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Towpath cyclist stops in Hancock on 31st Great Ride

by Sinclair Hamilton

Jack Tracy stands along the C&O Canal National Historic Park during his most recent stop in Hancock. photo by Sinclair Hamilton

Jack Tracy loves to stop in Hancock. He did so recently while riding his bicycle on the C&O Canal Towpath. It is his 31st trip riding from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. The trip is 334 miles long and is one of the premier rides in the U.S.A. Usually he makes the ride twice a year and stops in Hancock each time. Tracy retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Lt. Col. after 31 years and started riding his bike more often.

Tracy made friends with Ron Morris when they met in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia and they became good riding buddies. Together they rode bikes around Iceland which was cold and windy. They also rode the Continental Divide together from Canada to Mexico which was 3,000 miles and took 47 days to accomplish. Another time they rode from Vancouver British Columbia to the Mexican border over the course of 31 days. The ride from Pittsburgh to D.C. is Tracy’s favorite ride and he says enthusiastically that the Great Ride from Pittsburgh to D.C. is “a national treasure.”