CUMBERLAND, MARYLAND
Fifteen years ago I was all about riding these great rail trails. They are still fun, for a change, but not generally my preferred riding.
The last time I was here with a bike the trail wasn’t open from Cumberland to Frostburg. Andrew and I took the train, the Western Maryland Scenic Railway, and put our bikes on the train. And that was cool.
But the rail trail has been open for years now. It is one of a handful in the country where a rail trail shares the right of way with an active railroad. Plus it also shares a tunnel.
I started at Mile 0 at Canal Place where the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and the C&O Canal Towpath meet. From here is it 184 miles to Washington, D.C. and 150 miles to Pittsburgh.
The first two and one half miles are paved. I brought the mountain bike and was starting to wonder if this is now a paved route. (It should be.) The pavement ends once one reaches the bridge at the Narrows.
The trail opens up, following the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. Before 1975 this was a two track right of way. Today it is one track for the train and a crushed limestone path for bikes. And walkers.
At Mile 5.5 (I think) I came to the Brush Tunnel. I believe this was the big hang up in completing the trail from Cumberland to Frostburg. The lawyers for the railroad didn’t want anyone close to the tracks, especially in a tunnel. In the end, the tracks and trail both go through the tunnel, separated by a cable guard rail. And a warning sign not to be in the tunnel when a train approaches.
Although this was my first time on a bike, I have been up this trail before. Almost two years ago we took, Andy, Aiden, and Annabelle on a steam train ride up to Frostburg. And years earlier Andrew and I took our bikes up to Frostburg on the train.
The train had too much crushed limestone for my liking. Snap. Crackle. Pop. Every revolution sounded like Rice Krispies. And the dust was something else. My bike was covered in dust as was the water bottle.
About two miles from Frostburg the train tracks turn up towards the town and station while the “main line” continues straight. When I reached the Frostburg I was planning to turn around. But I checked the map and saw the Borden Tunnel was only a couple miles up the road. That was my new goal.
After reaching the Borden Tunnel I kept going. How far was the Mason Dixon line? A new goal.
I reached the Mason Dixon line. It is now a small park instead of just a sign which it was the last time I had been through here on my bike four years ago. Then I turned around.
At Frostburg I took the road up to the train station. There wasn’t much happening because the train has been closed since spring due to a landslide above two miles east of here. So no trains make it to Frostburg.
Back on the trail I was just shaking the lactic acid from my legs and adjusting my Garmin on my bike. A couple passed me. That shouldn’t have happened. Didn’t they see I was merely adjusting things and then going to ride?
I decided I would pass them back and they would never see me again. I did and they didn’t. I took off and rode @ 20 mph for most of the next hour. On limestone. On a mountain bike. It was a dusty day but otherwise very pleasing day on the bike.
