Ride 15: South Carolina
The Palmetto State
State: South Carolina (#15)
Area: Charleston
Route: Circuitous route including downtown Charleston, Sullivan’s Island, and Mount Pleasant
Final Mileage: 50.83
Date: May 13, 2023
Hello, dear readers! It’s been nearly a year since we last completed one of these rides, and a lot has happened in both of our lives since then. Perhaps the biggest updates (for those who did not already know): Alex and Mary Kate got married (yay!) and moved away to Illinois (boo!) while Alex gets his career as an ophthalmologist started. But fear not—we won’t let a little extra distance between us impact the continuation of this project.
As each of us began new chapters in both our personal and professional lives this year, we also started planning our next rides. Though our first one of 2023 wouldn’t come until May, it was worth the wait. We decided to complete one of the final parts of the eastern seaboard remaining on our map: South Carolina.
While the Palmetto State is home to numerous lovely cities, the only one we ever truly considered as our destination was the historic coastal town of Charleston, which had several perks. It was one of the few places in the state with both a respectable biking infrastructure and plenty to do. Michael had previously visited back in 2018 and loved it, while Alex had never been. And Alex’s brother-in-law, Brian, just so happened to have moved to town last October.
It was in part this last fact that helped turned the trip into a larger affair than our standard rides, which more often than not have included just the two of us. With Brian in town, Mary Kate, her other brother Dan, and Dan’s partner Rachel also decided to join. And Meagan made the trip with Michael. Expanding the size of our party easily made Charleston one of the most memorable trips to date.
We were also fortunate that Dan wanted to join us for this adventure, bringing the full riding crew up to three. Using the powers of Strava, we charted a route that would take us through downtown Charleston, Mount Pleasant (an upscale suburb east of downtown where we stayed), and the touristy Sullivan’s Island.
Fortunately, it was not only a gorgeous day to ride, but the terrain was almost entirely flat, making this one of the easier rides we’ve done up to this point. And yet, somewhat ironically, it also ended up being one of our slower rides. This was in part because the biking infrastructure in downtown Charleston was sometimes lacking, leading to a slower pace during the first half of the ride as we fell in with traffic or veered onto side streets. But this ended up being just fine, as there was plenty in our surroundings to take in.
Meanwhile, Meagan, Mary Kate, and Rachel were enjoying a day without the three of us, bopping around Mount Pleasant in the morning before migrating to the beaches on Sullivan’s Island. We ended up timing our ride so we landed in that area right around lunchtime, giving us a chance to fuel up at a local Mexican joint and catch up with the ladies and Brian (who stopped by as well).
By that point, we had already clocked over 30 miles. This put us over the hump and ready to power through the final stretch of the ride, which first took us out to the westernmost point of the island and then back to the east side around the ritzy resort town of Isle of Palms before finally returning to Mount Pleasant for the last few miles.
Upon finishing, the three of us got cleaned up and headed to the beach to join our gals for a bit before everyone headed home to prepare for a night out in downtown Charleston, which included drinks at the lovely Rooftop at the Vendue and a delectable dinner at 82 Queen.
Dan and Rachel bid the group farewell the next morning, while Michael, Alex, Meagan, and Mary Kate stuck around for a little more touristing before departing as well. We spent the morning and early afternoon dodging periodic rain showers and stumbling upon fun shops and sights as we wandered the city’s streets. This included pit stops at The Daily coffee shop, the Charleston City Market, a waterfront park, a café in the Charleston Place hotel (for a quick respite from the rain), and seemingly every other store along King Street (which we learned was serendipitously closed to vehicular traffic on this “Second Sunday”).
After one last round of beers at a local brewery called Edmund’s Oast, the crew said final goodbyes and capped one of the best experiences we have had so far on this journey—bringing us to 30% of the 50 states!
Charleston ended up being one of our easier rides, no doubt, but you’ll hear no complaints from us. We were fortunate to enjoy stellar weather, great company, and plenty of great sights. We didn’t come close to seeing everything the city had to offer on this trip, but that gives us all the more reason to come back again soon.
