Another cold start but it got better later. Felt pretty good til the last 10 miles or so and then it was just too much. Struggle bus as it was windy again. And the contact points were … sore. But we finished ! Paw Paw tunnel was awesome. Glad we stopped at Bills Place since unclear how long it will be around. Quite the landmark in Little Orleans. Last 10 miles or so -- well, really, from Paw Paw -- were quite different from the ride in 2020. Then, much of the towpath near Cumberland was essentially single track and rough in places. Now? It's been given the same treatment we see around the lower 25 miles of the towpath: hardpacked, full-width stone dust. Sooo much smoother and better. Was surprised by the towpath's sharp bend just north of Old Town -- usually the canal is much more gentle but maybe by the time they got here they'd had enough of that extra digging. TURN HERE. Terrain shows the canal is in a cut that was probably already somewhat there and they just dug it out some more to avoid harder rocks by the river. First 14 of the 18 miles or so were on the paved Western Maryland Rail Trail, a nice break from the unpaved towpath. Astute observers will notice an attempt to cut off a bend right after Little Orleans. Well yes, the rail trail goes to a trestle and .. ends. So back we go... Turns out there IS a way to get from that area down to the towpath but we didn't try it blind for fear of having to climb back up the bank at that point. Was very happy to be to the end. Had to stop in the last coupla miles to put out a foot fire... No place to sit, had to just get the shoe off and walk around a bit til it stopped burning. w/Dan