BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

According to http://www.atatrail.org/tmi/status.cfm , the Big Savage Tunnel will be closed from December 1st to April 15th. I'm guessing someone on the board here might be able to advise you of a suitable detour?

In 2010 the BST opened early, on March 15th. It might open early again, depending on the weather.

But don't forget that the snow lasts a lot longer at higher elevations. If the tunnel is still closed, that could mean there's still plenty of snow on the trails up there.

The road detour is here. They don't recommend it for biking, only driving.

becca The pace is pretty fast, but it doesn't require training or anything.

That may be true for some, but I trained for 5 weeks to do that trip in 7 days.

I plan to train longer and harder for my next trip to be able to do it in 6.

There is a big differnce between doing 65 miles in one day and doing 65 miles for 5 days in a row.

I attempted this for spring break two years ago, here's a blog entry: http://joe.framba.ch/2009/03/gapcando/

An excerpt:

Meyersdale, PA. A++++ would visit again. The entrance to town has a large bulletin board with a map and phone numbers of every establishment in the area, including a HOSTEL for CYCLISTS! In one fluid motion I tore the phone out from the pack and had the number dialed. No answer. Oh well, where’s the bar?

After an hour or so I called again, with great success. The hostel is a basement room of the high school, fitted with ten bunks, showers, a foosball table, and a few couches. It was closed for the season, but with very little prompting I was let in and stayed the night free of charge. Thank you card, no doubt.

A few of the locals let me know that the Big Savage Tunnel is closed for the season. The BST is the longest tunnel on the trail, at 3300 ft., at the highest point of the trail, with no easy bike detour. So I mulled over my options at the hostel and decided to shuttle it. Queen City Taxi picked me up in the morning and shuttled 30 miles to Cumberland. While I’m a little disappointed about it, there’s not much else that could be done, especially since I have reservation deadlines made in Harper’s Ferry and DC.

Thanks for the tips. I guess It might be faster than I had thought. Also I hadn't thought that the tunnel would still be closed. Will probably have to reconsider and do this in warmer weather...I suppose that would also make camping possible and save me $

I did it in 4 days....meyersdale is attainable on the first day.

but that leaves you with meyersale to hancock for day two, which is tough!

anyway, the bar in meyersdale was awesome, nice large adjoining rooms, great affordable food and beer. and we were wet from riding the first day, the waitresses that lived in one of the back units of the bar actually washed and dried our clothes for us and they (edit: the clothes) were warm in the morning!

but then again, we were 20-something guys and they were college aged girls...maybe that had something to do with it!

also: when the trail is saturated from ground water/snow melt...it is a VERY slow going.

we were riding meyersdale to cumby before that section was officially finished and we were sinking in to the dirt a good 2-3 inches and running our tires at 60 psi (normal psi was 100).

I was blessed with warm, clear weather last year and rode from my door in Pittsburgh to my friend's door in Frederick MD in 3 days, solo. It was basically back to back to back 100 mile days, and I camped each night.

Whatever your pace, it's totally a doable adventure. I'd hate to get stuck on the trail for 5 days of rain though.

When Kayla and I made the trip (~80 hours from the Boston trail head to our hotel in the financial district in DC), there was a closure on the trail. There is a recommended detour, but we got a tip from someone we met camping that the recommended detour would tack on a bunch of extra miles. Instead we weaved around some country roads. I don't remember much, but Kayla can probably give you details if you're interested.

I'm not clear on where we rode, either, really...I get confused between getting lost getting off the rail trail after Hancock and having to meander through what I think was Big Run State Park; and the actual detour of the detour that took us on some sort of highway ramp and rolling country roads (which was actually Route 68, IIRC).

I may still have the maps.

I don't remember much of the trip. I just remember hating myself in Harper's Ferry for craving Cheez-its.

I've gone either on the detrour or alternative route 4 times now. (2 round trips). There are better ways to go than the offical detour.

Google maps shows one better way with their standard Pgh ->DC directions.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Pittsburgh,+PA+15213&daddr=Washington+DC&hl=en&geocode=FRgfaQIdBr87-ynJgiLkKPI0iDFKDMJBbuR7oA%3BFQh-UQIdsoRo-ylb5PZa3sa3iTEqXYjUIkVSwg&mra=ls&dirflg=b&sll=39.534762,-77.828522&sspn=0.204413,0.351562&ie=UTF8&ll=39.538999,-77.821655&spn=0.204401,0.351562&z=11&lci=bike

I like taking roads from Williamsport to the town of Anteitam. Follow the Google bike route as far as Downsville then taking Speilman Rd (first 68, then 63) to right on Bakersville Rd to Sharpsburg pike (65) through the Antietam battle field. I'm not into battlefields, but it's a nice ride.

