Rich and Charles were great companions on the C&O. Rich was a twelve time veteran of the C&O. He was already planning his coast to coast ride in 2000 when we met him. They were full of questions about our ride, especially Rich. Rich I hope this web site is helpful for you in your planning.

Charles treated us to breakfast at a great diner in Paw Paw, West Virginia. We crossed a bridge to reenter this state. These guys knew all about the trail and all the best places to eat along the way.

We rode through the Paw Paw Tunnel together. The tunnel was one of the highlights of the trip. It is a 3000 foot long tunnel through a mountain. Back in the late 1800's barges of goods were pulled through by blindfolded horses. They had to be blindfolded to keep their fear of the four foot wide trail in check. They lacked the benefit of a railing to protect them from the fifteen foot fall into the inky black water below. We were glad of ours.

After lunch at a woodsy restaurant/grocery store/town hall we parted ways with our guides. We wanted to get some serious miles in. In Hancock we had dinner and then jumped on a twleve mile long paved rail trail. The rail trail paralleled the C&O. The smooth pavement was a great relief from the dirt and stone covered C&O. We rode until dusk and camped at our last C&O campsite near Williamsport.