C & uhh-O Canal

This past week Bec and I had set out to bike the whole C&O Canal... all 185 miles of it! What we hadn't planned on was the cart carrying all our stuff to break... TWICE! At mile 26 the axle broke and left us stranded 7 miles from the nearest town. After some deliberation we decided to ride in and hope that the town's single hardware store was open. We rolled up about 25 minutes later to find out we made it, with 2 minutes to spare. After getting the parts we needed we grabbed some dinner and rushed back to our campsite before dark set in. Having done some early back tracking, rough riding, and unexpected detours we finally could sit and rest around the fire, and after 43 miles we needed it! The following morning we fixed the cart and set out to get to our next destination. Since we had to stop at mile 26, 9 miles from where we were supposed to stop, we had to try to ride more miles than we had planned for the second day. We pushed all day trying to keep our spirits up but it was clear we weren't enjoying it as much as we should have been. The thought of having to ride 50 miles on the rough rutted terrain was draining in and of it's self. Around mile 50 and with 25 to go we stopped for lunch and a well needed rest. At this point it seemed as though we might just make it to our next stop even though our bodies were saying we were done. We pushed through the next 21 miles and had to force ourselves to keep going when again the axle broke! Looking back and watching the wheel roll freely into the weeds peaked my frustration on the ride. We were tired, sore, and frustrated and this was the straw that broke the camels back! The only lucky thing was that I had bought some extra axles so I was able to replace the broken one on the spot and make it the last 4 miles to our campsite. However, I knew at that point the cart was not going to make it the next 70 miles to where Bec's parents were camping and waiting for us, so unfortunately we had to call them and have them pick us up. So we didn't get to ride the whole entire thing but we did get to ride some extra with Bec's parents bringing our total miles on the C&O to 80 and our grand total to 133. Aside from the mishaps the trip was pretty good and we got to see some history, although that wasn't Bec's highlight. Perhaps we'll ride it in it's entirety some time later but for now we'll have to be happy with 80 miles and prepare for our next journey, the Erie canal!