Reis Henk Groen in 2012
Beste alumni
Ik ontvang alleen maar overlijdensberichten. Worden er ook wel eens vrolijke berichten verzameld?
Velen van ons zijn nog springlevend en doen leuke dingen. Wellicht kun je onze alumni uitnodigen hun interessante belevenissen via de Olofspoort email te delen; liefst met een link naar foto's.
Ik geef hier dan meteen maar het goede voorbeeld (zie onderaan dit mailtje). Het is een foto-verslag van een mooie fietstocht in de VS. (Daar woon ik al sinds 1970.) Ik hoop dat het iedereen een opkikkertje zal geven.
Groeten,
Henk Groen
(Actief in Olofspoort van 1958 tot 1963, lid van QB)
Dear Olofspoort Alumni:
I am sharing with you photos of our recent bike ride (my friend Betsie and me; and our friend Jankees, part of the way) from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Washington, DC. It took us 7 days to cycle a distance of over 300 miles or 500km (Sept. 22-28, 2012). We camped along the way, so our bikes were heavily loaded with all the gear we had to carry. All in all, we camped 4 nights and stayed in motels 2 nights. We had mostly good weather except we got rained on a couple of nights. That meant packing wet gear in the morning and riding on muddy trails some of the time.
Most photos have captions which will give you some information about the various points we passed. The trail in Pennsylvania is called the GAP, Great Allegheny Passage and is an old railroad that has been converted into to a biking/hiking trail. It's about 150 miles long. That part took us 3 days.
The second part, about 180 miles, is the tow path (jaagpad for the Dutch) along the old C&O Canal which runs from Cumberland in northern Maryland to Washington, DC; it's next to the Potomac River. That part took us 4 days (we did not go to the very end; after several flat tires, we stopped after about 160miles). Our friend Jankees (another Dutchman and like me,retired from the World Bank where we both had our careers), joined us for the last 3 days.
The canal was dug during the period 1828-1850. The canal bed today is mostly dry with trees and bushes growing everywhere. It's now a National Park and the tow path is being maintained for hikers/bikers by the Nat. Park Service and by many volunteers. In some places, the canal has been restored and has water in it. There are more than 70 locks (sluizen for the Dutch) along the way as well as a number of aquaducts. It ends in the middle of Georgetown, in the city of Washington, DC. The irony is that by the time the canal became operational, mid-19th century, a railroad had been constructed right next to it. Barges were towed until the 1920s but it was never a profitable enterprise, having to compete with trains.
The ride is in a beautiful area, as you will see, right alongside rivers and through mountain valleys. Given a good sturdy bike, the ride is not too difficult as the path is mostly flat. There are, by design, no significant hills, neither in old railroad tracks nor in a path along a canal. But it does take a toll on your butt and your leg muscles, being in the saddle and pedaling for 7 days in a row.
There is much history both along the old railroad and the Canal. Some of it, I have tried to describe in various captions with the photos. The last few photos were taken in the city of Pittsburgh where we had left the car and returned by train a day after the ride ended.
Well, I hope you will enjoy the show.
All the best,
Henk Groen
See elsewhere for photos
