009: Days 12,13: April 20, 21 2021:Williamsport to Hancock, MD (24.5 miles -m66.1)

We woke up to a beautiful morning. It was quite cold and the joints creaked a bit as we started moving about. We left our camp site at around 09:00am and were immediately treated with the same exceptional beauty we experienced the last couple of days. 

Upstream of Dam 5 the Towpath again narrows to a path along the edge of the dam. The reflections on the water were amazing. 

We saw white Bluebells and a magnificent colony of shelf mushrooms/fungi. 

We cycled oast the remains if Charles Mill and the four locks before Mcoys Ferry. Soon after we had a problem, Ben's cycle broke. 

Christine and I heard this unearthly noise and I came to a stop. We looked at the map and saw we still had 12.5 miles to Hancock's C&O Bike Shop. 

I started pushing. We received advice from passing cyclists - even from a C&O Canal Volunteer cycling along the towpath to help cyclists with small repairs. The best was that the Bike Shop has a shuttle service to pick up and bring in breakdowns. I walked about 2.5 miles to Fort Frederick State Park where the shuttle was waiting for me. Christine decided to cycle the last ten miles to Hancock on the Western Maryland Rail Trail while I took the I-70 with the shuttle. 

It is for you to decide your preference. Needless to say, the Bike Shop was great and by the time Christine arrived in Hancock my bike was back on the road again. 

We decided on lunch and ordered a takeout dinner as well. Both were excellent and we happily recommend Buddy Lou's for a stop and a meal. Christine scooped some cream and butterscotch from our desert. The scoop looked like Alf and she could not eat it at first. 

We saw a lot of renovation in Hancock and hope that this will help the economy along. While at the Bike Shop I was guided that rain and high winds are predicted for the next day and a half with a 30 Degrees low on Thursday morning. We decided to stay over at the Super 8 in Hancock to miss out on the falling sticks and branches along the Towpath. We shall begin again on Thursday.   

As an aside, I told Christine I wanted to take a photo of the concept of tiredness - this what she came up with yesterday. May I change the word, "tired" to "tired and happy." We will probably produce more "tired" photos on this trip.