The People Along the Way: Bonds Built through Cycling Adventures

Guest blog by Krause Travels: https://krausetravels.com/

Cycle touring isn’t just about plans formed, miles pedaled, or sights visited. One of its best aspects is the people you meet along the way. Retirement for us has meant trying to cram in all the bike travel we can while we still can, which is how we met the coolest group of two-wheeled travelers we have ever encountered on our cycling adventures.

In 2022 we cycled the Great Alleghenny Passage from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, where it connects with the C & O Canal Towpath and continues on to Washington, D.C. On our first day of the C&O we stopped at the Schoolhouse Kitchen, an old school building-turned-restaurant just off the trail.

While we were eating, a friendly redhead came up and introduced herself, pointing out her group of friends at a nearby table who were also cycling the 180-mile trail to D.C. This was Kat and her friends Craig, Gabby, and Peter. After that, our paths kept crossing. We came upon them getting ready to set off for a grueling detour around a closed tunnel, so we took the enormous hills and loose gravel paths through the woods together and went our separate ways after we had all made it safely. And we kept seeing them.

Once at another cafe. And then at Harpers Ferry where Craig and Robin collaborated to fix Gabby’s flat tire. And then at two different campgrounds. After we arrived in D.C. and ran into them again at a museum, we decided fate was telling us something, so we exchanged phone numbers and friended each other on Facebook and have kept up with their travels through social media and Kat’s blog since then.

We have also reconnected in person. Two years after our C & O trip, we cycled the Ohio to Erie Trail which passes through Columbus, Ohio, where Craig cycled to meet us and guide us to our downtown hotel. We went to dinner and a Clippers game, and the next day biked a few miles of the trail together to a popular breakfast spot.

This year, we were fortunate to host Craig and Kat as they traveled through the Midwest on a Labor Day road trip to some quirky, out-of-the-way roadside attractions which are plentiful in our part of the country. And we’re planning on joining their annual group ride next year where maybe we’ll come across the next crew of cycling strangers who will become new friends for more biking adventures.