Day 3 on the C&O Canal

Day 3 — Unexpected Company and a Gritty Finish

Well, day three is officially in the books—and it came with a twist none of us saw coming.

We woke up at the Shady Sycamore Airbnb at Keeley’s place in Williamsport, Maryland, to a surprise arrival: Tom Mercer, standing there like he’d been part of the plan all along. None of us had any idea he was coming, which made for a great (and slightly surreal) start to the morning.

We rolled first into the Williamsport Diner, a classic old-time spot that felt like stepping back a few decades—exactly the kind of place you hope to find on a trip like this. Fueled up, we set out on what we thought would be a straightforward 45-mile day from Williamsport to Brunswick.

Of course, the trail had other ideas.

Not long into the ride, Tom started feeling the effects of what looked a lot like food poisoning. As we made our way toward Harpers Ferry, it became clear this wasn’t something he could just push through. The pace slowed, and the focus shifted from miles to making sure he was okay.

Near Harpers Ferry, we were able to connect him with EMT support, which got him a few miles further down the line. Then, in a pattern that’s becoming a theme of this trip, another act of kindness stepped in—our third Good Samaritan couple in as many days—who drove him the rest of the way to Brunswick and safely to our Airbnb.

With Tom taken care of, we pressed on and finished the ride strong, logging about 47 miles by the time we rolled into town.

Our home for the night is an old brick house on the corner of Potomac Street, directly across from City Hall and just steps from the C&O Canal towpath—about as perfect a location as you could ask for on this ride.

Dinner brought us to Smoketown Brewing, where Mac and I opted for nonalcoholic beers to cap the day. We closed things out back at the house with a few episodes of Breaking Bad, a fitting wind-down after a day that had a little bit of everything.

All told, a good day on the trail. The trees are starting to show fuller buds, greener by the mile as we head south. We’ve now crossed the 130-mile mark, and you can feel the journey settling in—on the legs, on the gear, and in the rhythm of the days.

Traffic on the towpath is picking up too—more cyclists, more pedestrians—and we’re expecting tomorrow to be our busiest yet.

And then there’s the dust. It’s everywhere now, coating the bikes and gear in a fine layer that somehow feels like a badge of honor at this point.

Tomorrow is the big one: 55 miles.

Let’s see what the trail has in store.