Steve, Yes, frigid temps at night (I think the lowest we got to was 20°F). I have an older EMS zero degree bag and Z mat and slept through the night just fine. Half a bottle of red wine helped that cause, too. Riding temps were mainly in the mid 30s to 40s. Double wool socks on the feet and some robust gloves kept the extremities toasty. Pedaling kept the core warm. When arriving at camp, before doing anything else, I find the trick is to immediately get out of the sweaty clothes and into warm night time clothing. Ideally, the temps would not have been record setting November freezes, but we definitely made the best of it and was well worth the extra layers to get some extended time on the bike.
Tom, sweet ride! What route did you take? Follow any of the ACAs or make it up yourself? GAP is definitely special. As you pointed out, Amtrak does indeed take fully assembled bikes along the PGH and DC routes. I think we looked at tickets which were $80 one way (though they throw in a service fee for the bikes. I'm not sure how much that ended up being). We decided on the mini van because it was (unfortunately) cheaper and significantly quicker. On Mon, Nov 18, 2019 at 4:12 PM Steve Cole <[email protected]> wrote: > Jacob, > > Sounds like a fabulous 4+ days. I don't generally think of record-setting > cold days in November as very desirable. Since they allowed you to cycle > the C&O without mud on a frozen, leaf-covered surface, I might change my > mind. I'm wondering how cold it got at night and what kind of equipment > kept you warm. > > > On Monday, November 18, 2019 at 1:42:26 PM UTC-5, Jacob P wrote: >> >> Hey all, >> I know it's a well traversed route, but for those of you on the east >> coast within spitting distance to DC or Pittsburgh, please do consider >> riding the GAP and C&O. I have a few cross country tours in my quiver, but >> for a couple specific reasons, this one stood out as an exceptional micro >> tour. First being, NO CARS! I am a distance lover (not much for speed >> unless it's a screaming downhill!), and these consecutive trails provide >> 335 miles of exceptional riding. The conditions on the GAP are near >> pristine, and although the C&O is a bit more rough and tumble, it's also an >> incredible ride. I've heard a lot of people say that the C&O is a complete >> mudbath. I will advocate for November riding -- the leaves cover most the >> path and the ground was slightly frozen. Zero mud. >> >> Secondly, it's a micro tour-able route! I live in Charlottesville and my >> buddy in DC. I parked my car in a quiet neighborhood of Arlington, then >> pedaled over to a rental car company where we quickly hauled our bikes and >> gear to downtown Pittsburgh. Rental minivan dropped off, one night in a >> hotel, and we were off. Four and a half days later, we were on the National >> Mall in DC. Here are a few pictures along the way. He's riding a Surly >> Bridgeclub and and I'm on a 63cm AHH. Notice the goosenecked stem -- I had >> to get creative to get this bike to fit me correctly :) >> >> We camped along the Potomac, spotted Bald Eagles and Red Tailed Hawks, >> encountered a few trash pandas who attempted to bust into our panniers. I >> rode the entire route in Crocs and second hand wool/reflective clothing. We >> are here. And finally, as it should be noted, a good time was had by all. >> >> Happy riding everyone, >> >> Jacob >> Charlottesville, VA >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/Oo671mWn7SA/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/9f58dbcb-61a3-47bb-8761-5ef23645a604%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/9f58dbcb-61a3-47bb-8761-5ef23645a604%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAHf4OsFvWBiuhyrf51Ta6Qo%3De7%2BW3Gfc%2B_0hnM%2Ber9%3Dh1pfMSA%40mail.gmail.com.
