Day two: Rockwood to Cumberland...

I started the day much earlier than planned... Partially because they were forecasting rain for the afternoon and partially to avoid as much of the afternoon heat as I could...

The trail from Rockwood to Meyersdale is fairly smooth and firm however the trees dropped a lot more branches than I found on day one... I only saw one other person on the trail for the first hour and a half ... It was a bit foggy and cool as I started out... Along the way I crossed the 1925ft Salisbury Viaduct as well as several shorter bridges...

I had planned to eat breakfast in Garrett however when I reached the trail head it showed no signs of a town ... The roads headed off away from the trail and I chose to keep going ...

The next town was Meyersdale ... I found a place for breakfast ... G I Dayroom ... I had a great breakfast and the cook spent a little time chatting with me before asking me to sign their guest book ... I would have loved to spend more time in this town but the trail beckoned ... But before I could get back on the trail I had to climb a steep hill... This is the only downside to the town...

The next town was Frostburg ... But before I would get there I got to the Eastern Continental Divide.. The highest point on the trail ... Which means now I am headed downhill ... Which was a welcome change... Before too much longer I came across the Big Savage Tunnel ... At just over 3000 feet this was an exciting experience ... And just outside the tunnel was the first of many absolutely gorgeous vistas of the countryside ...

Frostburg is a town which appears to be built on a hill ... The switchbackitrail was nice but it hardly eased the climb to the city... I had lunch at the Trail Cafe ... They refilled my water bottle and even put ice in it for me ... I was lucky enough to be there when he historic Western Maryland Train arrived in Frostburg ... The highlight was watching the turntable swap the direction of the engine ... After some more ice water I was back on the trail ...

The downhill grade of the trail allowed me to nearly double my speed while reducing my effort ... So I made into Cumberland in just over an hour ... The trail was broken up by two more tunnels and more vistas of the countryside ... Trail traffic started to pick up and I started to encounter more hikers and bikers ... I even came across a friendly big dog who seemed to be wondering the trail on his own ...

After almost 94 miles and about 11 hours of biking over two days my ride had come to an end .... I had a good time but now I need to recover...

Here are some photos from day two...