Days 12-21

Day 12: Friday (11/6) (Laurens to Newberry) Long day yesterday. Legs were a bit tired starting out. Our hope was that today would be an easier day. Turned out to be sort of true. We traded some of the larger, steeper hills for rolling terrain and a headwind….and hot weather. It felt nice to be in shorts and a T again, but by the end of the day it was starting to wear on us. Actually, by the end of the day quite a bit was starting to wear on us. Mentally we were both ready for a break from biking every day.  When we arrived at Newberry, we’d planned to take a break and continue heading south for several more hours. I made a command decision and booked a nice hotel, right across the street from the city park where we were resting. There was a quaint downtown district that needed exploring. There were no obvious places to camp on our route south. And finally, we were both done. With lodging taken care of, we had a lovely evening chatting with a wonderful lady/owner of a local bike shop. We sat outside, had a local beer, and listened to some local live music. It was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Day 13: Saturday (11/7) On the road again heading south. We felt both mentally and physically refreshed. Sharon found a free campsite on the shores of Lake Murray, a large reservoir just west of Columbia, SC. The biking was pleasant and we arrived after a short 22 mile ride. Apart from a drunk and/or stoned/strung out guy invading our personal space, we had a quiet evening reading and relaxing and plotting our next moves. We’ve wrestled with the miles yet to go to Charleston and the unwelcome arrival of some hurricane inspired bad weather. Our eventual plan – ride 30-ish miles to the Columbia airport and rent a one way car into Charleston. That gets us there ahead of the bad weather and – big plus – we don’t have to spend hours trying to avoid getting run down by big city drivers who so far seem aggressively offended having to share the road with non-motorized vehicles.

Day 14: Sunday (11/8) We so seldom have a plan, its kind of fun when a plan actually comes together. We had a fast ride into Columbia – 30-ish miles before noon. The super nice rental guy upgraded us to a mini van, so transporting the bikes was a breeze. We found a drop off place less than a mile from our hotel. I guess because we’d rented a car, the hotel gave us a screaming deal. And because we were on bikes, they upgraded us to a wonderful first floor room. And best of all, we’re right in the midst of historic downtown Charleston. We enjoyed the Indigo Inn’s complementary glass of wine and plotted our next day’s adventures.

Day 15: Monday (11/9) Sharon found a highly recommended tour guide for a walking history lesson. He was a fire hose of information. I’m not going to attempt to share even a portion of all that we learned. The history goes back to the late 1600’s and encompasses the Revolutionary war, the Constitution, massive involvement in the slave trade, the Civil War and so on. Just one small story I think offers a glimpse of what is on offer here. We stood on the sea wall, looking at Fort Sumpter three miles away. Across the street stands the house (and third story porch) where General Beauregard gave the signal to begin shelling Fort Sumpter. From that same porch, an elderly man whose family has owned that house since before the civil war, stood and waved good morning to us. We walked and biked some 15 miles around the historic district. Just so much to take in. One observation. Our tour guide was a life long resident of Charleston. He was very proud of the massive wealth on display in the historic district. He seemed somewhat unwilling to outright condemn the slavery that made such wealth possible. At worst it was an “unfortunate” part of the history. And yes, it “existed” but wasn’t that big a part of the city. In fact, Charleston at one point had over 40 slave markets, as the city served as a hub for the entire south for the domestic slave trade. A bit troubling.

Day 16: Tuesday (11/10) Today was supposed to be a rainy day, so we planned some indoor activities…museums and such. All informative, some more interesting than others. The Slave Mart museum offered some chilling insights into the local slave trade. Definitely more than “unfortunate”! Enjoyed lunch on the patio at a local BBQ place – so tasty! Walked through the city market – far and away the least interesting thing to see in Charleston. By the time we’d made the rounds, the rain finally arrived. We spent a chill afternoon planning the next phase of our trip. With 5+ days of extremely heavy hurricane rain in the forecast, we once again opted for a vehicle assist. One way rental from Charleston to the north of Atlanta for only $60 should bring us far enough inland to avoid the rain. Its a plan!

