Clemson Fan

Flatter terrain today

Vineyard at Montmorenci, South Carolina 

Total Trip Distance: 3022.27

Day Thirty-Seven - 6/10/2003

Can you see the humidity?

TOM:

Day 37 – The trip today was very good.  The road was almost flat, although there was a decrease in elevation of about 450 feet in the 78-mile long ride.  The weather was warmer than yesterday.  The temperature started at 70 degrees and ended at about 90 degrees.  After lunch, there were some dark clouds ahead.  The clouds were moving from my right to the left in a northeast direction.  After about 5 miles I came upon some wet pavement.  I could feel the humidity before I noticed that the road was wet.  It dries fast at 90 degrees.  A little later I could see the water vapor rising from the blacktop road.  There was very little wind today and it was hard to tell which direction it was blowing.  In either case, it did not affect my ride.  The terrain was flat like other areas that I had covered but there were more trees and it looked quite different than any other area that I have seen.  I saw some farming (watermelon, cotton, and beans), a vineyard, some beef cattle and some light industry.  The towns were small and included: Aiken, Montmorence, Windsor, Williston, Elko, Blackville, Denmark, Bamberg, and Canadys.  It is interesting to note that the towns in SC had similarities to all the other small towns across the county.  One of the common items is having the American Flags along the streets.  They could be left over from Memorial  Day. Another common activity is cutting the grass. Most homes that I saw across the country had neatly trimmed lawns.  To keep them that way takes lots of cutting.  It is exciting to be near the end of the trip.  Tomorrow I plan to end the ride at White Point Gardens on the Battery in Charleston at about 1:15  pm. 

Bamberg Courthouse-our lunch spot today

Aiken, SC to Canadys, SC 78 miles in 5 hours and 20 minutes for an average speed of 14.5 mph.  The elevation started at 530 feet and ended at 100 feet.  This is getting very flat.

Lucille:

June 10 - Tuesday - Only one day to go for Tom to meet his goal of biking coast to coast!  We have been over 3000 miles.  I'm excited.  I started the day looking around downtown Aiken.  I wish I had done some research about Aiken before I came because I think there were interesting things here that I missed.  It is a very pretty town with interesting shops and several restaurants downtown and lots of large trees lining the streets.  After leaving Aiken, I headed east on Highways 78 and 61 toward our destination - Canadys.  In the town of Denmark, I went through a huge antique store.  In Bamberg Tom and I again found the plaza around the courthouse to be the most pleasant place we could find for our picnic lunch.  This time we were next to a statue honoring Confederate heroes.  Since there are no motels in Canadys, the plan was to meet in Canadys, put the bike on the car and drive to St. George to a Comfort Inn.  The day was very hot and humid.  Every time I got out of my air-conditioned car and was surrounded by the hot moist air, I couldn't believe that Tom was biking for 78 miles in this heat.  He didn't think it was too bad.  We walked down the street from our motel to Georgio's restaurant for our dinner.  We had Greek food.  Tomorrow will be the last biking day of this adventure.  It's possible that we might not get the final journal completed for a day or 2 since we will be connecting with several people these next 2 days.

Canadys - Lucille got there first.