Raising Money for the Greater Pittsburgh Area Food Bank
What motivates you to finally line up for an epic challenge? For MtLCCC member, Jeff Koontz, it was when he saw firsthand the long line of cars and people waiting for food donations at the Greater Pittsburgh Area Food Bank. This wasn’t happening on tv or in another part of America, it was right there alongside the GAP trail in the town of Duquesne, just after passing by Kennywood’s roller coasters. Jeff knew that he was fortunate to ride while others could not afford basic food necessities during the COVID-19 shutdown. His idea to hit a longtime goal while simultaneously helping fellow Pittsburghers and the food bank was planted.
On the morning of September 25, 2020, Jeff left Point State Park on the GAP trail and arrived in Washington, DC - 333 miles and 21:36 hours later, with a ride time under 20 hours. There’s even proof on Strava!
If you’re inspired by Jeff’s ride and would like to help with his fundraising, you can still donate through his Facebook or GoFundMe pages.
Below is Jeff’s ride report written in his own words.
It Starts With a Plan
Just wanted to post a recap of my adventure this weekend biking the length of the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Towpath from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC, in 21h 36m (who's counting).
First of all, I want to thank everyone who has commented or donated so far. I've read every comment and it means a lot to me to see the outpouring of support.
This was an idea I've had sitting in the back of my brain for a while (years), and it's been such a weird year for everyone with COVID, no racing, but with work from home, I've actually seen my mileage totals increase, and I've stayed on my training plans as close as ever. So as I've mentioned this idea to my wife a few times, she suggested I should not wait, and go ahead and do it. We picked a weekend and I started to prep the logistical aspects of the ride. Josh Friedman/ATP Race Consulting helped taper my training into the ride weekend and was confident my fitness was there.
The Route
For those of you reading this who are not from Pittsburgh or not familiar with the route, this is a route that most people take several days to ride, either bikepacking/camping or staying in B&B's along the way. The first 150 [along the GAP] is a rail trial of crushed limestone and is pretty smooth rolling, the 184.5 of the C&O canal towpath is much less well groomed. Still, I felt 333 miles in under 24 hours seemed within reach to me and I'd seen on the internet that 4-5 other people have done it, so why not.
My longest ride this summer was 120 miles. I felt like I needed to do something a little longer, and with some time at night to test lighting, etc., and was lucky enough to find Al Meder willing to meet me at 3:30 in the morning for a trial run to Ohiopyle and back (150 miles). It was great to pick his brain from all his endurance bike racing he's been doing over the last several years and after finishing the ride, and feeling great, I felt the big ride was within reach.
Ed Phillips gave me some good pointers on the C&O which I had never seen before (and I knew if I had problems, it would be that part of the ride) - I probably ignored most of his advice - Ed - I probably rode my aerobars 40-50% of the ride from Cumberland to Hancock. Though Ed's suggestion of booking the Georgetown Suites at the end - a stone’s throw from the finish - was spot on.
One Long Day Riding to DC
So, at 8:00am Friday Sept 25, I left the Point (with a nice group of the coffee club to see me off!).
My wife was running support for me. I had mapped out 4 trail heads to pick up supplies: Ohiopyle, Meyersdale, Cumberland and Hancock. The day was kind of a blur and she was a trooper getting from point to point. I had provided a time table (pictured) with estimated arrival times based on differing average speed. She always made it there with bottles refilled with drink mix and I never knew any of the struggles she had in making sure she was there on time.
So, some of you might have just glazed over and are still thinking about the fact that someone was on a bike for 21 and a half hours. What did you think of, were you bored, what went through your mind?
This is going to sound ridiculous, but at The Point, I pulled out my phone and told everyone there, here's my theme song for today, and proceeded to play Jerry Reed's "East Bound and Down".
"East bound and down, loaded up and trucking'
Oh, we gonna do what they say can't be done
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there
I'm east bound, just watch ol Bandit run"
I then proceeded to sing this song to myself for 21+ hours. I'm sure I had other thoughts along the way - like:
"This might be a nice section of trail to take Jorge to"
"Welp, I think I'm now an official frog mass murderer.."
"Deer - get out of the way"
"I hope these lights get me to the end"
They did, but when one of them ran out of battery, I was expecting a little flash or something to let me know I was end of life. Finding yourself in pitch black at 16mph without warning is a little disconcerting.
I had minimal issues along the way. The Paw Paw tunnel is pretty sucky, my headlight made the undulations of the surface seem like a pump track. It was after the sketchy boardwalk past the Paw Paw where the trail got a little bumpy that a rock punctured my rear tire. Some sealant sprayed out, but seemed to seal up. I lost pressure a couple of times between there and Hancock as I hit other bumps, and was contemplating whether to just hope the sealant holds or to throw a tube in (I only had one tube, so that was just as risky). I put full pressure into the tire during my stop at Hancock and the rest of the way the sealant held.
I had grand plans for nutrition, but by Cumberland, every calorie was forced. Drink mix was probably the savior, but I could not contemplate eating any of the food I brought for like the last 10 hours. Gels I could get down, and I had beef jerky bites at my stop in Hancock.
The last 50 miles were an eternity - not helped at all by the rain during that time. The mile markers seemed to click by so slowly. Everything was about dividing the last miles into miniature milestones, 45, 30, 25, 20, 15 etc. The last 6 seemed the longest.
One Last Test Before I’m Done
The only other mechanical issue I had was less than a mile to go, you have to take a ramp over the canal to the other side, just after passing under the Key Bridge in Georgetown. (By the way, extremely helpful video of the last mile by Sara Petyk - Noble Invention Bike Touring on YouTube of the last mile to get to the mile 0 marker). Anyhow the ramp was a little steeper than I thought, and I had to shift into an easy gear quickly and shifted my derailleur into the spokes where it got caught. I couldn’t get it loose by hand, so I had to access my multi-tool which was in my seat pack. My seat pack wouldn't open because of the mud caked on, and my frustrations started to grow. Fortunately, I got it open, unscrewed the jockey pulley and put it back together - probably cost me 10 minutes but it seemed like an eternity.
I didn't expect my wife to go out in the rain at 5:30am to see me to mile 0, but there she was (she had been tracking my progress online). So good to see her at the finish, I got some photos and then we walked back to the hotel (I declined to get on the bike). I took a long hot shower. I was sore, and I'll spare everyone the details, but suffice it to say, I found some unique locations to place the tegaderm.
It was hard, it was pretty rewarding and now a few days out I feel pretty good - I'm not riding a bike for a few more days - but all in all, not bad.
Thanks again for everyone’s support - especially those of you who read to the end here! - and hope maybe this inspires you to go out and do something ridiculous.
The Gear
If you’re still scrolling, chances are you’re a certified bike nut and only looking for this - the Gear List! Had to make sure you read the story first.
Base bike is a Giant TCX Pro-2 cyclocross bike
I added a Quarq powermeter
I rode Roval CLX 50 wheels with tubeless Panaracer Gravelking 35mm tires
Zipp aero bars
Garmin 530
Garmin Charge power pack
Garmin UT 800 smart headlight
Niterider Lumina 750 headlight
Both lights mounted to handlebar mounts
Goal zero Venture 30 power bank (to charge the lights - ran one light till it died, then charged it while running the other - the other never died so technically didn’t even need)
Garmin Varia 515 tail light/ Niterider Solas tail light (never used either)
Revelate Gas Tank cockpit bag
Apidura frame bag (loaner from Al)