Today I rode 90 miles at about 10.6mph into Charleston. I felt like I was pedaling normal so it must have been the 10mph wind directly in my face that slowed me down a bit. It was also supposed to be bright and sunny and 70 degrees for the majority of the day but it ended up being foggy and cold for about 75% and sunny and hot for the other 25%. The only other place I’ve seen weather this bizarre is in San Francisco.

The direct path to my destination on US17 would have been about 60 miles but since that is the worst road possible to ride a bike on, I detoured through the woods as a self preservation measure. It looked like a scene from LOTR for about the first 30 miles.

I ended up on US17 for 10 miles in a dense fog which was very nerve wracking. I survived but riding on a highway with no shoulder in the fog isn’t ideal biking conditions. I also got another flat after biking over a fishing hook that stabbed through my tire. Needless to say I wasn’t a very happy biker.

I eventually got off the highway and onto some safe roads which led me through Francis Marion National Forest. It was still foggy and cold for most of the time I was in the forest which was starting to depress me because I hadn’t seen the sun in like 3 days. Here’s a picture inside the forest…

The sun came out after about 40 miles and I had to take some layers off. I put on my sun screen and plodded on.

To get into Charleston you have to go over the Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge which was really, really, really cool looking (and very steep to bike up). There is even a bike and pedestrian section of it so you don’t have to battle traffic which was a nice relief. At this point it was in fact 70s and sunny. That is the USS Yorktown in the background which I will be visiting tomorrow.

Throughout my ride I was eating Cliff bars and other snacks but never stopped for a real meal. Why didn’t I you may ask? Because this was waiting for me at mile 85!

FUCK YEA PUB SUB!!!!!!!

After that I mozied to my AirBNB for the night and am going to just take it easy tonight. Too tired to go out. Tomorrow I’ll probably rent a car again and do touristy fun.

I knew the weather today was going to suck so I wasn’t really excited to get on my bike this morning. It was 45ish degrees with light rain and some wind the whole ride. Thankfully it was only a 50 miler today and the weather here in bizarro South Carolina will be sunny and 70 degrees tomorrow. I rode at a leisurely 11mph pace all day, a little slower than normal, because of my lack of motivation and my plentiful amount of daytime to get the miles in.

I was glad to get out of Myrtle Beach which felt like Atlantic City without the gambling to me (and I hate Atlantic City!). I decided not to take the bike unfriendly US17 all the way to Georgetown and instead took the ECG route which is less direct but uses side roads. I ended up on a bike path which led me by a marsh and a nice bike trail which was a welcomed change.

I got a flat tire at one point and two different people stopped to help me. I didn’t need the help but it was once again nice to have strangers offer to help. One of them even offered me coffee out of his thermos, which I politely declined. Of course, there was a white lab barking at me the entire time I was fixing my flat from behind a fence. It wouldn’t be right if that wasn’t happening so I just basked in the barking and kept on with my business.

Anyway I eventually made it to Georgetown after crossing the Pee Dee River and checked into the Quality Inn. I headed over to the only open local coffee shop (almost the entire town shuts down on Sundays) and had an espresso, coffee, and piece of Kentucky bourbon pecan pie (so good).

The store owner told me that there was a big fire here on September 25 right across the street so half the bars and restaurants are gone now. Here are the ruins.

I did manage to find an open restaurant though and ate two meals including a salmon dish and this amazing chili and grilled cheese.

I opted to go back to my hotel instead of spending more money on delicious food and drink and am just going to watch football the rest of the evening. Tomorrow I have 85 miles to Charleston so I need to rest up. I will be spending a rest day there on Tuesday also.

I woke up at 6:30 and ate my continental breakfast which consisted yet again of sausage and egg biscuits with bacon on the side. When I left the weather was perfect and I headed down route 17 for about 20 miles on the shoulder. I then used back roads for a while but kept getting thrown back onto 17 which was hit or miss depending on the part of the highway I was on. Sometimes there was no shoulder or the shoulder was entirely rumble strips which you can’t ride a bike on. Anyway, there wasn’t much to photograph but I enjoyed these horses.

I ended up going through the town of Shalotte which was having its annual Christmas parade which went for like 10 blocks. I wasn’t really in the mood for hanging out and watching but a took a few pics.

Eventually I got through the parade (I was part of it for a bit) and continued on my way. I knew it was going to rain in the afternoon so I was trying to hustle to Myrtle Beach. Just before I crossed into South Carolina it started to rain on me. It wasn’t that big if a deal other than the wind. I threw on my waterproof jacket and pants and kept going. Here is my bike on the South Carolina border.

By the way I saw zero “South of the Border” billboards on my route. Anyway, eventually I got to Myrtle which is very bike unfriendly. It’s very hard to get into Myrtle Beach and also once you are in you keep getting routed back to US17 which has no shoulder here. I’m not tempted to go out really or go to the beach because the weather is so shitty. Going to hang out in my room for a bit and them get some Italian food for dinner and call it a night early.

Total for the day was 65.16 miles at a little under 12mph. It was flat but into the wind. Tomorrow I head to Georgetown, SC then onto Charleston.