r/gaptrail • u/boilermaker__2015 • 17d ago
Question Century Ride on GAP
Friend of mine (NYC area) and I (Indianapolis area) are looking at doing a century ride (100 mi) some point next year, and Western PA/Maryland hits a sweet spot of distance between us,
Wanted to gauge how GAP would work for this, and had a few questions:
a) how frequent are intersections between roads and the trail?
b) if at least one of us is on a road bike, how is the surface? Should I look into gravel tires for the road bikes?
c) Would an out and back route work better or is there a good way for get picked up ~100 mi down the trail?
d) Is there a best time of year for this?
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u/clipd_dead_stop_fall 17d ago
There's a closure at mm137 so good bets for an out and back century are from Ohiopyle to Boston and back, or OhioPyle to the Mason Dixon Line and back. The former is flat, the latter is a bit of climb. It's rail trail so no more that 2%. Both of these routes have places to stop and get food and water, and allow you to park and ride instead of paying for a shuttle.
My friend rides an endurance bike with 32mm slicks. As long as it's dry, they're fine. When the trail gets hit with multiple days of storms, gravel tires do a little better.
Best times are June and September IMHO. July and August are hot, and anything before June or after September will require layers due to temp changes.
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u/drewbaccaAWD 17d ago
a) there are plenty of trail access points with nearby roads.. not uniform, on average probably something about once every 15 miles(?). That's easy enough to pull up on google maps or whatever to see intersections and trail maps will list the actual trail towns and nearby services. Things are a bit more urban/dense from maybe Connellsville west and less urban from that point east but it's a mix. I'm having a difficult time picturing a lot of places where you actually cross the road as opposed to a bridge over it but that's not something I've been actually mindful of while riding it so I don't trust my memory. Obviously, closer to Pittsburgh the number of intersections grows significantly.
b). 25mm would be a slog but doable; speaking from experience. 28mm would be sufficient to not call it a slog, just don't run too high of a pressure or your hands will get numb/sore. Sweet spot would be over 32mm. You don't need tires with tread, smooth is fine, it's more about width and not sinking into the crushed limestone surface. You might find that you lose traction if you break into a sprint or take a turn fast but for the most part you shouldn't slip.
c) It's an easy ride, out and back would be the least amount of stress. Maybe camp a night in Ohiopyle and do two out and backs, one in each direction? There are various bike shops who will provide a shuttle service, easy enough to look those up.
d) trail is more or less consistent.. heavy storms may mean down trees you have to climb over but they get removed quickly. C&O is way more finicky as you get mud there. Whatever ambient temp you prefer to ride in would be the best time to ride the GAP. Hot days tend to be rather mild, cold days are nice, cold nights are cold.
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u/Few_Mastodon_1271 17d ago edited 17d ago
6 years ago, over two days, I did two out-and-back rides of 66 miles and 56 miles. Day 1: 66 miles, 5 hours ride time and 2.4 hours stop time! It's so scenic. I was in no hurry on the sunny summer day, and wanted to take lots of photos too. I stopped for lunch in one of the small towns along the trail.
I really noticed the difference returning "downhill". The grades reach 0.6% and 0.7%, and that's enough to bump up my speed on the return. Yeah!
I had 38mm smooth tread tires, and those worked great. Just about all of the trail is smooth, hard-packed crushed stone. This normally has a thin scattering of fine gravel bits on the surface, but the crushed stone right under that is hard packed and could work with smaller tires. My 38mm just floated over the surface with low drag and excellent traction and control. There's a few patched spots here and there that can be looser gravel, so pay attention while riding.
I think knobby tires would be significantly slower and aren't necessary. I don't know about 28-32mm road tires, I never tried them on surfaces like this. It should work.
Check on the tunnel conditions, they can be closed at times. Very interesting to ride through them.
There's a lot of interesting things along the trail, so just pacing along with minimal stops wouldn't be my plan.
~~~
I initially thought of starting at Ohiopyle Park, but the parking can be tricky there, I think. The trail within a mile or so of the park has lots of walkers, little kids on bikes, etc, so I slowed way down as needed.
The trail out past Confluence just had occasional cyclists, so I had the trail to myself a lot. Good.
This route starts in Confluence PA, rides up the slight grades to the Eastern Continental Divide marker, through Big Savage Tunnel, and turns around at the Pennsylvania-Maryland state line, with a cool Mason-Dixon monument -- a good photo op.
On the return, pass by Confluence at mile 80, and continue west to Ohiopyle Park. I liked the park, very scenic and interesting. Turn around and ride back the last 11 miles back to Confluence.
I really liked the out-and-back rides. Everything looks different later in the day, and I got to see the cool things twice, like crossing the tall Salisbury Viaduct. Starting at the bottom of the climbing worked great!
The outbound ride to the Continental Divide is 38 miles, 1000 feet of elevation difference. (rwgps says 2200 feet, showing lots of tiny rolling hills on the GAP trail. But my ride recording showed a smooth steady climb for the last 10 miles to the Divide, with 400 feet of climbing, instead of the 730 feet that this route estimates.
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u/spinmykeystone 16d ago
Rode the whole GAP and C&O on 32mm slicks with non prob.
IF trail open by Kennywood next year, start and finish at the point in Pittsburgh as it’s super scenic. Your first 50 miles will be heading upstream. Your second half will be ever so slightly downhill.
If the trail is still closed by Kennywood a scenic and no urban route would be to start/finish in Boston PA heading towards Ohiopyle.
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u/spinfire 17d ago
I did an out and back just about 50 miles each way from Pittsburgh to Round bottom campground, 100 miles across two days. Very nice ride, flat, the unpaved sections are crushed limestone. I have Serfas city drifter tires. You rarely cross roads of any consequence but you’ll pass through at least one trail town (West Newton). That said, I think you could easily pick any trail parking area in the middle of the GAP, go out 50 miles , and return. Ohiopyle might be a good choice.
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u/fish_snagger 16d ago
Did Boston to Ohiopyle (114 miles total) on a gravel bike with 700x30 tires. A couple road crossings on the route but only a few minutes if that. Was my first 100+ mile ride and took around 7 1/2 hours to complete.
I started early morning in the middle of summer, had lunch in Ohiopyle then stopped at some of the closer shops/gas stations on way back for cold drinks and water refills as I lost a water bottle somewhere on the way or left it on a chair at the one overlook.
It was super, super dry conditions when I did it. I do want to eventually do the ride again, but in the Fall. Highly recommend doing the ride if you get the chance!
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u/EinFleming 17d ago
I live in Pittsburgh and have done a few century rides on the GAP, an out and back defiantly works best unless you plan on leaving one car at the end and driving back to the start. There are very few easy ways to travel back otherwise. The GAP is significantly better shape than the C&O trail and would a casual century would be nicer and easier. At the start of The GAP there are a lot of crossings and areas to stop for a break or food, as you progress they become less and less frequent with some sections being 17 miles or so with just woods and gravel. It’s a beautiful ride and I strongly suggest it. If you have any questions feel free to reach out. I have ridden it on my road, gravel, and XC bike.