A selection of photos from lower town Harpers Ferry, December 2022. The town does a great job of making the town look pretty for Olde Tyme Christmas.

21 September 2022

Bike & Standup Paddle-board / 8.8 miles (bike) & 1.8 miles (SUP) / 3 hrs 7 minutes / River level 2.2 ft

Some brief notes from my bike SUP test mission. I rode along the C&O canal to Huckleberry Hill campsite, transferred to the river for a couple of miles, and then loaded up again and rode home.

I’ve wanted to do this trip for a long time, to combine two of my passions: biking and paddleboarding.

Biking with a paddleboard

This is the easier of the two configurations. Paddleboards are heavy and bulky so the trailer is a great tool to use.

It would be hard to ride with the SUP backpack, they’re not that portable. For backpacking, packrafts would be a better option.

I have a Burley Flatbed trailer, which is ideal for carrying the SUP rolled up.

The trailer is easy to ride with and barely noticeable, until you start riding uphill. And then it becomes VERY noticeable.

The ride up the hill from the C&O towpath was much harder than usual (without the trailer). My legs were like jelly by the time I got home 😉

Paddleboarding with a bike

This is the more challenging of the two modes of travel. You need to ensure the bike and trailer are strapped on tightly and balanced (left to right and front to back). Also, you need to leave enough room to stand and paddle comfortably.

I put the bike on the front, with the front wheel removed. I used Sea to Summit Hook Release Accessory Straps to attach the bike and cord to tie down the front wheel and the trailer. (I’ve ordered more of those straps for next time though.)

I used some packaging foam as padding under the bike, to protect the board from abrasion.

It worked really well!

I had to be slightly more careful when paddling, mainly because I didn’t want to fall onto the bike. On flat water I could barely notice the extra weight though, and the stability was not affected.

Check out this instagram post for more photos.

Other Bike/SUP Resources

The original inspiration came from these two NRS articles: Pedal to Paddle and How to Bike Shuttle Your SUP Trips.

Here’s an alternative approach to bike & SUP, carrying the board in backpack.

December 2021

My brother — ordinarily based on the other side of the world in Australia — made a surprise visit to see us here in Harpers Ferry, in December 2021.

With the pandemic, it’s been over 2 years since we last caught up in person. Last time we had an amazing hike around the Glyders in North Wales. What would we do this time?

Here’s a breakdown of our hikes from the week:

• Thursday 12/9: Bolivar Heights loop: 3.57 miles, 442 ft ascent, 1 hr 15 mins
• Friday 12/10: Armory Trail loop: 4.53 miles, 408 ft ascent, 1 hr 43 mins
• Saturday 12/11: Loudoun Heights: 8.02 miles, 1,752 ft ascent, 3 hrs 36 minutes
• Saturday 12/11: Hike to lower town with Pete, Lexi and the boys: 3.73 miles, 338 ft ascent, 2 hrs 52 minutes
• Sunday: 12/12: Chicken Power event with Pete, Lexi and the boys: 1.46 miles, 300 ft ascent, 45 minutes
• Monday 12/13: Three Peaks with Pete (Weverton Cliffs, Maryland Heights/Stone Fort, and Loudoun Heights): 24.27 miles, 4,304 ft ascent, 11 hrs 36 minutes
• Wednesday 12/15: To the Power Lines and back with Pete and Lexi: 10.65 miles, 1,778 ft ascent, 5 hrs 5 minutes

My mum and her partner Dave then arrived (I knew about this trip!) a week later too, so I had a lot of my UK family together for the first time in over 2 years.

My mum didn’t know about Pete’s arrival, so he surprised her with a wonderful prank 😉

• Thursday 12/16: Walk around the neighborhood with Pete, Lexi, Mum, and Dave: ~2.5 miles (forgot to do Strava)
• Friday 12/17: Maryland Heights lookout with Pete, Mum, and Dave: 6.12 miles, 1,379 ft ascent, 4 hrs 38 minutes
• Saturday 12/18: Walk to Hilltop hotel lookout with Pete, Lexi, Mum, Dave, and the boys: 2.61 miles, 148 ft ascent, 1 hr
• Sunday 12/19: Home to Raven Rocks with Pete: 20.96 miles, 3,864 ft ascent, 9 hrs 12 minutes
• Monday 12/20: Bolivar Heights and mushroom trail: 2.72 miles, 257 ft ascent, 58 minutes

Pete flew home to Australia on the Monday afternoon.

• Thursday 12/23: Loudoun Heights with mum and Dave: 8.05 miles, 1,789 ft ascent, 3 hrs 30 minutes
• Sunday 12/26: Weverton Cliffs from home with mum, Dave (second half), Lexi and the boys (for the climb): 11.64 miles, 1,182 ft ascent, 6 hrs 22 minutes
• Monday 12/27: Bolivar Heights with Lexi and Dave: 2.22 miles, 215 ft ascent, 45 minutes
• Tuesday 12/28: Stone Fort loop with Lexi: 10.01 miles, 1,548 ft ascent, 3 hrs 31 minutes
• Thursday 12/30: To the Hilltop Hotel lookout with mum: 2.14 miles, 230 ft ascent, 40 minutes

Loudoun Heights, Saturday 12/11

I’ve written about the two longer hikes (3 peaks and Raven Rocks) separately but here are a few photos from our hike up Loudoun Heights. As this is my go-to mountain trail, I was excited to show it to Pete.