Long Haul - Day 33 (9/18/21) Conway, SC to Georgetown, SC 53.8 miles
We had a big day yesterday and tomorrow will be the longest yet. We don’t have many lodging options between Georgetown and Charleston so we might end up in the mid 70 miles tomorrow. Today was a bit easier than either of those.
We left at our usual time this morning thinking the roads would be less busy on a Saturday morning. Well that wasn’t the case. we decided to take a longer route and pass through Myrtle Beach. There was basically one way to get there from our hotel this morning. It was 501 which was pretty busy. We did get some time on another busy road for a while but it was basically a morning squeezing through traffic. Most of the time there was plenty of space to our left but I’m sure some of the drivers got a bit pissy. We arrived in Myrtle Beach and were looking for a coffee shop and had stopped to check to see if there were any along the boardwalk. A woman across the street was walking her dog and yelled at us, ”where you riding from” I yelled “Maine”. She yelled back “cool, have you ever ridden the C&O?“ I decided we should quit yelling so we crossed the street to chat a bit. She said she was homeless earlier this year and decided to walk the Great American Passage and the C&O from Pittsburg to DC. We did the same route about 5 years ago on bikes and had a good conversation about the route. She had a great experience camping along the way, no problem with drugs and felt totally safe. Now that she is back she has been able to ”get my ducks in a row.” It was great meeting Angela and it made us happy that someone found a way to bring positive change to her life. Here‘s to hoping she continues to find that path of positive change.
We found a coffee shop and had some drinks and a bagel and then headed out. We rode casually along the ocean front until we had to get on the main road out of town and toward Georgetown. We were lucky enough to get some off road trails but most of the time we were on the main and busy road. At one time we were on a side road and were directed back onto 17 but the street was closed for repairs and the side road ended. So we did what every cyclist would do, we hoisted our bikes over the guardrails, pushed them through the grass, grabbed a drink and proceeded on the road. I mean why back track? Sometimes you just have to grab the easiest way and move on. We did have a good breeze on our backs most of the day so we kept those wheels turning.
All in all a fairly easy 54 miles.
https://www.treesforgoshen.org/biking-for-bucks-expand-goshens-tree-canopy/
Today’s Ride Ratings
Weather 9 (comfortable temps)
Temperature 72 at start and 81
at finish
Scenery 3 (road) 9 (ocean front)
Riding Surface 9
Terrain 9
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