Day 17: Wednesday (11/11) After breakfast, and with some time to kill before picking up our car, we took advantage of a break in the weather for one last spin around town. Huge thumbs up to Charleston. It truly lived up to the hype. Also, thumbs up to the Indigo Inn. All the folks there were super friendly, and super helpful. We really enjoyed chatting with all the staff. The drive to Atlanta took a bit longer than planned. We trusted Google Map’s routefinding when we shouldn’t have. We choose poorly on two occasions trying to get around some accident in Atlanta. By the time we arrived near our destination, it was late and heavy rain was forecast. One more hotel night. We’d both be feeling pretty decadent if our lodging wasn’t “skanky” as Sharon described it. Ultimately, it was dry and close to our car drop off location.

Day 18: Thursday (11/12)  Cloudy, but dry. Sharon came across a rails to trails route called the Silver Comet. We jumped on after a quick 5 miles. It is amazing. Beautifuly paved bike/hike trail that runs 98 miles into Alabama. It was beautiful. Rolling through the outskirts of Atlanta into the countryside, and through small towns. Just fantastic biking. After 45 miles, we arrived at Camp Comet, a small, free campsite for travelers on the trail. After we cleared out some garbage left by previous visitors, we had a nice afternoon/evening relaxing. Dinner was an amazing chicken/onion/pepper burrito. While we’ve mostly enjoyed simple fare, we do have the option from time to time to pick up the makings for something a little more extravagant. Tasty.

Day 19: Friday (11/13) Strange happenings over night. Some large creature nearby was huffing and puffing rather loudly. I have no idea what it was, but it didn’t seem happy that we were camped nearby. There was some yelling and flashlight waving before we were left in peace. Of course I fell right back asleep after the excitement (yeah right!). Hit the trail early and rolled into Cedarton for a massive cinnamon roll/apple fritter sugar hit. We said good-bye to the Silver Comet and started heading north. Once again, more beautiful countryside – perfect for biking. At some point we entered the “great state of Alabama”! Sorry Forrest, but our impressions of Alabama were not all that great. Massive (and of course VERY loud) pick up trucks driven by stereotypical Rednecks made life on the road unpleasant. Towns were dirty, and run down. Generally we were made to feel very unwelcome. We wasted no time getting back into the countryside. Just as night fell, we managed to find a secluded clearing in the woods to pitch the tent. We had a few misgivings, but it ended up being an uneventful evening.

Day 20: Saturday (11/14) Very cold and damp over night. Tent fly was saturated both inside and out from dew and condensation from our breath. Once again, beautiful countryside and truly disgusting little towns. We try not to be judgmental, and we recognize the impact of poverty in rural America, but neither of us wanted to spend any more time in town than was necessary. We picked up a few food items at a Dollar General and beat feet. We survived almost getting run off the road by several pick ups who also decided it would be fun to “roll coal” as they passed these stupid cyclists. The day was saved when we met Luke and Katie. They had driven south from their home in Chattanooga for a bike ride in the country. We spent a fair amount of very pleasant time chatting – and making possible plans to meet up in a day or two. After parting ways, we traveled to our 3rd free campsite in a row. It ended up being a good day, and our 3rd or 4th 50+ mile day.

Day 21: Sunday (11/15) Today marks three weeks on the road. It ended up being a great night. Warmer and drier than its been. Once again felt compelled to chase off some night time critters. We got a super early (for us) start and made great time. We had a slight tailwind, and over all, slight downhill into Chattanooga. Traffic was light,  and biking was scenic as we paralleled Lookout Mountain. We only had to endure two bouts of heavy rain. By noon we had arrived at our hotel on the north side of Chattanooga. The gracious people at La Quinta allowed us a super early check-in. We both took the most luxurious shower ever, and headed off to enjoy the Packer game from the patio of a local Packer restuarant. We’re looking forward to a bit of a lie in tomorrow. From here, we expect about three more days of cycling before we close the loop and arrive back at our car. I think it is safe to say the thought is a little bittersweet. It was been such a joy being on the road again. We have met some wonderful, interesting people. The scenery has been spectacular at times, always interesting. Having said that, conditions have been a bit challenging at times. We especially hadn’t fully considered the really short days. Tomorrow we continue our march to Knoxville. 560 miles down…another 110 to go.  Our goal for tomorrow is some land owned by Luke. He graciously gave us directions and offered us the option of camping there. We had hoped to be able to ride there with him, but plans changed. As always with these passing friendships, we never know when we might meet again. That’s all for now.