Bicycling in Mount Pleasant / Charleston SC area

[Brdofpray]

What you say about Columbia and Charleston my very well be true. Even Greenville has places where I wouldn't ride. However, I am willing to bet, not to far from all of those urban places, you will find little used, back roads, that are perfectly suitable, and safe for cycling.

For the careful rider, that leaves the vast majority of this state available. I am also quite sure, this would apply to any state you choose to cycle.

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

Texas Hill Country, New Braunfels, Fredricksburg. Lot of hills, lots of flat, lots of great cycling.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davef As a person who has worked long and hard on bicycling advocacy, Sarah in SC's point of view is unfortunately very common but unfounded.

And you live in South Carolina and are intimately familiar with the roads and the attitudes of drivers there? J'en doute!

[xyz]

Our biggest issue is finding an area which has hills and is in a rural setting with reasonable roads. We have both been riding for a very long time (I have a picture of myself which was in the newspaper when I was 8 years old on a 100 mile bike trip). We are both VERY CAREFUL when we ride but also understand the risks one takes with this activity. It is starting to snow around here so we want to get out of here real soon. Looking at an RV resort in Lake Lure near "Rumbling Bald" anyone with any experience in that area?

[Brdofpray]

Last year the CNC (Cycle North Carolina) Mountains to the Coast ride, stopped one night in Lake Lure. If you want mountains that is a good place. Very Scenic. This coming August, CNC will be hosting their first weekend mountain ride. A multi day ride that will be based out of Lake Lure.

You might also like the Brevard NC area. The local college has a cycle team that rides throughout that area.

Where ever you end up going, try researching local bike groups (usually found through a local LBS) for advice and routes.

Good Luck.

[67walkon]

We have homes in coastal South Florida/Treasure Coast area and in the NC mountains in Waynesville, 20 miles west of Asheville. I ride road bikes both places. In our area of Florida, we're blessed to have some barrier islands where really rich people live and where there is little traffic. I'm about 3.5 miles from Jupiter Island and can get in 28 miles with almost no traffic except for the 3.5 miles getting to and from the island. Celine Dion, Tiger Woods and Gregg Norman all have homes there. There are lots of riders and very little traffic except maintenance workers. If we go north of Jupiter Island, there's a short stretch with some traffic but then back on a barrier island. It's great, flat, ocean front riding.

In NC, there are no shoulders and bike lanes are rare. And there are mountains. Fortunately, there are some 2 land roads through the national forests that are lightly traveled. Where I leave from is about 18 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway, mostly through a lightly traveled road in Pisgah National Forrest, all uphill. But then its all downhill coming back.

I don't like to ride in urban areas. We used to spend summer vacations just outside of Mt. Pleasant on the Isle of Palms. I wouldn't feel safe riding in that area. But once you get outside of urban areas almost anywhere, it's probably pretty good. I feel safe in Florida and in NC.

Of the towns mentioned in this thread, my vote would be Greenville, SC. Its a great town, pretty country side and some good hills.

[Free To Canoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC I'm sad to see that a cyclist agrees with my assessment of the area, nash. Wishing it were different doesn't change the facts, unfortunately.

This gives me an opportunity to tell you about my friend Bill F from Charleston. A bicycling nut if ever there was one. 25 / 50 mile rides alone in the Low Country were routine for him. He used to complain about rudeness and hostility on the road from drivers. He dodged more than one Old Milwaukie beer can while riding. My story dates to the early 1980s. Perhaps it is more "genteel" these days as a result of the great Yankee influx.

[painterbill]

When we visit the daughter and family who live in Mt Pleasant we generally stay at the KOA off US17 in Mt Pleasant, at times for a couple of months(in the winter). We run everyday from the campground but generally only 5-6 mile loops and mainly through the Charleston National Golf Course development, we do see a good many road bikes on the back roads between campground area and Ilse of Palms connector but do not really feel comfortable running the route because there is a fair amount of traffic and very little berm. At times will just have to stop and step off to the side to let traffic by but road bikes seem to do better with traffic. They have done extensive work on 17 the last year improving road, sidewalks, etc towards bridge but I don't remember any bike lanes. Early Saturday/Sundays appears popular for road bike groups in the area.

