This Travel Maestro believes that cycling is one of the best ways to see the world at your own pace. It’s also a superb way to bond with friends and family, enjoy the great outdoors, and get some healthy exercise or even challenge your limits. In this post, Robb Myer, a long-time avid cyclist, shares the story of his extended-family bike travel weekend, showing that active travel is not only for super athletes and millennials.  

I have taken many trips by bike over the years, including riding across the United States. I take great pleasure in sharing my love of cycling with my family. In recent years, my adult son has joined me on three- and four-day bike tours of state and national parks. In 2020, Adventure Cycling Association’s (ACA) early June “Bike Travel Weekend” was moved to the end of September, which happened to coincide with my 75^th birthday, so we decided to make it a family event to celebrate.

Riding the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath (C&O) has been one of our favorites for the past 15 years, so we selected Cumberland, MD as our base. Eleven of us met at the Fairfield Inn adjacent to Canal Place, the western terminus of the C&O, and the starting point of the GAP rail trail.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hotel modified its normal buffet breakfast to allow guests to order verbally on one side of the dining area and pick up on the other. Fortunately, the weather was ideal and there was lots of outdoor seating. At the time, most of the local restaurants were curbside pick-up or delivery only, so we took our dinners on the hotel’s patio watching riders on the trail with the Potomac River behind them.

Getting ready for the first ride of our bike travel weekend, it became apparent this was not your normal 11-member cycling club ride. With an age range of 15 months to 75 years, it was a bit of a challenge to hold everyone’s interest during the pre-ride briefing. In addition to gravel and mountain bikes, we had a tandem with a child stoker kit, a Weehoo iGo trailer, a Burley Bee Kit trailer, Trek tag-a-long, a 16″ BMX bike, and a 20″ adult travel bike. When underway we looked more like a circus than a group ride. In addition to lunch, sanitizers, etc., we carried toys and stuffed animals. An observer might think we were embarking on a three-day adventure rather than one of five hours.

Our destination was the Brush Tunnel and stopping for lunch at the Cash Valley trailhead near Helmstetter Curve which is about 18 miles round trip. The trail to the tunnel was uphill so the return route would be a lot easier. When I told my grandson, Thomas, that our first regrouping point would be at the Narrows Truss Bridge two miles into the ride, he decided to race me on his 16” GT Mach One BMX bike. Just as he was taught in BMX Race Class, he stayed about 20 feet behind me until he saw the bridge then pulled ahead and passed me about 15 seconds before the trestle. So much for trying to keep up with a six-year-old!

Our next stop was the Cumberland Bone Cave, which I thought the grandkids would all love as they are into fossilized skeletons. The cave is fenced off and the historical markers did not hold the kids’ interest for long. After all, “Grampy, we are on a bike ride.” The rest of our bike travel weekend was much more fun, going through the Brush Tunnel and the Paw Paw Tunnel on the C&O.

After each day’s ride, we spent time at the railroad-themed playground on the Canal Place grounds. After dinner, we had the Fairfield Inn indoor pool to ourselves for an hour. At breakfast on the last day, I asked four-year-old Sara, “Which was more fun, a bike ride or going to the playground?” She answered, “Grampy, a bike ride to a playground!” So, our last adventure took us to the Evitts Creek Aqueduct and C&O Canal Locks 73-75, with a stop at the playground at the sports complex. Although our whole weekend adventure totaled less than 50 miles of riding, it was more fun than most of the weeklong 450-500 miles events I have done. If you have kids or grandkids with bikes, plan a family adventure with them for one of ACA’s bike events. Save the dates for Bike Travel Weekend, June 3 – 5, 2022, and Bike Your Park Day (2022 date to be announced).

You can bet Robb’s kids and grandkids will remember Grampy’s birthday trip for years to come. Their bike travel weekend together was a wonderful gift for the whole family! Whether you want a fully escorted and supported bike trip or to plan your own route from a base hotel like Robb’s family did, contact your Covington vacation advisor for help arranging it.