Charleston to Myrtle Beach

With food in our stomachs and rejuvenation that only sunshine, great people, and two bike-free days can bring, Sam and I headed out as soon as it was light.  Riding through the city at such a quiet hour was quite a change from the bustling weekend scene we had experienced, and I certainly enjoyed the glimpse into a different side of the city.  The ride over the bridge out towards Mount Pleasant was stunning with beautiful views seen from a cyclist/pedestrian-only zone thanks to the work of cyclist advocates in the region.  Huge moment of appreciation felt on that bridge for all of you pushing for bike-friendly infrastructure!

The ride towards Georgetown, destination of the day, was nothing short of lovely.  Not to sound overly positive and sugary, but the tailwinds, quiet roads through a national forest, and mellow yet ground-covering pace was awesome.  A few raindrops loomed here and there, but thanks to Murphy's Law as soon as I stopped and put on my pannier rain covers the clouds seemed to keep to themselves.

It was about 3pm when I reached the outskirts of Georgetown and, while I had certainly ridden enough to call it a day, I figured that the thought niggling at the back of my mind was likely on Sam's radar as he had likely just arrived to the town centre.  After some cell-phone communication, meeting up in town, and a nutrition break at Burger King, Sam sorted out a place to stay in Myrtle Beach for us about 35 miles down the road.

I was unsure how my body might react to the rate at which I scarfed two veggie burgers and hopped back on the bike, but no trouble.  At that point, calories are calories and I believe that I owe the enjoyment of those 35 miles to that snack break.  The riding was certainly less relaxing than earlier in the day thanks to the traffic picking up near the beach communities, but the tailwind made maintaining a reasonable pace was pretty doable and there was even a bike path that appeared for part of the ride that paralleled the highway and weaved through the woods.

I wound up chatting with a fellow cyclist along the bike path and rode with him and his wife for the next while.  Taking their route wound up adding a couple of extra miles, but at that point I was rather indifferent and simply enjoyed hearing about cycling in the area.  While I had a destination, their offer of a yard to camp in was much appreciated before we parted ways and I continued to what seemed like a hallucination.

At the risk of overgeneralizing and sounding judgmental,  Myrtle Beach is weird.  Perhaps partly because I had spent the day cycling the backroads and arrived at dusk, but the abundance of mini golf courses and hotels made me think I was visiting Vegas.  That is bearing in mind that I have never been to Las Vegas, so at least based on how it looks in the movies.  Like I said, weird.  I took my time cycling up the 'main drag' (that was exceptionally long given that the B&B was on the far end of town) primarily because the gawking and people-watching was abundant: families going for a post-dinner walk, spring-breakers on the prowl or headed for a late dinner, older couples out walking their tiny canine bits of fluff.

It was surprising to not be a total wreck in the evening given the amount of mileage covered, and a shower, snacks, and walk to the beach gave way to a well-deserved sleep after a 200km-ish bike ride of the day.

Couldn't resist taking a picture of this hotel sign as I rode into a weird land of overabundant minigolf courses, neon 'spring break' T-shirts, and more than one establishments related to 'Ripley's believe it or not'