I recently joined my friend Vince on his carefully planned seven day cycling trip along the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and the 185-mile Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath (C&O) from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington, DC. One of the highlights and joys of our journey was sharing campsites with and getting to know six cyclists, three from Chicago and three from Denver, that we dubbed “The Sheetz Six” because they loved to stop at Sheetz during their own trip from Pittsburgh to DC.
“Sheetz,”
according to Wikipedia for those who don’t know about it, “is an American chain of convenience
stores and coffee shops owned by the Sheetz family. The stores sell custom
food, beverages and convenience store items, with all locations having offered
24/7 since the 1980s. … [W]ith over 700 stores located in Central and Western
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, and North Carolina,” a
few of those Sheetz stores are near the GAP and the C&O and easily
accessible from those trails by bike.
Dan was the principal organizer and contact
person who brought the Sheetz Six to cycle the GAP and C&O, handling
pre-tour group communications through phone calls and emails, and coordinating
group decision making about where and when they would ride. Having grown up
outside of Chicago, he moved to Denver with his wife in 2020. Once an English
Teacher, he now serves as a Dean (sort of like a Principal according to Dan) in
a Charter School in Denver. His roundish, wire rimmed spectacles betrayed his
academic vocation. Riding a ten-year-old Trek 7.1, this tour was his first time
on the GAP and the C&O. After five days of touring and one layover day, he
said his best experience so far was “Being with the Guys” and experiencing the
“good groove and good energy” of the trip.
The Sheetz Six began their tour in Pittsburgh
on the Saturday before Vince and I began our tour the following Sunday. On
their first day they cycled from Pittsburgh to Ohiopyle, PA, where they spent
two nights at Ohiopyle’s Kentuck Campground so they could enjoy water
activities in the area on Sunday, their layover day. On Monday they rode to
Frostburg, MD. They rode to and stayed in Cumberland on Tuesday. Their Wednesday
destination was the Hiker Biker Campsite (HBC) on the C&O located at Indigo
Neck, which is where Vince and I first met them.
 |
| Indigo Neck HBC |
 |
| Climbing the detour |
We arrived at the same detour just after they had begun negotiating the incline. One of them who had already taken his bike to the top came back to help pull my fully loaded Trek 520 Grando up that incline while I pushed and steered. Some of us took off panniers to make our bikes lighter and pushed our rides up while others in the group whose bikes were already at the top came back to help with the panniers.
 |
| At the top of the detour |
When Vince and I rolled into the Opequon
Junction HBC later that Thursday, the Sheetz Six were already there with tents
and hammocks set up. Nevertheless, there was still plenty of room for my tent
and Vince was able to find two trees to string out his hammock, but one of
those trees was also being used by another Sean, not the one from Florida, but
the one from Denver.
When it came time to for Vince and I to prepare
our dinner, I asked a few of the Sheetz Six near the only table in the
campsite, a table with a lot of their gear on it, if they minded sharing some
of its space. Sean responded “Hey, it is not our table. Feel free to use part
of it.”
I later learned that Sean grew up in Virginia
Beach in a family filled with men named John, so he was named Sean, the Gaelic
form of John. An Eagle Scout like Vince, Sean taught 8th Grade
Science in the same Charter School where Dan was Dean. Riding a State Steel Frame
Gravel Bike with a Brooks Saddle, this tour was Sean’s first on the GAP but
second on the C&O. His favorite experiences so far were the spectacular
views along the GAP, their layover in Ohiopyle, and their stay in Frostburg.
His biggest disappointment was that he packed and was carrying way more gear than
he needed for the tour.
It was Sean who introduced his riding
companions to Sheetz. Having grown up in Virginia Beach, he was familiar with
and loved them, as many of us from their service area do. Even I have a Sheetz
key fob that earns me discounts when I buy gas there and earns me points toward
reduced prices on future purchases on other items I buy there. Once Seans’s
cycling mates experienced their first Sheetz, they were apparently hooked and
wanted to go there again for food, snacks, and drinks, and on one hot, humid day
just to stand in the supper cold Beer Den where all the cold beer is stored and
where customers can enter to pick out what beer they want.
After we had all arrived and set up our camps,
I approached most of the Sheetz Six as they were sitting together on a bench
near the C&O. I offered each of them a small sampling of some liquid
refreshment from Ireland if they would let me interview them later that evening
for a piece I would post on my blog. They all agreed, and that interview is how
I came by most of the information about them I have shared here.
Nate was the third member of the group from
Denver even though he had grown up in Chicago. He now teaches Special
Education, working with about eight students a day, which in my mind makes him
a very special teacher in the same Charter School as Dan and Sean. Riding a
Kona P2, Nate’s favorite part of the trip was all the wildlife they had seen.
His least favorite part was the first of the two nights they were camped at
Ohiopyle’s Kentuck Campground when the rain just poured down, not once, not
twice, but three times. He also was not a fan of their night at the Indigo Neck
HBC.
The Chicago contingent of the Sheetz Six was
comprised of Jared, Scott, and Aaron. Jared grew up in the little borough of
Lititz, PA but now lives in Chicago. Peddling a Surly Bridge Club, his favorite
experience from the tour included all the wildlife he had seen, including “numerous
black snakes, snapping turtles, deer, fawns, a skink, beaver, and bald eagle.”
He had no regrets or disappointments about the tour so far.
Scott, a teacher at a Friends School in
Chicago, grew up about twenty minutes north of Chicago. His ride was a
Specialized Diverge. His best experience so far had been pushing their bikes up
the hill from the GAP to Kentuck Campground at the top of the hill. I did not
ask Scott if he also enjoyed pushing our bikes up the wooden ramp and steps
detour earlier that day.
Originally from Skokie, IL, Aaron now lives in
Chicago. He and Scott have been cycling together since earlier this year. Aaron’s
telling me that he was riding a twenty-year-old Trek Antelope that had been his
dad’s bike nearly brought tears to my eyes. I can only imagine the history that
bike holds and the stories it could tell. I wonder if riding it on the GAP and
C&O enabled Aaron to feel more connected with his father. As of Thursday
evening, Aaron’s favorite experiences from the tour were the “jokes and
laughter” the six had shared during their tour. Like Jared, he recalled no
disappointments.
After I completed interviewing the Sheetz Six,
Dan said he wanted to know more about Vince and me, so we remained together
around the bench, talking and enjoying each other’s company as well as some
liquid refreshments until it was time for s’mores and then turning in for the
night.
 |
| Four of the Sheetz Six at Bald Eagle HBC |
On the final day of our tour, The Sheetz Six, comprised of the Denver Three and Chicago Three,
 |
| Four of the Sheetz Six at Great Neck |
I enjoy cycling alone as well as with others. I
also enjoy meeting other cyclists during a tour. Vince and I had set out to
ride from DC to Pittsburgh in 2016 and met other cyclists during our trip,
often leapfrogging with them a day or two, but I do not recall sharing a
campsite along the C&O or Gap with any other cyclist more than one night,
nor getting to know them as well as we came to know the Sheetz Six. I hope they
were able to purchase more Mac and Cheese Bites at a Sheetz somewhere before
they headed back to their respective homes in Chicago or Denver.
.JPG)
