1997 Suitland Stake C & O Canal Bike Trip

This was to be my youngest son's first trip with us to ride the entire tow path. He saved money from odd jobs and mowing lawns to pay half of the cost for his new orange Trek 820. Normally the trip is for older youth but because I was riding he was able to go. This was to be the last trip sponsored by the Stake.

17 July 1997 we all started arriving at the Lexington Park chapel. I left work early so I could finish preparations. We had several new members of our ward riding with us this year including Dave Lyons and Oscar Meza. Harry Metzler and Zane Mason volunteered to be our Trail Bosses. Mark Henderson the 2^nd had recently purchased a new dual axle trailer and stayed up the night before welding rails for the sides. Dennis Eddings won a new bike at a miniature golf tournament that day, so he had a new set of wheels for the ride. The two vehicles that would stay with us on the trip were Big Blue (Harry's old Dodge) and the Great White (Mark's BIG Ford van). Great White would be the tow vehicle. We all loaded up and headed to Waldorf. Circuit City was our next stop.

Waiting for us at circuit city was almost everyone from the other wards. Brother Rodgers was driving Jeff Heath's van up that night and then back the next day. I believe we also had a couple of Brothers, Gary Ramone and Bruce Pratt from our Ward, that did the ferry thing too. It always takes allot of help with all the logistics for these trips to go off well. Extra drivers are always a welcome sight. Once everyone was loaded in Waldorf we headed to the Stake Center to pick up the last few riders.

At the stake center there were only a couple of riders and no extra vehicles. We waited a long time at the Stake center and Great White never did arrive. It turns out as they were leaving Waldorf a curb caught a tire and destroyed it, so there was an unplanned stop. We contacted Mark on his cell phone and we agreed to meet at the overlook just outside of Frederick. Since the trailer didn't stop we had to dismantle at least one bike to get it loaded into a vehicle. Mark would pick up the last rider on his way to the meeting point.

We all arrived without further incident at the overlook. There was a film crew filming a commercial for a local station there. The next stop would be Sideling Hill overlook. We all arrived safely and after a break headed to Cumberland and the Taco Bell. It would be our last fast food for several days. We headed to the camp at Spring gap after our late night snack.

I think Travis shared the tent with Harry and I this year. We all went to sleep as soon as possible but that never seems to be soon enough. The next morning always comes early even when we get up late. The next morning we headed back to Cumberland to start the Ride.

We unloaded the trailer and took a bunch of photos. Some of the boys soon realized their water bottles were missing. After some finagling and redistribution of bottles we were off. The trail was very fast, dry and dusty. If you followed anyone too closely you were immersed in dust and couldn't breathe. I found this out first hand. Travis and I started out riding with Oscar and Dave. Soon we had to let them get ahead of us because of the dust. They were riding at a pace much faster than we could maintain too. It seemed like it took no time at all to arrive back at Spring Gap. Everyone made sure the camp was packed up and we were headed south again. Travis continued to be my primary riding partner for the day.

It seemed like it took forever to reach the Paw Paw tunnel. Travis and I were getting pretty tired already. The most he had ever ridden at one time before this trip was about 25 miles. We went through the Tunnel and stopped for photos with everyone. Mark Henderson 2^nd, Scott and Brother Erickson all rode over the Tunnel hill trail. Actually I think Scott rode it and went through the tunnel too several times. Once we all started riding again I was the last one to start. Steven Henderson came running back shouting that Jason Ramon had fallen into the canal. On the downhill side of the tunnel is a boardwalk and then it is a narrow trail, rock on one side and Canal on the other. There are some small wooden bridges over runoff from the hill. These are what caused the problem. Jeremy Metcalf made a quick stop and Jason was right behind him. When he had to stop he hit one of the bridges and did an end-over. The bike stayed on the trail and Jason ended up in the Canal. Luckily it was shallow and he just got scraped a little. It was a good 10 foot fall into about 1 1/2 foot of water. I climbed part way down the canal wall to help lift him out. Travis and I ended up in the back and riding slowly again. We averaged about 8 mph I think.

As Travis and I approached Hancock MD the sky opened up and the lightning and thunder started. We stopped under a large highway overpass that crosses the canal and towpath. Once the thunder and lightning stopped and the rain slowed we started riding again.

