Would you do it again? Maybe. Would you do it differently? Probably.
As I told some of you, it was one of the hardest things I ever did. I suffered in many ways that I expected, and in few that I didn't. However, the trip was a great experience because of all the people we met along the way, strangers and friends alike. There was great scenery, historic towns and monuments and even some wildlife in places. The landscapes varied from old industrial towns, remote rural landscapes, small rural towns, historic and current transportation corridors, and event the nation's capital with all it's architectural grandeur. As the pain subsides (slowly in some places) and things heal, our selective memory tends to focus on the positive sides of the trip. There were a lot of things that I wished had captured in photographs, but didn't do because of time, fatigue or both. I tried to describe some of them, but I don't think I really did them justice.
So back to the questions. I may do this trip again, but there are a lot of other places I would like to see and explore by bike, foot, skis or boat (canoe/kayak). If I would do it again, I would take 4 or 5 days so I could enjoy some of the towns, sites and side trips along the way. I would do it in opposite direction for the different perspective, and to have he smooth trail at the end of the trip. I would either ride a road bike with a steel frame and longer wheelbase that would absorb more trail shock, or a hard-tail mountain bike with a front shock, and 650 c x 1.9 tires. Incidentally, on the C&O canal trail over half of the through riders were on road bikes. I would train more on rougher trails, do a couple more long rides in my training regimen and alter my position to be more upright on the bike.
During the trip, I made adjustments to raise my bars and lower my seat. I adapted a tire lever to clean my brakes and tire clearance on the last 2 days when mud would cake up and cause drag. I thought about letting air out of my tires to make the trail smoother, but decided I didn't want to add resistance...maybe a bad decision.
I suffered from saddle soreness, mostly just the pressure type. I had a very stiff and sore neck at the end of the first day, but that area went numb the next 2 days, so that was that. The soreness in the Achilles tendons ended up being the biggest unanticipated problem of the trip. I have a few theories about what might have caused the pain; rough trail, seat too high, standing due to saddle sores, and accumulated time on the bike were all probably factors.
I have learned a lot from this trip, and if time permits I can apply this knowledge to a new challenge. The purpose of this blog is so you can experience this trip through the words and pictures, and hopefully be inspired to do something big, adventurous and maybe worthy of your bucket list.
Glenn
