School me on Charleston

Oct 6, 15 18:24

Post #1 of 17 (1694 views)

Will be moving to Charleston (from Columbia, SC) in about 6 weeks and need some ST help!

Need recommendations on:

1. Affordable housing: I will be working at CoC and don't mind a short commute (as downtown living is crazy expensive)... have been told to look at Mt. Pleasant and West Ashley, but would appreciate any/all recommendations. If you're a realtor, know a realtor, or know of any safe/affordable rentals, please send them my way! I already know that Charleston is pricy, so no need to remind me ;)

2. Bike and Running shops: Prefer to patronize local joints, so send your recommendations my way!

3. Group rides/group runs: I'm familiar with the Mt. Pleasant Velo Team, but other than that, am pretty clueless about group rides/routes in the Lowcountry. I've already creeped on Strava, but would prefer to do a couple of rides/runs with folks to get to know the routes... If there are any tri-friendly rides, that's a plus...

4. Any triathlon/running club listservs: Here in Columbia, we have a ton of different cycling/triathlon/running email listservs. If there are similar ones for Charleston/Lowcountry, please put me in touch with the list admin.

5. (This is probably the most important one of them all). Best coffee shops/breweries in town...

Thanks for all of y'alls help!

Dave

Re: School me on Charleston [dmaurich] [ In reply to ]

Oct 6, 15 18:42

Post #2 of 17 (1665 views)

Join the Summerville Tri Club facebook page....great group of people and you don't have to live in Summerville to train with them.

Mt P is great, but expensive. I live in West Ashley on the edge of Johns Island. Bees ferry rd area....growing fast out here!

Re: School me on Charleston [dmaurich] [ In reply to ]

Oct 6, 15 19:05

Post #3 of 17 (1634 views)

Dave,
First, I hope you made it through the flooding in Columbia without difficulty. I know there is a lot of crazy stuff going on up there. I will start with answering your 5th question: Westbrook and Coast IMO are the best breweries; although Holy City isn't far behind. If you are working at CoC I'd suggest looking over the bridge in Mt. Pleasant. Check The Tides if you are looking for an apartment. Yes, more expensive, but less than downtown and you could probably ride your bike to work. I live in north Mt. Pleasant. I use the Trek bike shop. Very friendly and good customer service. They have weekly and weekend group rides. Good bunch of guys, welcoming to newcomers. I ride mostly on country roads with little traffic (try to avoid hwy 17). Will also ride out to the islands (Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island) to mix it up. Obviously very flat. It gets busier as you get closer to downtown. I do know of an excellent realtor if you need someone. DM me for info. I've done a few rides with the Summerville Tri club as well, they are great too. Hope this helps.

Re: School me on Charleston [dmaurich] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 6:35

Post #4 of 17 (1559 views)

Speaking of, I am looking at that half that is run in Charleston every spring. How is that race? Worth doing?

Re: School me on Charleston [dmaurich] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 8:33

Post #5 of 17 (1518 views)

Great MLK 50m pool downtown on Jakson street

Re: School me on Charleston [Mizzouvet] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 10:06

Post #6 of 17 (1466 views)

Mizzouvet wrote:

Speaking of, I am looking at that half that is run in Charleston every spring. How is that race? Worth doing?

Good early season race, before the heat / humidity move in. Very fast course: no elevation change. Definitely the place if you'd like a PR at the 70.3 distance. (Although this year, the bike course was only 53 miles. I'm hoping they revert back to the 56 mile course.)

Re: School me on Charleston [dmaurich] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 10:38

Post #7 of 17 (1443 views)

How old are you? Family? Depending on your answers, one area may be better than another.

btw - master the Charleston shuffle as fast as you can...many poor souls have fallen victim to the bricks on CofC's campus...and it is hilarious when you see it.

Re: School me on Charleston [Twotter] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 10:58

Post #8 of 17 (1428 views)

Yeah, guess I should have put some particulars in my last post, eh?

35, male, single (I feel like I'm filling out a dating profile)... Enjoys long walks to the fridge, strong capable WiFi, and pushing 105W on the bike...

