My hub. and I biked from Ohiopyle into Maryland and back over 3 days. We covered about 120 miles round trip. The trail was in wonderful shape and we saw few people. We signed in at the trail head ranger office and got the combo for the locked overnight lot to leave our minivan. As we left Ohiopyle, we saw 2 large doe just alongside the trail - we were able to get several pic. Our first night we biked to Meyersdale, which according to our odometers was about 46.52 miles. This was a bit farther than the maps seemed to indicate. During this part of our ride we saw a timber rattler crossing the trail on the Pinckney Shoofly and we almost ran over him! He streched almost across the entire width of the trail. My family lives about 1 1/2 hours from this area and told us that due to the dry weather they are seeing a lot more snakes coming further down the mountains.( I will try and post a pic. of Mr. Snake but since I don't have GPS - it may not get pub.) We stopped at Rockwood and ate pizza at the Milleshoppes. The pizza was very good and we also had GOBS! If you are not from Penna. ( I grew up here) then you may not know what these are . In Indiana where I now live they call them whoppee pies. There are different kinds - but if you are from Western PA. chances are you like yours with a rich butter cream filling not marshmallow goo. If you have never had this choc. cake sandwhich cookie try them here - they are pretty darn good! We crossed the Salisbury Viaduct on a beautiful sunny day. It is a marvel. The wind turbines up on the ridge above make it a perfect photo op. We stayed at the Levi Deal Mansion, in Meyersdale. We had a wonderful room! The bed was super comfortable and the service great. We had arranged for the innkeepers to make us dinner and it too was very good. The only point you should be aware of is that this is an active Railroad town. In other words in the middle of the night you will hear a very LOUD trail several times as you sleep. Earplugs were provided by our hosts and the bed and room was so comfortable that even though I woke up several times to hear the train I went right back to sleep and woke up refeshed. Breakfast was also delicious. Choc. Mocha Bundt cake, blueberry pancakes, eggs, fresh watermelon etc... I didn't want to leave! In fact next yr. we are going to try and arrange our bike trip so we can stay there twice and really have time to sit on the porch and relax. There are some very interesting old homes on the street with the "mansion" and we enjoyed walking around taking photos of them. Tuesday we left and biked over the Eastern Continental Divide and then through Big Savage Tunnel and on into Maryland. We had lights on our bikes and even though Big Savage is well lit some of the lights were out and I am glad we had the lights. Once you leave Big Savage you are only 1-2 miles from the Mason Dixon Line. We crossed into Maryland for a bit and then turned to bike back. We biked to Rockwood about 38 miles, and stayed at the Rockwood Trail House B and B. There is a very nice bike shop there that is run by the owner of the B and B. There is also a shed where there is a cellphone reception point. This is right on the trail head. The bike shop has coke products and snacks ( most places only carry Pepsi products - so if you are having a coke fit -...) The B and B is an old restored farm house. It is very clean. There are 5 bedrooms and some are larger than others. Our room was very small and had a very small bathroom inside it. We were lucky as we were the only boarders that evening so we had the entire house to ourselves. However, if you don't like really small spaces be sure to request the largest room. My hub. is 6'6" and built like a baseball player ( nonroiding) and he fit in the shower. But if you are a larger person you may not be comfortable in the smaller facilities. The host and hostess were super friendly and the breakfast was sausage and pancakes and scrambled eggs, and very good. We enjoyed sitting on the porch and playing cards in the evening. We will stay here again, it is very convenient, very clean and the owners are extremely nice. They don't live on site so if you are the only boarders you have a lot of privacy. Wed.( August 17th) we headed back to Ohiopyle. The ride is all downhill and pretty easy. You do see more people the closer you get to the trail head. It is a lovely trail and we hope to stretch our ride and add another 40 mile day in 2011!

My wife and I biked the GAP from McKeesport to Cumberland this summer and back and it was truly "the ride of your life." If you can't do the entire GAP I think the section from Meyersdale to Cumberland is the best part since you get to ride over the Salisbury viaduct (if you do a little backtracking) and the Keystone viaduct. You get to go over the Bollman Bridge (cast iron) and through the Big Savage tunnel. You get to cross the Eastern continental divide and the Mason Dixon line. And best of all you get a 15 mile downhill coast from Frostburg to Cumberland and if you time it right you will pass the Western Maryland steam engine chugging up from Cumberland. Of course you should pedal the 15 miles back up (1.6% grade) just to do it. Hey, I'm 63 and I did it. We met great people including a guy who biked here from Oregon (he had a recumbent and support) and a group of Eagle scouts on a 33 day trip to NY to do the Erie Canal. One note of caution, we did see 7 rattlesnakes within three to four feet of the trail coming down from the Big Savage tunnel so be careful if you step into the grassy areas or go deeper into the woods. Let me briefly add Meyersdale has a restored train station where you can load up on souvenirs. All in all you won't be disappointed. You will see interesting features, meet interesting people, see a bunch of wildlife, and get great exercise. What could be better?

My hub. and I on a lark decided to bike the GAP on August 11th 2009 while in PA. visiting relatives. What a blast!! I had brought my mt. bike along just in case and he rented one in Ohiopyle. He is 6'6" and got a bike that fit him well. Since we didn't realize how fun it would be we didn't arrange for a pick up crew so we had to bike out and back. However, we started in Ohiopyle, parking at the trail head by the RR station. We biked toward Confluence and on to Fort Hill and then we returned the same way. That route is just under 40 miles round trip. We then biked past Ohiopyle a bit over the bridges above the Youghiogheny river toward Connellsville as a cool down. It was such a nice ride! We saw very few people once out on the trail. The grade is mostly very gentle and the surface pretty smooth except for a few places where it appears old lumps of coal popped up from the surface. We ran along side the Yough. River for quite awhile in dense forests and then we opened out into grassy areas. We crossed some long bridges over the Casselman River as we worked our way to Fort Hill. We could in some spots see the white water and the kayackers taking their runs. We crossed roads in only one or 2 places so it was a very relaxing trip. We stopped for a lot of pictures and had a lot of fun. I am glad we carried extra water with us as I didn't see any place right on the trail that had fresh water. You could bike into Confluence which had well marked signage for food and drink if you needed a refill. While in Ohiopyle we ate in a really nice little cafe and I had a great steak sandwich. One bummer is we couldn't find any( NOT ONE!) bike trail shirt or hat in Ohiopyle to take home as souvenirs of our trip. We did order some online on the GAP website though, so all is well. We hope to return next summer and bike the trail for 3 days and get to see the Eastern Continental Divide and Big Savage Tunnel. Oh, from Fort Hill back to Ohiopyle it is really an easy ride - downhill all the way except for one hill. SO go have fun!!!!