Then at the town of Sharpsburg, get on Harper's Ferry Rd to the auspiciously labeled "Canal Rd." That is at the town of Anteitam, which is miles from the battlefield.

Or go further on Harper's Ferry Rd, as I did, to Mt Lock Rd, which looks like a driveway, to get back to the C&O trail.

Nice ride. Saves some "meandering river" miles.

You want to make sure you have good maps for MD (or a GPS/smart phone) because if it really rains, you don't want to be on most parts of the C&O.

Maryland roads have mainly clean, wide shoulders.

I met a massage therapist pulling a child in a trailer on Bakersville Rd once. Arranged for a massage at the B&B in Williamsport.

I have some decent maps I could loan you. Buy me a beer and I'll talk for hours about the trail.

Getting on the roads for the detour is a nice break form the rocks and mud on the C+O.

There's a Giant dealer in Williamsport that can give tips for that detour. Across the street is a little place called Desert Rose Cafe. I highly recommend it.

+1 for Desert Rose Cafe.

I <3 Desert Rose!

i heard that there may be a way OVER the big savage tunnel if its closed.

I've been somewhat over Big Savage. I climbed up to the top from the Meyersdale side on my bike, or rather, with my bike. It was a bit steep and while a mountain biker could handle it, me with my hybrid had to walk quite a bit of it. If I had been packed for a trip it would be worse.

Down the other side was even steeper and more dangerous. Again, a mountain bike might have had fun. I wasn't going to even make the attempt.

I traveled the road detours several times before the tunnel was opened. It's like road riding anywhere. Sometimes the roads don't have a lot of berm but the traffic is light and has long site lines so there's plenty of room for passing vehicles to move over. I never felt that it was inherently dangerous.

I took a similar detour as what Mick posted, except I stopped at the Antietam National Battlefield, which (after stopping at Harpers Ferry earlier in the day) made for a lovely Civil War historical experience. There was an access from the C&O to Canal Road and I think I went on Millers Sawmill Road up to the park.

I seem to recall a thread from about a year ago recommending against going this early in the season, for weather-related reasons. What's the consensus now?

I'm thinking about taking my time and going. Leave Thursday 3/3 and get there Tuesday 3/8. Camp along the way. Whether I go or not depends on the weather really.

After exiting the trail someplace north of harper's Ferry and riding along some small river road (there's cabins to your left, an empty earthen canal to your right including artificial dykes and then the river on the right most) you climb up a small, steepish hill before fastly descending to the "lock ______ road" and make a right on it to get back to the trail (this is all on the way into Harper's).

anyway, on the descent leading up to the lock road an oldtimer saw us bombing down the paved road to the right turn onto the lock access road and he picked up a half-full can of soda from the side of the road (he was in his front yard) and threw it at one of us and hit my friend!

@ieverhart What's the consensus now?

Depends.

How much of a badass are you?

I've seen snow and freezing temps while camping in Somerset Co - the first week of May. ("May the 4th be with you.").

Weather.org says Meyerdale in March has an average high of 45 Average low of 26.

Record high of 84, record low of -3

April in Meyersdale: average low of 35 and record low of 12.

My rules of thumb: 1) prepare for a temp halfway between the average and the record. 2) Carry enough clothes that a sprained ankle and a trashed bike won't actually kill you.

Those rules almost always lead to carrying extra unused clothes. I'm cool with that.

Weather.org gives the identical numbers accross the board for Frostburg and Meyersday.

..we went in May (think is was the 2nd week in may, 2006) and one of my guys was borderline hypothermic by frostburg after departing Meyersdale at 830am in slight drizzle.

he ended up at the sheetz just before Cumberland thawing out using the sink in the bathroom there.

Willie P, sounds like you had a helluva trip, between stuff falling out of the sky and stuff thrown.

The only harassment I've gotten on any GAP trip was between here and the bridge to McKeesport. Used to happen once -or more - in each direction, but folks are calmer about bikes now.

I ended up with some harassment from local teenagers in Hancock MD, but also found some great help from local cyclists.