September 1st is upon us which means the final push for business in a small canal town! And what a push it will be!! We operate our B&B from May-October mostly catering to bikers riding along the C&O Canal, so the pandemic has had a huge impact on not only our business but many of the other shops in our town that thrive in these spring and fall months. So far comparing the sales from 2021 season to that of 2020 we are on track to double our bookings!

All season this has had me wondering if last year was just that bad or is this year just that good? I am not a biker myself but I’m told that the bike shops have totally sold out of bikes. Which I guess was great for a minute, but probably pretty frustrating if you would like to continue selling bikes…anyway is the push this year from all those people wanting to get out and have a socially distant adventure. Notice how I did not call it a vacation haha! One pattern that I did notice is that we are missing all of the European travelers. And I guess that would go both ways if you were planning to bike some amazing trail overseas and that is no longer feasible then the C&O does offer a great alternative to still get out and ride 185 road free miles.

Last year we were very limited to guests only traveling from surrounding states and this season has been back to a strong mix of guests from all over the US. The clientele has been mostly retired married couples, small groups of 4-8 friends, and lots of parents with adult children. I am hopeful that this trend continues through this fall season and for years to come. If I can say anything positive about a pandemic forcing a world wide lockdown, it would be that we have all had to adapt to a new appreciation for life and those we share our bubble with. A bike packing trip is a pretty cool adventure and there is still time this season to join in before another lockdown happens…so don’t delay book today!

**Photo credit to this awesome group of ladies chasing new adventure and making pandemic memories #mooncycles