C&O Full Pull

Riding along Big Slackwater downstream from McMahon’s Mill. Portions of the towpath are now concrete, a result of reconstruction efforts of severe flooding in the area in the mid 90s.

I had intended to do another full pull of the C&O Canal tow path last year (2024) and then again this year (2025), but life had other plans for me. The intent had been to change things up a little from the first time I rode the full length of the tow path from Cumberland to DC. This time around I wanted to do it in two days instead of three. Or at least changing “where” I stayed the second night.

Unfortunately, despite having a banner year in 2023 and planning to do several bikepacking trips in 2024, including this one, I had to tend to family issues instead. Both parents passed away, first my mother in April 2024 and then y father in December of the same year.

Whatever plans I had for riding in 2024 had to be set aside…

The ordeal of seeing both parents leave me, had not only an emotional effect, but also a physical one. That physical effect manifested itself in mid 2024 and into 2025 as a severe Ulcerative Colitis flare-up. I have been suffering from the condition since 2003 and this last recurrence was the one that tipped the scales and forced me to opt major surgery. Tomorrow, May 7th, I will be actually undergoing the procedure and will, unfortunately, be off the bike for several months. I am documenting the whole experience; more on that to come… Hopefully I can help others suffering from what I did find some solace in that they are not alone…

My recovery prospects are good and I am looking ahead to picking up where I left off in late 2023 and into 2024; getting back to fitness will be difficult, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. The surgery will, I’ve been assured, change my life and allow me to do all the things I had to put off because of my chronic condition.

So, in honor of that, I’m revisiting, at least online, the full pull outing I did with my friends Paul and Becky on Memorial Day weekend 2023. - Enjoy…