(22 miles on bike)
The Amtrak Capitol Limited leaves Chicago at 6:40 PM heading east to Washington DC, and it passes through Cleveland around 2 AM. My son Manny dropped my bike and me off at the Amtrak station.
This is my third bike trip that involved an early-morning interaction with the Capitol Limited in Cleveland. In 2023, I took the westbound train to South Bend, IN for a trip up into Michigan, and 2017 I took the westbound train home from DC. The train leaves DC at 4 PM, meaning it passes through Cleveland around 3 AM.
The timing is inconvenient, but it’s only $20 more to take a bike on the train, and no bike disassembly, UPS shipment, or re-assembly is required.
I wheeled my bike into the station, and when the check-in attendant saw the Harpers Ferry destination on my ticket and me standing with my bike, she asked who sold you this ticket?
Um, the Amtrak website?
“Well, they shouldn’t have sold you this ticket with a bike. That station is unattended. I’ll have to to talk with the conductor to see what we can do.” After a few minutes the attendant came back and told me the conductor said he could get the bike unloaded for me at Harper’s Ferry.
(Editor’s comment: D- for Amtrak selling me something they did not offer, but A+ for the conductor who resolved the issue and saved my bike ride.)
The train arrived 45 minutes late, and was delayed another 45 minutes along the way. The ride was smooth and uneventful, but even in the mostly empty-car with no companion in the seat next to me, I still found it hard to get comfortable enough to actually sleep.
Mid-morning I walked down the aisle to the end of the car, which was also the end of the train. Here is a view looking out the end of the train. I hope the “Not an exit” sticker that I circled in yellow was a preventative action, and not the response to an unhappy incident.
I wondered if I could open the door, and if I did, what would happen? But since I am no longer 8 years old, I didn’t try to find out.
Harper’s Ferry is home to Harper’s Ferry National Historic Park which exists largely due to the activities of John Brown. Below is a photo of what is now called is John Brown’s Fort.
According to the ‘net . . . in 1859 abolitionist John Brown attempted to initiate an armed slave revolt by taking over a military arsenal at Harpers Ferry, which was still part of Virginia in 1859. Brown’s party of 22 “raiders” was defeated by a company of U.S. Marines with Colonel Robert E. Lee in command of the operation to retake the arsenal.
Brown, and the rest of the raiders that were not killed in the shoot-out, were executed later that year. In 1861, US Marine Colonel Robert E. Lee became General Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and overall commander of all Confederate forces.
Harper’s Ferry also marks the intersection of the Cumberland MD to DC Chesapeake and Ohio Towpath Trail, and the Maine to Georgia Appalachian Trail. In 2017, I followed the C&O Towpath Trail on my Cleveland to DC bike trip.
I was less than 5 miles into my trip when I was surprised to find myself lying flat on my back looking up at the trees that overhang the C&O towpath trail. Apparently, while looking down to navigate around the chuckholes in the trail at around 12 MPH, my head collided with a low-hanging dead branch.
Fortunately, my helmet took the brunt of the collision, and I was just shaken up, but I also had a long cut along the left side of my face. I cleaned my face as best as I could, and then picked up my glasses, clip-on mirror, cell phone, and visor that had been knocked off my helmet, and got back on my bike.
About a half hour later that I realized I was missing my speed/cadence device from my handlebar. This device helps me maintain my 60 RPM peddle rate, but the day had started for me at 1 AM and I was too tired to ride back to try to find it. I continued on to the motel.
In the lobby, the motel offered refreshing “Lemon Infused Ice Water”.
(Editor’s comment: I thought lemons are yellow.)