Today was my last day on the Great Allegheny Passage Trail. I have been out here a long time, and it was a bittersweet ride knowing that this amazing, historical trail would soon be a part of my own history. I did my best to take mental snapshots all the way down my last 50 miles knowing there was a good chance I would never ride down this way again.

Along the canal, there are individual, very old and boarded-up houses that once served as the home of Loch Managers. These were the guys who would get out and guide the small transportation boats through the area 24/7. Until the railroad came through in the 1920s, the canal was the engine of commerce in this area. Today, I took time to learn about one old guy, "Buggs" who passed away the year I was born...1962. He had lived out on this trail for nearly 50 years and no doubt loved it as much as I did. 

Riding out there alone on the trail...thinking about "Buggs"...would be a long way from where I would be in a few hours. Back in the center of car traffic and people noise, there I was...in front of 1600 Pennsylvania...the White House.

I have pedaled a long, long way since that start in San Francisco on July 21.