AS MY FOOT DRAGS THROUGH YET ANOTHER
muddy puddle, I struggle to suppress the scream rising up in my throat. My rain jacket is utterly useless by now, and I’ve reached the point where I’ve forgotten what it was like to ever wear dry clothes. Water pours over my helmet visor as I struggle to see more than a foot in front of me. Then, as suddenly as the rainstorm blew in, it’s gone again, leaving behind blue skies and a trail that is now more mud than not. Despite the change in weather, the realization that we’re only halfway to our campsite and we still have 30 more miles to bike dampens the elation I feel as the sun once again touches my shoulders. Yet the magic of the trail continues to pull at my sense of wonder, even when I think I can’t possibly pedal another mile. When friend and fellow BRO colleague Shannon McGowan and I decided to bike all 184.5 miles of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath, I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to keep up or even finish. Shannon has been gravel and mountain biking for years, building up the muscles and technique needed to get through tough climbs and ride for dozens of miles, day after day, in the saddle. I Wheelzup Adventures, trained for two months. based in Cumberland, The term “quarter-life crisis” Md., can provide bikes, might sound like something made gear, and shuttles for up by those of us who straddle the extended rides on the Millennial-Gen Z line to complain C&O Canal Towpath. about that period of your 20s The shop’s affable when you’re racked by uncertainty, owner, Mandela insecurity, and self-doubt. Not that Echefu, helped outfit people don’t experience those our trip and provided feelings at every stage in life, but vital information and I find myself in early adulthood good company on our constantly questioning who I am and journey. More info: wheelzupadventures.com who I want to be. As my 25th birthday approached, I prepared for the most physically taxing trip I’d ever taken on. Deep down, I needed to prove to myself I could get from Georgetown, D.C., to Cumberland, Md., by way of my own physical and mental power.
If You Go
Frame of Mind
There was a time in my life I didn’t think I would make it to my 25th birthday. When doctors L E F T: B I G S M I L E S A L L A R O U N D A S W E R O D E I N T O C U M B E R L A N D , M D . R I G H T T O P : E L L E N A N D S H A N N O N AT T H E P O I N T W H E R E T H E C&O AND GAP TRAILS MEET IN CUMBERLAND, MD. PHOTO BY S H A N N O N M C G O WA N . R I G H T B O T T O M : O U R C A M P S I T E B Y T H E POTOMAC RIVER.
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