D24 NE Height Matters

The divide on the east coast doesn’t really “divide” the flow of water into separate oceans.The east side or the west side of the East Coast Continental divide both, eventually, drain into the Atlantic. And as noted last night, the height of the East Coast Continental Divide is not impressive at around 2300 feet. Our home in Pueblo sits at double that elevation. However, despite its lake of elevation it more than makes up for it with beautiful, expansive views. The ECC divide is impressive! Honestly, I enjoyed it as much as any crossing of the “real” continental divide.

The ride up to the divide was also incredible. The morning fog parting as we rode up made for an especially enchanting view. Some of the train tressels we crossed were long enough and high enough it was almost scary. And then there are the tunnels.

Claustrophobia is a real thing, if you have it. I do. Fortunately we were moving fast enough that before we got too deep into the tunnel I could almost see the other end. It was a long tunnel which added to the variety of great riding this morning. There was also a great variety of riders on the trail.

The ride on the GAP everyday has been illuminating. Watching riders has given me an overall perspective about the trail. It is like taking the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland rather than going to the jungle. People even older than Gloria and me are the most common riders if you can believe it! It feels like a very pleasant and safe “adventure”. But don’t get me wrong, it is wonderful and easily one of the best 150 miles I’ve ever ridden. Of note, looking at the other riders, I’m doubtful any of the riders could help me fix a flat much less a serious mechanical issue.

One fun part of today, in the slides above, was seeing kids. Gloria and I had noted both how great it would be to take our kids/grandkids on the trail and that we hadn’t seen any kids on the trail. It was fun to see this group of Amish riding the trail. Clearly they are smarter than the other kids stuck in school today.

Our day started and ended with prayer. To be honest, the technical difficulty mentioned yesterday is that Gloria’s motor is close to falling apart. We were very thankful to have made it to the end of the GAP and the beginning of the C&O in Cumberland MA with Gloria’s motor still functioning. I was especially concerned starting out this morning with 20 miles of uphill to the divide. The other 30 or so miles were mostly downhill but it wasn’t steep enough that I wouldn’t have had to push her – which could have been problematic on several levels.

Tomorrow, with a bottom bracket my sons shipped to us, I will at least have a backup for the motor if it fails. Pray will still be the order of the day, but I’m doing my best to have as many bases covered as possible as we start the last trail of our adventure.