“Road to Recovery” Team Readies to Hit the Road!

APRIL 7, 2025 BLOG

Right before Todd fell, he promised me that we could ride our bikes across the country on the Great American Rail Trail, a distance, when completed, of 3,700 miles. More than half is completed to date- 2,000 miles, and there are alternative routes on quiet roads to fill in the gaps. After he became paralyzed, this big future adventure felt like yet another great loss. But wait, not so fast. 

A friend sent us a video of a professional big wall rock climber, Quinn Brett, who this past summer, suffered a devastating 100-ft fall on El Cap in Yosemite NP. Her injury turned her into a paraplegic. (A “para” is a person with a low level spinal cord injury who has full use of their arms and upper body torso.) Quinn went on to complete the entire 2,700 mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail, a rugged traverse of the Rocky Mountains, a route that parallels the Continental Divide as closely as possible by utilizing mostly forest service roads.  (Todd and I completed the Great Divide over 5 summers and we were able bodied.) Quinn not only rode her three-wheeled adaptive hand cycle paralyzed but raced it, finishing the entire route in 25 days, averaging 100 miles a day. If Quinn can navigate that challenging trail disabled, and racing, maybe we can get a shot at the Great American Rail Trail. Todd is not going to get out of his promise so easily.

-an excerpt from the upcoming book, “Road to Recovery”

As I write this post, we are down to a few short weeks before kicking off for our big endeavor, the first leg of the Great American Rail Trail (GART) and I am soooo excited (where as my favorite quad is soooo nervous!) Me and Todd and our support team, will be cycling to raise awareness for the need for accessible trails. My wonderful friend, Beth Ellen Pennell, will be our right-hand girl, our friendship dating back to the AT in 1979! Walt & Leslie Krater will be joining us- long time AT friends too and these kids are experts at “camping trailer” life and backing up etc. so they will help there, besides countless other things like daily stretching Todd! Rod Mann, is our wonderful bike mechanic and shuttler and will be helping us out too. Dan Stein, a star veteran in my book, “Walking Toward Peace- Veterans Healing on America’s Trails,” will hopefully join us for the Great Allegheny Passage section at least. 

We will be sharing with the public, what an adaptive trike can do to help get a disabled person moving in nature, as well as how healthful it is. We will start out our journey on April 24 and will cycle toward Pittsburgh first on the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage part of the GART. After we complete it, we will come home for a few days and make any adjustments to our process and give Todd’s body a break from the constant exercise. It is very important that I keep Todd safe with no skin breakdown when he sleeps and on his bike seat, as well as making sure he gets stretched and walks enough. 

Then we will head back to Cumberland, MD to cycle the 187-mile C&O Canal which ends in Georgetown, MD outside DC. Then we will return once home again before heading to Ohio to cross that state on the GART. A total of about 600 miles should be completed this spring. 

We will take the summer off to garden and welcome our new grandchild. 

Come late August, we will return to the GART and cycle the Midwest- Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and maybe Nebraska, if the cold holds off. We will then head back in 2026 to complete the trail. 

So far, we have five newspapers meeting us on the GAP and am hoping for more on the C&O and in Ohio. 

Please sign up to receive updates and blog posts in your e-mail. www.cindyrosstraveler.com I will be writing more about our bikes, our training, our team, our RV toy hauler etc. in the upcoming weeks before we  depart. 

If you have some extra $, and want to help sponsor our trip towards camping, gas, and food for the team. http://www.cindyrosstraveler.com/road-to-recovery. Click on the symbol for River House PA logo or Road to Recovery Logo to take you to PayPal or GoFundMe. More importantly, please send prayers and good wishes. 

Here is our tentative schedule:

Thurs,  April 24- Drive to Cumberland- Ride Frostburg to Cumberland- 15 miles 

April 25- Frostburg-  Rockwood— 29 miles- 

April 26- Rockwood- Ohiopyle- 28 miles

April 27- Ohiopyle – Whitsett- 32 miles

April 28- Whitsett- Duquesne- 31 miles

April 29- Ride 13 mi to Pittsburgh- drive home for a break

April 30- HOME

May 1- HOME

C&O CANAL

May 2- DC-White’s Ferry- 35 miles- Joel & Brigetta’s house, Thurmont

May 3- White’s Ferry-Harper’s Ferry- (VISIT) 25 miles- Thurmont

May 4- Harper’s Ferry-Williamsport- 39 miles-  Thurmont 

May 5- Williamsport- Hancock- 25 miles- MOVE to Little Orleans- PATC Cabin

May 6- Hancock-Paw Paw- 32 miles- Little Orleans- PATC Cabin

May 7 – Paw Paw- Cumberland- 27 miles and HOME 

OR

May 2- DC-White’s Ferry- 35 miles- Joel & Brigetta’s house, Thurmont

May 3- White’s Ferry- Shepherdstown- 38 miles

May 4- Shepherdstown-Hancock- 41 miles

May 5- Hancock- Paw Paw- 32 miles- Little Orleans PATC Cabin

May 6- Paw Paw- Cumberland-27 miles- Little Orleans PATC Cabin

May 7- drive home 

HOME- May 8-10

May 10- Drive to Krater’s

May 11- Panhandle Trail, W VA- 30 miles

OHIO (the shorter trails we will most likely out and back )

May 12- Boivar- Clinton – 29 miles- Ohio & Erie Canalway Towpath 

May 13- Holmes County Trail- 16 miles 

May 14- Kokosing Gap Trail- 13.5 miles  

May 15 Heart of Ohio Trail- 18.5 mi Ohio to Erie Trail

May 16- Alum Creek Greenway Trail- 12 miles- Ohio to Erie Trail

May 17- Camp Chase Trail- 16 miles- Ohio to Erie Trail 

May 18- Prairie Grass Trail- 29 miles -Ohio to Erie Trail

May 19- Creekside Trail- 15 miles- 

May 20- Wolf Creek Trail- 11 miles 

May- 21- drive home