Legs of steel vs. iron horse in Maryland bike race

Bruce Friedland at bpfphotography
Mountain Thunder runs alongside Allegheny Highlands trail

It will be lung power vs. coal power when the Western Maryland Wheelmen challenge the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad's Mountain Thunder on Oct. 13.

The 16-mile race from the Cumberland to Frostburg train stations pits man and machine on the Allegheny Highlands trail and the adjacent tracks of the scenic railroad. Along the way, the route gains 1,300 feet of elevation.

While the bicycle races will be struggling up the grade under their own power, they have an advantage in knowing that the locomotive will pulling 8 or 9 railroad cars filled with passengers and cannnot exceed 20 mph.

Smoky

On the downside, a bicyclist who gets passed by the train could be sucking cinders and smoke all the way to the finish line in Frostburg.

The idea for the race came to Larry Brock while he was riding on the trail one day, according to the Cumberland Times News:

“It just seemed like my huffing and puffing and the train's chugging were on the same rhythm. Because the trail runs alongside the tracks the whole way, this is the only place in the country where you can get on a bicycle and race a train.”

Trails

The Allegheny Highlands Trail in Western Maryland connects with the Chesapeake & Ohio Trail between Cumberland and Washington DC. It is the first link of the series of trails through the Allegheny Mountains that comprise the Great Allegheny Passage trail that goes all the way to Pittsburgh.

The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad is a historic railroad that operates on the old Western Maryland Railway track. The Mountain Thunder is a 1916 Baldwin 2–8–0 locomotive.

Bicyclists on the trail often encounter the scenic railroad as the tracks run alongside the trail. It takes the train about an hour to climb from Cumberland to Frostburg.