The direct route from Ridgeland to Savannah is about 33 miles. Unfortunately that route uses I-95 or US17. My bike safe route ended up being just over 70 miles of which the first 20 were uphill and into the wind. I think I averaged around 9 mph for the first 20 miles which was a bit tedious but I knew I’d be coming back down to sea level with the wind at my back. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from running and biking, it’s to never trust a downhill early on because you have to come back up eventually. The uphills are okay by me because I know I’ll be coming back down soon enough and if I put my work in now I’ll be able to relax later.

In either case, I wasn’t upset I chose the long route because it was an absolutely gorgeous day. The early uphill was tough but there was nice scenery. I saw a colorful bird and stopped to take a picture and it promptly took a shit into this lake and the fish started eating it. Ahhh the beauty of Mother Nature.

Once I got done climbing I crossed the Savannah River and entered Georgia as trucks hauling trees continued to pass me. The Georgia sign was pretty lame on the road I crossed into Georgia on but what can ya do?

It was around this point a black lab started chasing me but only half heartedly. I haven’t been in a legit dog chase since North Carolina which has been a relief. I stopped for lunch at a gas station in Guyton which ended up being a delicious meal of chicken tenders, potato wedges, and a hot pretzel which I washed down with a Glacier Freeze Gatorade. Amazing.

After lunch I stumbled upon the “Middle of Nowhere Georgia Spyware Removal House” which I laughed it. I wonder how much business this guy gets?

I kept moving and eventually got to Savannah 70 miles later. It was a gradual down hill for a while which was great and like I mentioned the weather was perfect, mid 50s and sunny. Since I got here with some daylight left I said fuck it I’ll go into town and see some things. I started out in Forsyth Park which was full of trees and statues, very similar to the battery in Charleston.

I then headed down to the river and watched the sunset while I waited for my carriage tour to start at 6:00. I also headed into an art store which I really liked. Someone should buy me these giraffes for Christmas (only $900!)

The carriage tour was neat also and I learned Savannah has a lot of weird history. The guide also pointed out a good ice cream place that I went to after consuming a full pizza and beer for dinner.

All in all a very busy and exhausting day. I have another 75ish miles tomorrow which will be almost solely on US17 which I am not looking forward to. It looks like there’s a shoulder most of the way but it will be boring and still scary. Also my destination is Brunswick, GA which is just a stop over point before Jacksonville so there won’t be much motivation to get there. Just going to try to make the best of it and get there safely.

I once again woke up at my AirBNB to fresh bread and coffee but this time I didn’t stick around too long to hang out. I set off on an 86 mile journey to Ridgeland which ended up being a very difficult ride. I ended up riding in suburban rush hour, on a bike trail, on country roads, on US17, and parallel to I95 at different points throughout the day. In addition I filled my water bottles up from the unfiltered tap at the AirBNB which gave me a nice marshy tasting surprise when I took a sip. Woof!

Anyway I made it. The day started on the West Ashley Trail in Charleston which was very scenic but also very slow since I was riding through damp sand in what felt like an uphill. It beats the hell out of US17 in either case. Here’s a few pictures from the trail.

The trail spat me back onto the US17 death trap for about 10 miles which I once again survived. The ECG route then put me on some side roads which was great but they eventually turned to sand which meant slow riding. It also directed me to trespass through 3 fences which was a nice surprise.

I was glad they told me to do this though because the path was away from people and cars which was a relief.

Up to this point I was having a good time but once I was directed towards Ritter I got really bored and basically wanted the ride to be over. The biggest excitement was the Manhattan Club at the top of Catholic Hill in Ritter (this is the middle of nowhere). I regret not coming through at night time to see this club scene.

I kept looking at my odometer and calculating in my head how much further I had to go and then figuring out when I’d be arriving. I did this over and over and over again for hours (real exciting stuff let me tell ya). I fought through though and eventually made it to Ridgeland and am currently icing my knees and watching Tedy Bruschi and Mark Schlereth yell at me through the TV screen at the Quality Inn. About to take a shower and grab some food next door and call it an early evening.

Tomorrow I head to Savannah but I’m not visiting the city, just stopping by. It is too big a pain to get into and out of Savannah and I am looking forward to getting to Jacksonville in 3 days.

I woke up at 8:00 in my extremely comfortable bed and walked downstairs to fresh bread, jam, and coffee. I hung out with Brent, one of the AirBNB hosts, on the back patio and ate breakfast by the marsh in the back yard while waiting for Enterprise to come pick me up. Once I got my car I headed off to Black Tap Coffee which the fine folks at Jubala Village Coffee in Raleigh had recommended. It was very good but not quite as good as Jubala. I got an espresso, coffee, and a ham and cheese stuffed croissant.

After being properly caffeinated I headed to Patriots Point to see the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier. It is absolutely enormous and while I understand the physics of it, I still find it unbelievable this thing floats.

This next picture reminded me of a networking closet only 100x more ridiculous. I can’t imagine trying to figure out which cable is malfunctioning in this mess. Such a feat of engineering that these ships operate effectively.

I also enjoyed this story about the ship dog.

After the ship I headed to Sticky Fingers to eat some Lowcountry BBQ and holy shit it was good. They even had an amazing oil painting of Stephen Colbert in the hallway which was a nice touch.

I decided after consuming this monstrosity I should walk around a bit so I headed to the battery and checked out the park down there. It was really neat (and very bicycle friendly). There are a bunch of live oak which are awesome and some statues, canon, and guns.

The only interesting thing going on tonight was a Dave Chappelle standup show but it costs $55 which in my opinion is absurdly overpriced. Instead I headed to the Joseph Manigault house for some $10 informative fun instead. I was the only person on the tour which was … Interesting … But it ended up being pretty cool. The Garden Club of Charleston had outfitted the place to the theme of the 12 days of Christmas using vegetation that would have been around in the 1800s. I didn’t take any pictures of that, but here’s the main staircase!

Finally, I headed to Tommy Condon’s Irish Pub for some amazing shrimp and grits and a couple beers. Unfortunately drinking by yourself at a 1/4 full Irish bar is pretty depressing so I left and went to Publix to buy a sub for lunch tomorrow and a bunch of Cliff bars.

Doing laundry now and listening to the Gators/Jayhawks game on the radio and will be heading to bed rather early tonight. Going to get up and out by 7:00 or so to ensure an on time arrival in Ridgeland tomorrow. Should be about an 80 mile ride.