April 18, 2015
Point South to Charleston
The morning looked iffy. It had rained on and off all night, and the morning brought a light drizzle . . . almost a thick mist. I wasn't sure if it was raining or just dropping from the trees due to the previous night's rain. But it was clearly a light rain as we headed off to the local Waffle House to get our standard fare breakfast. And that went very well. Our very nice waitress (they are always so nice at Waffle House) hailed from the Washington area, so we had plenty to chat about. And she kept reminding us to fill our water bottles, which she did graciously.
So we suited up for rain. I went with a short-sleeved jersey (it was expected to warm to 70°F plus) and my standard-fare rain jacket. Happy went one step further.
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Yellow is a good color. Even without the rain, with the overcast skies and varying light, visibility was important.
The ride today was not overly exciting. No pictures even! After heading east on US-17, we turned left on US-21 to a much quieter road. It was a very scenic ride, and we saw several cyclists headed in the opposite direction. No shoulder on this road, but traffic was about as light as it could be. The road is mostly lined with forest but some fields with livestock (horses and cows) and no agriculture per se. The ride passes through several small towns, Yamasee and Walterboro, after which traffic picks up substantially.
The ride east from Walterboro was trying and included a stretch under construction. Rumble strips reappeared with minimal shoulder width so we were forced to choose between the narrow strip between the rumble strip and the grass shoulder or riding in the travel lane. Generally, we chose the latter, but in areas where traffic was heavy, we "danced" between the two. Even though it had warmed up, I left my jacket on for visibility.
And not for the rain! Within 20 minutes of leaving Waffle House, the rain had stopped and did not reappear until shortly before arriving in Charleston, and then only as barely a spitting rain.
From a riding point of view, things improved dramatically after turning onto Dorchester Road in Summerville, about 30 miles out. While this is a wide street, it had BIKE LANES! That significantly improved the experience, although the scenery was pretty poor. Not just there but for the balance of the ride.
I had chosen our approach to Charleston as, what I thought would be, the most bike-friendly passage. And this proved true except for a short section of Ashly Phosphate Road where we were treated rather rudely by the most courteous people on the face of the planet (tongue firmly in cheek). Of course, any road named after a phosphate should be burning with something; in this case, impatient southerners.
But all that aside, except for a few residential streets, the approach was largely office parks and industrial in nature, with some strip malls thrown in for flavor. So you might excuse our poor judgment when we saw this:
and mistook it for having arrived in Charleston. Nice, but we were still seven miles out.
After more industrial, a railroad yard, and an air force base attached to the local (international) airport, we finally arrived along King Street and then Meeting Street. We quickly found our lodging and checked in. Good choice for a place to stay. Friendly in all ways important, and they were good about accommodating our bikes.
Today's ride: 83 miles (134 km)
Total: 1,123 miles (1,807 km)
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