"Begin at the beginning...and go on till you come to the end; then stop" Lewis Carroll

One of the first things I did was visit a R.E.I. store. I have often visited their web site, and was thrilled when I found out there was one near Clarksburg, Maryland where I was staying. I also discovered a very cool local chain called Hudson Trail Outfitters. At one point while I was purchasing a MSR Zoid 2 tent at Hudson's, I had to show the clerk my Louisiana License. This brought on the inevitable questions about Katrina. The young male clerk eyed me strangely for a few moments then blurted out, "Your not going to live in this are you?!" I assured him that I had a regular house to stay in and was just purchasing this for a trip.

I also bought a really neat little book called 25 Bicycle Tours in Maryland. I found out later a little flaw the book had. It didn't give explicit instructions to the starting point of each tour. So usually I spent an hour or two trying to find it! Using this little book I began my exploration.

I had originally intended to do the Sharpsburg, Antietam tour. After winding up somewhere close to the middle of the tour instead of at the begining, I finally stopped at the visitor center across the potomac in West Virginia. It was a very small place and a grey grizzled old man with a scruffy beard who acted very perturbed that he had to keep telling all these tourists stuff sat behind the desk. He informed me that it must be the C & O Trail that I wanted and it was off of Sandy Hook road. I tried to explain that no, I was trying to get to Sharpsburg. He still gave me directions to the C & O trail. I figured, I could start in the middle!

This was my first time ever riding truly alone. In the New Orleans area there are always people everywhere. Here I was on a leaf strewn path, off of a desserted road, a river on one side and woods on the other. I was feeling a mixture of creepy and pride. I was proud of myself for doing it against my dainty-tough southern upbringing, yet creeped out at feeling so vunerable (I could see ax murderers and rapists behind every tree). Then I reminded myself that I was a child of God and he had assigned me a personal guardian angel. I often asked my angel for a push up a hill when I was tired. This helped me to forget those fears and to push on.

It was beautiful! The sun was shining and pushed through the deep tree canopy to illuminate the red orange leaves. Leaves wafted down ahead of me lazily as I whizzed through them! It was so much fun. Every now and then I met up with cyclists or a hiker. The terrain along the trail was relatively flat. Which is what I am used to. The trail is the remnents of a mule trail that followed the C&O Canal. The mules would pull barges along the canal. Locks along the canal would lower or lift the barges. Lock keepers lived in houses next to the lock they tended.

I was still trying to follow the tour route. I finally realized that I wasn't really sure where I was! I also was very hungry. I had only brought one snack with me and two bottles of water. I will not make this mistake again. I bring plenty of food with me now. There are pumps along the trail for water, but the water from them tastes like iron.

I never made it to Sharpsburg. I missed where I was to turn. Everything is in the book, it's just that it isn't marked very well in real life! I was getting very hungry and cranky. I met up with a couple who were biking and asked them how to get to Sharpsburg. He just kinda smiled at me and said "It's up several really big hills." He directed me to Shepherdstown which was closer. I'm glad I didn't try for Sharpsburg! The hill I had to climb to get to the bridge across the Potomac to Shepherdstown whipped my tail. I don't think I could have taken more than one of those. I finally found a pizza place and had pizza by myself in a very desserted pizza parlor. I called and checked in with my mother (she worries about me alot). My friends Allen and Moriah offered to come pick me up and take me back to my truck if I wanted. No way! I'm going to ride back!

After eating I felt much better. I hopped on my bike and headed back the way I came. On the way back I found where I should have turned. The trail was loaded with even more leaves that had fallen. I also noticed a couple of caves I hadn't noticed before. There were people kayaking on the Potomac. That is something I would like to do one day. I cruised on back and found my truck patiently waiting on the side of the road where I had left it. I spent a few minutes gazing at the sparkly Potomac and then loaded up the bike and left very contented. I returned to the bustle of my Sister's home, where the people are trying to understand why I do this kinda stuff!

The C & O Trail runs 185 miles from Georgetown to Cumberland Marland.

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