Today started much the same way yesterday did.  I had a decent amount of sleep considering the travel.  We were checked out of the hotel and loaded up a little behind schedule, but not too bad.  Just between you and me, I tell the team to be ready earlier than I need them to be because I know they will always be a little behind.  I am a genius.

We were on the trail by 10:15 am, which is isn’t bad for us.  We started today where we ended yesterday, at Fort Fredrick’s State Park which is absolutely beautiful.  I wish we would have had more time to explore this area with its historic buildings.  Due to some miscommunication, yesterday ended about 2.5 miles earlier than planned, which meant today was going to be at least 2.5 miles longer than planned.

The first few miles were bumpy and uneven, but shortly after the start we joined the Western Maryland Rail Trail (WMRT) which runs parallel to the C & O Trail we’ve been on for over a hundred miles.  For the most part, the WMRT is a smooth, nicely paved trail so the miles went by quickly.  There were intermittent sections of the trail that were buckling from root growth, which slows me down.

We took our first real break today when we arrived in the town of Hancock, a “trail town.”  Along the trail there are small towns that benefit greatly from the trail passing through.  There are many touring cyclists and hikers that rely on these towns for supplies, and in turn the towns rely on the hikers and bikers for their business.  We went into the C & O Bicycle shop and bought some memorabilia and some padded shorts for Jimmy.  After three days and over a hundred miles in the saddle his bits and pieces needed some care.

After riding nearly 28 miles along the WMRT we rejoined the C & O Trail.  The trail was beautiful and smooth all the way until lunch at 15 Mile Creek Campground.  This was a beautiful park and a great place to take a break and eat.  Thank you to my mom for finding us food and more importantly finding us.  Parts of the trail are very remote and not easy to access.  Often my mom was driving along narrow steep dirt roads trying to reach an access point on the trail where we might be.  With cell service almost nonexistent for a majority of the day it was even more challenging because she didn’t know which access point we would be at. She also managed to bring us some ratchet tow straps and a couple 3 ft lengths of 2 x 6. After yesterday we wanted to be more prepared for obstacles. I am a grown ass man and chose to carry my own 2 x 6’s.

Following lunch, we took a mile-long accidental side trip.  We’ve become pretty good at making our days longer than necessary.   We got back on the C & O to find the trail conditions were much different from the previous sections we had done today.  The trail was very similar to some of the difficult spots yesterday with the two single tracks separated by overgrown vegetation.  Despite the trail being rough and uneven we continue to be amazed at how beautiful it is, every single mile.

The penultimate 15 miles or so were interesting to say the least.  During this stretch my chair gave me an error message notifying me my motors were not happy.  Basically, they were overheating.  Sometimes we would stop and let them rest, others times I would drive slow for a while hoping to keep them happy.  This trail and my aggressive riding style are really pushing my chair to the limits.  The casters on the chair are starting to loosen and need to be tightened every so often.  My right arm rest is loose and is currently being supported in part by a bungy cord. This remains a reliable, durable chair. I’m just beating the heck out of it. A bright spot at this point was the sight of a familiar face. Jennifer Hearn was with us at the start in DC, and there she was again!   

I mentioned the difficulty of the penultimate 15 miles, because the difficulties with the final mile was another story all together.  Holy crap!  Since we left DC we knew that the end of this day may provide us with a difficult challenge.  We reached the Paw Paw Tunnel, or should I say we got to where the trail was closed not allowing us to travel through the Paw Paw Tunnel.  We had been told that the detour for this section would not be passable for me and my chair.  Oh yeah, I’ll be the judge of that.

Well…

At the site of the trail closure there was a detour sign, which was also a warning sign.  The sign read “The detour is a distance of approximately 1.5 miles of steep and strenuous trail.  Follow signs carefully and stay on the trail. Those using the detour should do so with extreme caution.”  Dr. B rode ahead to scope out the detour.  His reported back, “This isn’t any worse than some of the crazy shit you’ve already done.”  That’s all I needed to hear.  We’re doing it. 

We started up the detour.  We were concerned about my motors due to the error messages earlier.  Because of this, Jimmy and Dr. B would assist by pushing me to help minimize the strain on the motors.  Even with this help the chair would abruptly stop frequently. Amusingly, as the guys were pushing my armrest and had kept bumping the power button causing the chair to stop.   Keep in mind, me and the chair together weigh about 600 pounds.  I remember my younger days back in my thirties when it was more like 590.

My mom had been waiting for us at the top of the hill not knowing if we had even made it to this part of the trail, or whether we had decided to attempt the detour.  When Dr. B original rode ahead to scope out the detour he got cell service and my mom could finally track him and knew we were coming.  She walked down the hill and joined in the pushing.  An hour and a half later, multiple pushes, a lot of sweating and laughing we made it to the top of what turned out to be one hell of a hill.  Dr. B, Jimmy, and my mom were all breathing heavy and sweating.  I looked at Dr. B and told him “that wasn’t too bad”, and he looked at me and said “that was fun.”  And we were both right.

 My TDX SP2 Power wheelchair has continued to get us through some challenging terrain. Once again, we are so grateful for our sponsor of the day, Invacare, for providing high quality durable equipment.

We knew we had an adventure awaiting us.  The whole team has the right attitude about all of this.  The trust we have in one other, and as a team is crucial during moments like this.  If there is ever any doubt in our abilities to overcome a challenge all we have to do is look at one another.  This team is amazing and it has never been more apparent to me that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  

 Proud Partner of Invacare