Clayton with a fully loaded bike, near the trailhead in Cumberland, MD
For those interested, Clayton is on his second full day of the C&O tow path currently, and has stopped at mile marker 72 for the evening. His total mileage so far should be around 112 miles for the past two days, and he has 72 more miles to go before he hits DC.
Now that I've visited all the states east of the Mississippi (save Rhode Island and Wisconsin), I've noticed that I'm less interested in planning a 10 state 3 day weekend road trip. Things like bike touring and walking long sections of the AT are beginning to catch my eye.
I've had my eye on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail in British Columbia for awhile. It's 280 miles long, so I could probably do it (along with some sightseeing side trips) in two weeks. If there's not much elevation change, I could probably do a 15-20 mile ride today. But I don't think I'm in good enough shape yet to make that ride every day for 2 weeks.
I've also been looking at some of the 5 star terrain caches. Most of the ones I've been eyeing aren't terribly far from here, but require a camping trip. There are some good ones in the Youghatomac area that have a relatively low mileage, but cross through some pretty tough terrain.
There are 3 challenge caches (Run with the Big Dogs) within 5-10 miles of me that I'd like to hit in one day. When combined, they require nearly 30 miles of hiking. I can handle about 15 miles in one day, so I'm getting there. It's been hard to get out for a good training hike with Paul, so I picked up a copy of Leslie Sansone's 5 Mile Challenge Walk and have been doing the 5 mile and the 3 mile walks most days. I think I should be able to finish all of the Run with the Big Dogs series in 3-4 weeks.
Ok, so it's not a bike trailer, but Paul and Jack love riding around the neighborhood
So, for the past few weeks, we've been keeping an eye on Craigslist and Ebay for bike trailers. Dealing with Craigslist is kind of frustrating, because people either don't respond at all, or they respond a few days later, or worse. I responded to a few posts early this week on Craigslist for bike trailers. So out of the blue tonight, I get a call from a woman about a bike trailer. Turns out she lives relatively close to me, so I'll be picking the trailer up about 10:30ish tomorrow.
I'm looking forward to going biking with Clayton and Paul sometime this weekend. I guess we'll probably stick to the W&OD Trail, since it's paved the whole way through, unlike the CCT. My bike and the trailer can handle the crushed limestone and natural surface portions of the CCT, but I'm not sure that Clayton's road bike can.
Paul and I will probably ride section 5 of the CCT while I get used to riding with the trailer. The stretch between Pickett St and Prosperity Ave is pretty easy terrain wise, and also pretty short. Once I'm comfortable riding that stretch, I'll probably work on being able to finish the rest of section 5, which has slightly harder terrain (small hills and narrower paths). There's a few other places we can ride that have relatively easy terrain, but section 5 is probably the closest with good parking and playgrounds.
I also plan to hit the other caches along the Sugarland Trail (near Reston/Herndon). Paul and I did a cache along the trail, Short Bridge, awhile back, and the section of the trail we were on was paved and shaded. There's also a nice playground that we could take a break at, so I'm really hoping the trail is something we can ride together.
So, where am I going with all this biking and getting used to a trailer? Why, I'm getting ready for Geocaching Vacation 3.0, of course! They recommend being able to ride 30 miles on consecutive days, so I'll be working up to that with the trailer. After I pass that goal, I'll probably start riding with some added weight in the trailer. I'm really looking forward to finally having something challenging to do again :).
Biking, Travel and Other Wanderings, geocaching | Caitlin, 2007, September 21 5:19 pm | 
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