Logistics

This particular trip is a bit different for me. Do I have a writing companion I have more than one partner for the route. After Mike and I did the Katy Trail together and survived, we decided to increase the challenge by adding two of my grandsons, Caleb and Ridge. The four of us will be pedaling from Pittsburgh to Washington DC via the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Rail Trail and then the C&O or Chesapeake and Ohio Canal trail. It’s about 360 miles and we’ll be on the trail for about 9 days including one rest day, Sunday.

Gloria and I rode this route as a fourth of our Northeast tour a few years ago. It was definitely one of the best parts of our tour and so I thought we should repeat it. I’d hoped that more family would be able to join us but we had a short family ride in Glenwood Springs a couple weeks ago. The Family Rides are now serving as a springboard for partners to join me on expeditions. This doesn’t quite qualify as an expedition, but at least it’s a good long tour. Ridge and Caleb have many miles under their belts of Family Rides and even a true tour that they took earlier in the summer with Mike to do the Mickelson Trail in South Dakota. However, I think this will still be a challenge for them mostly due to having to be self-contained for eight days on a bike.

For me, having nothing but what I can fit on my bike is one of the best parts of touring. I love it being so simple that I don’t have to think about a shirt color in the morning because I only have one or two shirts. Not having to pick clothes was half of the reason I became a doctor. Scrubs made my fashion statement. I also like the challenge of seeing if with limited space and weight I can bring all the essentials for both daily living and potential disasters like broken chains. It’s a wonderful challenge especially since it’s all included with the beauty of slowly crossing a landscape under your own power.

Of course, this particular tour raises its own challenges. The start of the ride is about 1500 miles from our homes in Colorado. Last year, we went even further to Prince Edward Island. However, I managed all the logistics by simply paying a company there to provide us with bikes at the start and pick them up at the finish. It was wonderfully simple but it did take about half of my retirement fund. This year we’ve opted for the more traditional Gogarty approach of Planes Trains and Automobiles and anything else that can get us to our destination.

Presently I am making my way at breakneck speeds, compared to biking, across the Great Plains. I have a dual mission of taking my granddaughters belongings to Southern Virginia University for her first year of University and transporting the bikes we’ll be riding to the start of the GAP. Ridge and Caleb will comfortably fly in the night before the ride starts as will my brother Mike. I’m not begrudging the drive, because I still enjoy seeing the country and having so much time to think. I may not do the thinking part well, but I believe it’s a bit of a lost or disappearing art. It’s not very complicated to think. You simply have to minimize your sensory input or in other words turn off your phone. The Great Plains are especially conducive to having minimal sensory input and time to think.

I had lots of time to think today as I made my way from Pueblo, to Topeka Kansas it’s a good start but I have a couple more days of travel. Ultimately, I have to drop off bikes in Pittsburgh, drive the Suburban to Reagan Airport near the end of our route, then take a rental car back to Pittsburgh, and pick up the kids at the airport and be ready for the ride. It’s not biking yet, but I like the logistics and even the drive across the country.

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