Bicycling Georgia,
South Carolina and North Carolina
October, 2006

Georgetown to Charleston SC

October 22, 2006
Distance 69.2 Miles
Elevation 485 Feet

We awoke to a gray, cloudy sky that was threatening rain. We ate breakfast, loaded our bicycles and headed for Charleston, 70 miles away. After less than 2 miles we came to a bridge over a river and had to climb a steep grade to get to the top. For the next 20 miles we never gained or lost more than one or two feet. Most of the time there were forests on both sides of the road and we even saw one very old fire watchers tower along side the road. We stopped in McCellanville, SC where we took a short rest, but one look at the clouds and we felt it was better that we not stop for lunch. When we were 10 miles from the motel a few drops of water hit us. It was quite warm and Jim was sweating so hard that he did not get any wetter. As we approached Charleston, we had to cross a very long and high bridge. As we started across the bridge on our bicycle, we saw a sign that said no bicycles allowed. We spent the next 30 minutes being lost as we attempted to find the bicycle path across this bridge. We finally found the bicycle path and crossed the beautiful new expansion bridge. We were now in Charleston. However, we had to cross from the north to the south side of "old" Charleston, cross another river, and travel an additional 4 miles to our motel.

Traveling across old Charleston was shocking. We traveled through what looked like slums. Houses that had had major fire damage, and houses that had not been painted in 50 or more years. And streets that had not been resurfaced in years, only patches on the chuck holes which left the street very rough. It would have been a bone shaking experience on most bicycles.

Finally we came to the last bridge of the day and it had a grated section. As we approached the grated section, I asked Mary Kay if she wanted to get off the bicycle and walk but she just said to keep going. I did not know it but she took her feet off the pedals and had them dangling so if we began to tip over she would be able to put out a foot to stop our fall. However we made it across safely and continued on our way. We now had only 4 miles to go.

After we had gone about 1 mile it began to rain very, very lightly. As we continued it rained harder and harder and harder until as we reached our motel it was a full downpour. The good news was that we were still not very wet because most of the way to the motel we were in a light rain and only the last block was heavy rain. However, George and Jane arrived about 15 minutes later and they we soaked because they had the very heavy rain for more than a mile. Scott and Barbara were in the heavy rain for 5 or 6 miles. They crossed the grated section of the bridge in the heavy rain and the wet steel caused their bicycle to go all over the place.

After wiping the excess water off of our bicycles, getting into our motel room and taking our showers, we headed next door to a restaurant for a late lunch or an early supper. After supper, Mary Kay did laundry and I caught up on all of my computer work.