Flamborough residents Glenn Vervaeke, 57, and his son Adam, 28, packed their camping gear and mountain bikes into the family van, and spent the month of June on a grueling 407-mile ride along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Washington, DC.

Glenn, who had been exploring the 185-mile canal with his motorbike over the past couple of years, was interested in gaining access to the areas unattainable by motor vehicles.

"You can only access certain points; you can't see some of the ruins and locks that are not accessible by road. I had it in my mind that I'd like to do it on a bicycle," he explained.

His son decided to find him a sturdy mountain bike so he could begin to train for the long trip, which Glenn did by riding back and forth to work every day to Burlington. The ride in took him about 25 to 30 minutes, but the more demanding return trip - uphill - took 45 to 50 minutes, he noted. But the work paid off.

"I got my legs built up and a little bit of the heart," he told the Review in a recent interview.

The father-son team spent two or three evenings planning the trip, which included a nine-hour drive to Washington, DC. There, they parked the van, and planned to ride 30 miles down through where they had already driven, and back up to their van again.

"We basically road the route twice," Glenn explained.

It was easier than trying to carry all the camping gear on their back. They both had saddlebags, but as Adam noted, trying to carry everything while they rode would have made the journey miserable. A shuttle option was also available to take them back to their starting point, but the pair decided against the extra expense.

Glenn and Adam spent six to seven hours a day - 60 miles on average - on their bikes, stopping once an hour to stretch their limbs and refill water bottles at the metal hand pump stations along the route.

"Another trick would be to stop and soak your shirt (at the pumps), that's one way to stay cool, and ride from there," explained Adam. "You have to make fairly frequent stops to stay comfortable because after three or four days, it just gets brutal, really grueling."

When they arrived back at the van, they would pitch the tent and service the bikes, making sure the tires were full of air and the parts lubed. Then, they would make their meals and head to bed by 9:30 or 10 p.m. The next morning, they were up again by 6 a.m.

The trip took a total of eight days. The Vervaekes returned home the weekend of Canada Day.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, also known as the C & O Canal, attracts many visitors, said Glenn. "People (do the route) in various ways. Some people carry all their equipment with them in saddlebags, with their tents strapped to them; some people hike it, bike it," he explained.

"Some people go for a jog in the morning, (going) for short distances. Most people don't do it end-to-end; that's fairly rare. But it is a fairly popular recreational area," Adam chimed in, noting that the towpath runs near several urban centres, but once visitors are out 10 to 20 miles it is deserted until they reach the border of another urban centre.

"The atmosphere of the place is interesting. You are on this narrow strip of land, in which history and a bygone way of life is preserved, and you're running on the border of modern cities and urban centres, but you'd never know it. Other than a lot of the locks and lock houses being non-operational, it might as well be 1850," he added.

Most days during the trip, the temperature hovered around 88 or 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but 80 per cent of the towpath was in forest and shaded areas, which provided the riders much-needed protection from the glaring sun.

Glenn, who has an interest in the history of canals, explained that the towpaths were used in the 1800s as routes for mules to pull canal boats back to the water. "I was reading that the Americans built about 4,000 miles of canal during the 1850s and the C & O was the only one left with the towpath and most of the structure intact from end to end. A lot of them are not in great shape, but some of them have been preserved, and the section from Washington up 20 miles is all pretty much original with water in it," he explained.

STOPS ALONG THE WAY

Glenn's interest in the history of canals, canal families and locks led him to stop and read the historical plaques along the way. Adam pointed out that his father has an uncanny ability to spot even the most bush-hidden plaques.

The C & O Canal is a national historic park, so no hunting or fishing, motorized vehicles on the towpaths, or swimming in the canal is allowed. Glenn and Adam were able to see a lot of wildlife on their trip, including blue herons, rabbits and turtles. At one point, on a rare paved section of the path, Adam was able to sneak up on two deer. When he was about 10 feet from them, he realized he was actually surrounded by deer, and reached for his video camera.

Turtle heaven

"Thousands of turtles (are around) because the canal in many areas is swampy now. It has water in it, but it's not flowing. The turtles love it, turtle heaven," Glenn noted.

The pair also saw an Indigo Bunting, a very rare bird.

The entire Vervaeke family enjoys the outdoors and physical activities. Adam rides the more conventional mountain bike trails with steep hill climbs, fast descents, and straight-always.

Both of his brothers are in Whistler enjoying outdoor activities and his sister, who also has a love of history, is spending the summer working as a crewmember on the Bluenose II and his mom is enjoying some kayaking in Eastern Canada.

Adam has decided his next trip will be to the Great Passage Allegheny, a 150-mile biking and hiking trail connecting Cumberland, MD and Pittsburg, PA, and Glenn is now talking about going along with him. They are thinking the fall would be a beautiful time to set out for their next great adventure.