[nash031]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Free To Canoe This gives me an opportunity to tell you about my friend Bill F from Charleston. A bicycling nut if ever there was one. 25 / 50 mile rides alone in the Low Country were routine for him. He used to complain about rudeness and hostility on the road from drivers. He dodged more than one Old Milwaukie beer can while riding. My story dates to the early 1980s. Perhaps it is more "genteel" these days as a result of the great Yankee influx.

I never had anything thrown at me other than insults. One of my favorite such memories is a large man who was driving an older-model midsize sedan who came upon my friend and I on a lunchtime ride. He pulled up next to us at a stoplight and yelled through his rolled-down window, "Get a car!!" My friend, noting his belly touching the bottom of the steering wheel deadpanned, "Maybe you should get a bike."

[Sarah in SC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Free To Canoe My story dates to the early 1980s. Perhaps it is more "genteel" these days as a result of the great Yankee influx.

Because of our long and happy association Free, I will let this idea that Yankees would make us more genteel pass!!! Lol!

I went to school with an avid (ok insane) cyclist who used to play guitar for the Shack Shakers before quitting to cycle. He rides extensively here in Charleston but I think he would hunt you down like a panther if you threw a bottle at him.

[xyz]

Looks like Lake Lure is going to win... Planning to go some time after the holiday. I will give a full report once we ride around there a bit. One nice thing about the RV is if the area is not working out we can always drive our home somewhere else. We went out to Tucson in 2005 and I am trying to convince my wife to head out west too but we will see. That's a really long drive. If NC is nice we will probably just stay for a while. Thank you all so much for the comments they are very helpful !

[Free To Canoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC Because of our long and happy association Free, I will let this idea that Yankees would make us more genteel pass!!! Lol! ...

Just a minute while I pull my foot out of my mouth. There.
I think that it is the dumbest thing I ever said.

[savory]

Here is the latest benchmarking report about bicycling. I saw an article that mentioned Charleston and compared it to other similar size towns. I have reviewed the 2010 but not the just released 2012. The 2010 was well done. Here is the link Alliance for Biking & Walking: PeoplePoweredMovement.org

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davef Here is the latest benchmarking report about bicycling. I saw an article that mentioned Charleston and compared it to other similar size towns. I have reviewed the 2010 but not the just released 2012. The 2010 was well done. Here is the link Alliance for Biking & Walking: PeoplePoweredMovement.org

This is very interesting. Previously I had looked up bicycle and pedestrian fatalities in Seattle. They seemed higher than I expected, but I did not have any data to make a denominator. This report has it.

It seems that driving is much less dangerous regarding injury to the driver-walker-bicyclist than either walking or biking. Easy enough to understand I guess. Cars are big, so people notice other cars, and if you do get hit, it helps a lot to have your body wrapped in a steel sheet. In the 51 largest cities fatality per trip relative to driving is 2.1x and 2.8%, walkers and cyclists respectively.

I am surprised that cycling is not much worse than walking, but then there is more walking in the most congested areas, at night, and by older people including handicapped and blind people, than there is cycling. Downtown if I see a cyclist very often it is a professional courier, who I would assume is more fit, more experienced, younger, and better equipped than a random cyclist.

Riders are also usually more aware of trying to make themselves visible to drivers than pedestrians. Don't see many bicyclists riding along on an unlighted bike in black clothes at 10pm on a rainy night, but urban areas are full of pedestrians like this, and in many areas a goodly number of them are alcohol impaired.

I am gradually trying to substitute orange or glow green outerwear for my more stylish but much less visible black or leather jackets. It's a comedown, but I don't want to go out by being knocked 50 feet by some texting driver.

Ha

[savory]

I just realized I posted the 2012 report. Here is the 2014. sorry http://bikewalkalliance.org/resources/benchmarking