On the way from our hotel to the trailhead at Paw Paw Tunnel Campground I told the crew I was feeling anxious about today. Dr. B asked if there was something in particular that was making me anxious. I gave him a list.
1. I was very concerned about the weather forecast. The forecast was showing heavy rain, lightning, chances of hail, strong winds, and to make it even more grim there was a chance of a “brief” tornado. What the hell is a “brief” tornado?
2. The terrain was a concern. We knew we’d have rain, and most likely a lot. This would lead to puddles, which is not a good thing for a low riding electric vehicle.
3. The chair did not get completed charged overnight.
4. My team finished strong yesterday, but I didn’t feel that my chair finished strong. I was concerned about the performance of my wheelchair yesterday and the issues we were having with the motors.
It was likely we’d get wet.
Dr.B then asked me to tell him something that was making me feel optimistic. I said “my team.”
Day 5 Start. Thanks Diestco!
We arrived at the trailhead to a lovely warm and sunny morning. Before starting out on the trail we made my body as waterproof as possible. We knew the weather would change. I was wearing my Arc’teryx pants and rain jacket. The amount of rain we were expecting required a little more protection, so we attached my canopy and put on my custom chaps made by Diestco Manufacturing. Dan Diestel, the owner of Diestco Manufacturing has been such a wonderful supporter of Ian’s ride over the years and has become a friend. His company makes high quality equipment that makes what I do in my chair safer and more comfortable.
It was time to get moving. I knew that today was going to be rough so I tried to pump up the team with a motivational speech. Apparently, it worked a little too well. Before I even finished my speech, Jimmy and Dr. B were grunting and pounding their chests and appeared to be heading straight for one another for a testosterone driven chest bump. I’m not a betting man, but I would have put money down that Dr. B would knock Jimmy into tomorrow. Holy crap I would have lost a lot of money. My mom was filming the event and Jimmy knocked Dr. B clear out of the picture. Who would have predicted that? If you’re interested, I highly recommend watching the video on Instagram. It might be my new favorite short film.
The Paw Paw Tunnel!
After Dr. B recovered, we got moving. We rode to the Paw Paw Tunnel so we could at least see the tunnel, since yesterday it was closed from the other end. It was quite impressive to think this tunnel was built in the 1800’s. The tunnel runs 3,118 feet through a mountain and was built between the years of 1836 and 1850. I wonder what the workers who built this tunnel would think if they saw me with my dreadlocks and checkered vans using the tunnel now for recreational purposes.
Turtles were everywhere!
The surface of the trail was good, not as smooth as pavement, but not nearly as bad as some of the surfaces we’ve been dealing with. We saw a lot of turtles (Eastern Box Turtles and Basking Turtles) along the way. Earlier in the trip we saw a lot of turtles sunning themselves on logs in the canal, but today they were in the trail. We had to be careful not to run them over. At this point it was humid, with the sun making all the plants and trees an intense green. Many sections of the canal were covered with lily pads. It was quite beautiful.
The trail was easy going until the storm hit. We could sense it coming, it started to get a little darker, the temperature dropped, and we felt the first few drops. Dr. B and Jimmy stopped to put their rain gear on. Within two minutes it was dumping. We stopped under a large sycamore tree for shelter. We discussed the best plan of action. We did not all agree what we should do, move forward and get rained on, or wait this out and ride once the rain let up. I live in Washington state and Jimmy and Dr. B live in California where it hasn’t rained in nearly a decade. I figured I’m the rain expert. I’ll make the call. We waited out the worst part of the rain, then moved on.
Shortly after we started riding again the rain stopped all together, it warmed up, and somehow this beautiful trail we have been experiencing for many days and many miles became even more beautiful. I don’t know how to explain it other than to say the greens were greener, the sky was bluer, and water in the canal seemed calmer and more reflective. At this point I would like to point out I did not ingest any illegal substances to enhance my senses.
Beautiful yet threatening
Despite the beauty, we had a new concern. The rain had come down so hard and so fast, that the trail was now a series of puddles, many of which were unavoidable. While the storm approached we had been keeping an eye on where the access points were in case we needed our support vehicle. Keeping this in mind, and knowing how long we would have to backtrack to get off the trail, we moved forward cautiously. As cautious as you can driving a power wheelchair with a lithium battery through deep puddles. I may have voided the warranty on my chair 143 times within the first mile after we started up again.
We rode for about four miles or so before we felt the next storm front coming in. Just in front of us was Lock 70, and a tiny lockhouse, with an accessible ramp to a porch. We were just about to head onto the covered porch when we heard “Ian.” A couple we met yesterday at our lunch stop saw us and suggested we head to a restaurant located nearby (in a former school house) that had a sheltered area. They rode with us to the restaurant to make sure we didn’t get lost.
Thanks Larry!
This was very fortuitous. After eating lunch while cleaning my chair we met Larry. Larry now owns the building, which has a restaurant, an Inn, and what was most helpful, a body shop. Larry was telling us about another paralyzed person he had met coming through on the trail a couple years ago, and you could tell by his tone this person meant something to him. Larry offered us a hose to clean my chair, but spraying water on my chair was the last thing we wanted to do. He asked if an air compressor would help. Hell yeah it would, thanks Larry. It turns out our main man Larry, a proud Ford man, had hella compressed air to share. We got my chair from being a shit show into shipshape in no time.
The transformation!
One last discussion had to happen before we proceeded with our day. This had been weighing on me, but I felt the best decision was to not get back on the trail. I discussed my thoughts with the team and they were all in support of calling it a day. If we were to get on the trail and ride more we would be putting the entire trip in jeopardy if something happened to my chair with all the water now on the trail. It wasn’t worth it. We packed up everything into the van and headed toward the hotel.
On the way back to the hotel we discussed how this decision would affect the remainder of the trip. Do we simply skip the seventeen miles or so we didn’t ride today? Do we come back to where we ended today and start here and just ride a little more than planned each day from this point on to make up the difference? We really didn’t know what to do. When we got to the hotel the weather had improved. We knew the first part of tomorrow’s section of the trail was paved or was at least a well maintained hard-packed surface that would most likely not contain any puddles.
Scenes from the GAP!
We decided to ride as many miles as we could of what was planned for tomorrow and then in the morning ride the section of trail we missed today, trail conditions permitting. We were able to ride the first 16.5 miles of the Great Alleghany Passage (GAP) Trail, which means we are now overall about 10 – 12 miles behind schedule. It will take some luck and carefully planned logistics to make up the lost miles, but I am hopeful we can accomplish this. The first part of the GAP was stunning. I’ll discuss more about this tomorrow once we have a chance to ride more of it. I am very excited about what is in store.
Nice handlebar bags, guys!
At the end of the 16.5 mile section of the GAP today we met two young boys (Evan and Gavin) who were riding bikes on the trail. They heard us trying to figure out how to get into town, and offered us some help with directions. Hopefully one day they’ll be out on a tour of their own.
Even though we had just climbed 1500 feet in elevation, there was a short trail, the Frostburg Switchbacks Sculpture Garden. It took us through a series of beautiful art sculptures we couldn’t resist seeing. They were pretty amazing. On the way up the trail, we were stopped by a man named Ed. He asked “did I just read an article about you?”. He knew who I was because of my dreadlocks. He told me how much he enjoyed the Sports Illustrated article recently published about my world record attempt. He mentioned a quote (or a close resemblance to a quote) I had made in the article that resonated with him, “so many of us try to redefine who we are, but I think happiness lies in embracing the loves you always had and finding ways to do them in a different way.”
And here I am doing something I love in a different way than I would have ever imagined before my injury.
Nice to meet you, Ed!
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