As we got near Big Pool we caught up with Mark Henderson 3^rd, Jason and Eric Ramon. Their group and ours were the only ones on the trail when it rained. Everyone else reached camp before the rain had started. Mark was having problems with a tire so we had to stop every couple miles to pump it up. He didn't want to take the time to fix it. We should've stopped, it would have taken us less total time. Travis was suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration. When we finally arrived at camp (Fort Frederick) our dinner had started getting cold. Travis was really doing poorly. I had to continually encourage and coax him. His seat was sufficiently sore enough that it hurt him to rinse off in the river. Everyone retired early to that night because the sky opened up again.

There was heavy rain with thunder and lightning most of the night but we were still able to get a good nights rest. Travis was still feeling poorly so he chose not to ride the second day. Everyone packed up and cleaned up the camp and we hit the trail after a hearty breakfast. The ground had been so dry that it really soaked up almost all the ran and the riding conditions were great. I started out riding very fast with Oscar and young Joe McCellah. I was able to maintain the 15mph pace for a couple miles but finally decided it wasn't worth it. We stopped for a quick photo op at the dam and then headed to McMahon's mill and the detour. The mill is a favorite spot because we all like to get our feet wet in the creek. We all gather there and take on the detour as a group. Every year we tell the group to stay single file but almost from the beginning they have a hard time remembering. Some of those hills are hard enough and to stay on the right side of the lane gets pretty tough. Especially when you need to pass other riders. At the end of the detour is a steep hill with road signs that tell bicyclist to walk their bikes. We never do. At the bottom of the hill there is a sharp right turn and then the entrance to a park where we have lunch.

We all devoured lunch in a ravenous manner. It seems we can never get enough food on these trips although Harry and Zane were doing a great job to keep us fed. Dave Lyons back was starting to act up so he didn't ride after lunch. The rest of us all took off for Snyders Landing. Everyone stopped some stopped a little too quickly and one's knee paid for it. Mike Kirby, Scott Henderson and Steve Horan were riding in the front and a sudden stop caused Mike to run into Scott and then Mike's right knee collided with something, I believe the ground, to get a huge gash across it just below the kneecap. Everyone arrived and Doc Henderson did a temporary patch job. We tried several different types of bandages and weren't very successful at keeping it covered while he was riding. Soon we all started up the road to Sharpsburg and Antietam. At least that is what we thought.

We rode into Sharpsburg and then arrived at the Antietam group camp site early that day. Once there Mark stapled Mike's knee back together while the boys all watched. Mike kept saying "its ok, scars are neat girls dig em" and "pain is weakness leaving the body". When he was done Mark bandaged it up with pink gauze. It was the Saturday the First Presidency of the Church had requested we all do community service in commemoration of the Pioneer Trek. The Stake's Young Mens Presidency had arranged a service project with the National Park Service. The park is having a problem with a non-native tree that grows very fast (up to 7 feet a year) taking over parts of the battle field. I don't remember the name of the tree it is from Southeast Asia I believe. We cut down the trees using bow saws, axes and loppers. Then the Park Service was going to spray the area to keep the trees from growing again. It was hot and hard work but we made quick work of the area they wanted cleared and had some fun with it too. When it was over we piled back into the Vans to return to the camp.

Shortly after we arrived back at camp a ranger showed up with young Joe McCellah. It seems in the confusion of patching Mike's knee at Snyder's Landing he proceeded down the towpath and eventually stopped at the ranger station on the towpath near the Antietam hiker biker campsite. They helped him find us. What is interesting about this is I don't think anyone realized he was missing, not even his Dad. There had been so much confusion because of the injury and needing to get to the service project. He arrived just in time for our annual dip in Antietam creek.

There was no rope swing this year. The water was running clear and cold. There was part of a row of rocks going across the creek that was acting to divert some of the water into a channel where it would flow very fast. Everyone chipped in and contributed to building it up. Scott Henderson and big Joe McCellah were the impetus though. When you entered the channel it would immediately sweep you downstream. It was great. The fun part was getting back upstream. Everyone had a good time and got cleaned up in the creek too. Dinner was being prepared as we were enjoying ourselves. I think we had foil cooked chicken that was out of this world. Of course Saturday night brought with it the usual feast of slabs of ice cream.

