and continued on to another bike path that was to take us into Leesburg. We rode on it for about 6 miles and then started to look around for the community center where we were to stay for the night. The directions told us to get off at the wrong place and then didn't even give us adequate directions after getting off of the trail. We stopped and asked some people and then continued on. A little after we asked, we were descending down a hill and ahead I saw my parents around 1:40. I stopped as quickly as possible and I was just as surprised to see them as they were to see me. Matt and I talked to them for a while and then we all decided to go out to Pizza Hut for lunch.(Picture104) We ordered a large meat lovers pizza and surprisingly weren't even able to finish it. Matt had ordered Hawaiian punch to drink which came with free refills. About five minutes later he got his first refill and about five minutes after this, he got another. The waitress came back once again but this time, she brought an entire pitcher just for him! He said that this wasn't the first time that this had happened to him. After eating, we rode to the community center to find that we were the first to arrive. We sat around and finally around 3:00 the first riders arrived from the San Francisco route. A little while later, their SAG arrived and everything was unloaded along with five people who had gotten a ride for the day. Finally around 5:00 the first riders from our route arrived and around 5:30, our SAG arrived. I unloaded the gear and got out my bag so that I could go and take a shower. After washing some clothes and getting clean, I went back to where everyone was at and played with an aerobe for a while until we discovered that we would be able to sleep inside for the night. We locked up our bikes in the weight room and threw our things into the room where we were to stay for the night. We then were able to get our mail. I finally got my package that was supposed to get to me two weeks earlier. While eating some of the food which had fortunately lasted fairly well, we had a meeting about the schedule for the next few days before being dismissed for the night. I sat around for a little while and then Matt and Lana came back with the movie Airplane. We watched it starting at 11:00 and I fell asleep halfway through it at 12:00.

TRIP ROUTE:
Take the C&O railroad trail south(downriver) towards Washington DC. Follow trail to Point of Rocks where the trail will become a road for a short while. Follow road(do not get back onto trail) over train tracks to the left and when on main road, make a left. Follow and get on 15. Ride on sidewalk on left of bridge since it is a dangerous road and at end of bridge, take first right. Next take first after the last turn and follow dirt road to