The Charleston Spur

This morning I'm in Charleston, SC at another hostel. I can smell the coffee brewing and can't wait to grab myself a cup. If I had to choose only one bad habit, coffee would be it. Beer and wine have their place, but coffee is King.

Last night I met up with a couple guys from the Charleston area at a burrito joint. After eating, they introduced me to vodka sweet tea and we went over to a Reggae Festival. It was a pretty good time.

Time for some coffee, I'll be back later to talk all about the rest.

I'm back. Yes Jennifer, I'm a changed man. There isn't much time for beer or wine when you're riding 100 miles a day. It just slows you down. Coffee on the other hand, gives you a boost of energy, a change of attitude, and time to reflect. When I hit Key West, I may decide that a margahrita or pina colada is in store, but nothing kick starts the system like a good ole cup of joe.

Right now it's about 9:45 am and I'm headed off for a short day with a late start. The decision to take the Charleston spur probably added 25 miles to my trip but if I don't take a little time to drink in the culture then the backwoods towns and some of their constiuents start to get really stale. I've done 96.57, 103.67, 87.55, and 112.72 mile days for the past four days so when I leave Charleston today I'll probably rest up with a 60 mile ride.

The heat is here and here to stay. Hydration has become more important then ever. I apply a liberal coat of sunblock every couple hours and after about 10 minutes of riding I can feel the perspiration pushing out through the sunblock like small leaks in a dam. It's a never ending battle. I need to find some sunblock that holds up to exercise while also protecting from the sun or else I cook.

Yesterday I met up with another couple, Mike and Jessica, on a tandem who were biking from Miami to Bar Harbor, ME. I was sweating my butt off and they told me they were thinking of stopping and putting on arm warmers. I can only hope that I acclimate to the heat as they have...and hopefully before Florida. These two were putting in 100 miles a day and staying at hotels in the evening. You can check out their site at tandemadventure.com . Most people I meet tell me how Georgia can be a little rough in some of the back towns but once you hit Florida life is good again.

I also met four guys from Michigan who flew to Savannah, GA and are traveling to ME, then over the top of the lakes and back to MI. I'm not sure these four are going to make it because after two days of traveling they were already looking for faster routes. It seems as though the route I'm taking parallels route 17 in a lot of areas but route 17 is very sketchy to ride on. They were talking about jumping on 17 to save some time...not a good idea, but each to their own.

Before hitting Charleston I stopped and talked to a guy on the side of the road who was selling shrimp. He was probably around 20-24 and he bought shrimp from his uncle who has a shrimping boat at McClellanville, NC. He used to bring 150 lbs of shrimp up to some restaurants in West Virginia (where he grew up) but his transmission in his truck went and now he sells shrimp off the side of the road north of Charleston. The numbers don't work out that well because he buys the shrimp for $4.50/lb, sells it for $6/lb and he sold about 30 lbs yesterday. I guess that he's banking on developing a customer base so that he can move more shrimp in the coming weeks. Maybe he just likes to sit on the side of the road and relax?

So, now I'm off again. I'm almost done with my section 5 map which means I only have two maps left to go. The Statesboro, GA to St. Augustine, FL section is 287.5 miles and the last leg to Key West, FL is 521.5 miles. As of today I've rode 1609 miles and I have about 950 left to go. With the light day today, I should be in Key West on or about June 5th. Finkle has mentioned that he may meet me down there for a couple days and maybe see his sister in Ft. Lauderdale. We'll see how it works out.

So, until next time, may you never forget to take some time for yourself and always remember that no matter how far you need to go you'll always get there if you're moving in the right direction.

Brad