We barely made it to the store on time to pick it up. Actually they were closing and when they heard the number of half gallons we wanted to buy they opened back up for us. When we returned to camp we realized we had nothing to cut off slabs. So Craig Eckmire started washing the bow saws very carefully and thoroughly. That’s right the same ones that were rubbing against poison ivy when we were cutting down the trees. I guess the washing was done well because no one got sick. The ice cream was as always terrific. I did try to not eat as much this year so it wouldn't bother my stomach. We gave our extra ice cream to the Scouts that were in the adjacent sites. They act like they have never seen ice cream before. Late that night the boys had a rowdy capture the flag game with the Scouts. They were all tired the next morning.

Sunday morning came early and we all prepared for church. We were to have full services at Dunkard Church. Actually I think we just had priesthood and Sacrament meeting. It went very well. President Blackburn came down for the services. We all went sightseeing after church. The battlefield is such a somber memorial to all those that died in that battle. We were able to see a cannon firing demonstration and ended up tagging on to some other tours at some of the sights to get explanations of what happened. It is hard to believe that we could have been so cruel to our countrymen. Yet today civil war and unrest continues to occur throughout the world. After sightseeing we returned to the campsite.

The boys all wanted to bathe in the creek. They sure did take a long time. I wonder if they were doing something other than bathing? That night we all sat around the campfire told stories and discussed unique experiences we each had. I spoke of Wreck diving in Guam. The next morning would arrive long before we were ready to hit the trail.

Monday we all started to the towpath via Harpers Ferry road. When we arrived at the bottom of the last hill we all gathered at the entrance road to the C & O canal park. We kept waiting and then we realized Joe McCellah wasn't with the group. Not the young one, his dad. Mark encouraged me to go back with him and look for Joe while the rest of the group went on. We would catch up later. I tried to convince Mark to do it on his own but better judgement won and I went with him. The scout buddy plan is always better than solo. We rode back up all the hills we had just ridden down. We should have run into him on the road but he wasn't there. We arrived back at camp and Harry and Zane were said he left later than the group but didn't know which way he went. Mark and I decided that since he knew where we were headed that Joe was going to have to be on his own. Mark and I headed back to the trail taking some short cuts that ended up having some hills and one Monster Hill. As usual, Mark was able to ride up all of them. I ended up walking some my legs were dying. This was not a very good way to start a day. Eventually we made it back to the trail.

Once on the towpath we were able to make up time and ended catching up with Joe. He had gone left from the camp instead of right but was still able to find his way to the towpath. He ended up catching it farther south than we normally do. Soon Mark, Joe and I caught up to Dennis Eddings and Travis. Joe, Travis and I rode together until lunch at Whites Ferry. Travis was feeling very poorly again. He doesn't drink or eat enough while he is riding. Joe decided not to ride after lunch. Travis decided to continue with me. We were the last ones to arrive and leave lunch.

It wasn't long before he was wishing he hadn't come with me. We considered going back but by then Harry would have already left Whites Ferry. Travis was rapidly getting overheated again. We started stopping at every water stop to rest, and splash cool water on us to cool us down. He was very tired and very hot. We stopped for photos at Great Falls and eventually had the dubious honor of being the last ones to finish. Some of the kids started giving Travis a hard time and I told them he was just keeping his slow Dad company. We loaded the vehicles and headed home. I rode with Harry and Mike Kirby. We decided to stop for Ice Cream at Bert's and still beat the rest of the group back to the chapel. They did have to drop off people in Waldorf and at the Stake Center, I think.

Overall a very good trip. The weather was good except Friday evenings rain. Travis was a good riding companion. He was a real trooper and persevered even though he was feeling ill. Reflecting back I don't know if I was wise to encourage him to press on. The idea behind these trips each year is to teach goal setting, enduring to the end, patience and long suffering. The ride has a lot of parallels to life. The Tunnel is one of my favorite parts. As you enter it is light and then it becomes dark and you can barely see the end. As we faithfully endure we approach the light at the end of the tunnel (life).