I currently work at USC and we have our own "Horseshoe Shuffle", where many a poor soul have fallen victim to the bricks on the Horseshoe (particularly entertaining to see campus tours going on, and potential students/families walking like baby giraffes).

Thanks for all of the help so far, keep the suggestions coming!

Dave

Re: School me on Charleston [schafermnt] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 10:59

Post #9 of 17 (1426 views)

Made it through the floods with zero problems, thanks for the shout... Can't say the same for Columbia! Tough to stomach seeing pictures of regular bike/run routes completely trashed :(

Re: School me on Charleston [dmaurich] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 11:28

Post #10 of 17 (1406 views)

If you can afford it Mount P is the best place to live. Easy access to the city and the beaches. Some great riding down 17 a little to Awendaw SC. Great roads in Awendaw very little traffic and a store to park and refuel. Also mountain biking and trail running in the Francis Marion Forest. I had an apartment in Central Square at Watermark. Great place to live. Check it out. There is also a Tri shop in MP, Trysports I believe that has group bike rides. Charleston is an awesome city!

Re: School me on Charleston [xtremrun] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 11:41

Post #11 of 17 (1392 views)

xtremrun wrote:

If you can afford it Mount P is the best place to live. Easy access to the city and the beaches. Some great riding down 17 a little to Awendaw SC. Great roads in Awendaw very little traffic and a store to park and refuel. Also mountain biking and trail running in the Francis Marion Forest. I had an apartment in Central Square at Watermark. Great place to live. Check it out. There is also a Tri shop in MP, Trysports I believe that has group bike rides. Charleston is an awesome city!

I agree with this. Even though you are single, I don't think that you would enjoy living downtown as much as you would 10 years ago. James Island and Johns Island don't have the same vibe as Mt P. Folly Beach is where all the trust fund hippies at CofC go to live. But Sullivan's Island and Mt P are really awesome.

Edited to add - I gave you bad advice earlier when I said your first priority should be the Charleston shuffle...your first priority is to befriend someone with a boat. Pre gaming and post boating at Red's and Shelter in Shem Creek is basically like shooting fish in a barrel for a single guy. Good luck

Last edited by: Twotter: Oct 7, 15 11:48

Re: School me on Charleston [dmaurich] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 11:44

Post #12 of 17 (1382 views)

Just make sure you buy a house big enough/nice enough for me to come visit. :)

Race Reports, etc -- Bob's Bikes

Re: School me on Charleston [C W] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 13:46

Post #13 of 17 (1345 views)

C W wrote:

Just make sure you buy a house big enough/nice enough for me to come visit. :)

I had a house big enough in Columbia, lived here for three years, and never saw hide nor hair of you...

Zip it, coach.

[prays coach doesn't seend 2 weeks of puke sessions when training resumes]
[won't do them anyway]
[never KQ's]
[quits triathlon]
[never speaks to coach again]
[is much happier in his life without the constant nagging of "can you send me GPX files?"]

Re: School me on Charleston [xtremrun] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 13:48

Post #14 of 17 (1342 views)

Yeah, I did the state TT Champs back in 2013 and it was held on that stretch in Awendaw... great event and was able to snag the W for my AG... which wasn't hard, since it was only open to SC residents, and I was the only SC resident in my AG... but I still won! :)

Re: School me on Charleston [Twotter] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 13:49

Post #15 of 17 (1340 views)

Thankfully, I know folks in CHS that know people with boats... mission accomplished...

And yes, mine eyes have seen the glory of Red's... fish in a barrel indeed!

Re: School me on Charleston [dmaurich] [ In reply to ]

MergeMultisport

Oct 7, 15 14:46

Post #16 of 17 (1308 views)

Lived in charleston for 8 years. Been in Greenville now for almost 2.

Biking during the week...i typically stuck to my trainer

Biking on weekends...trek store A group ride would be my choice for a group ride. Good effort. Sprints to stop signs. Out in awendaw. Pretty safe group. If I'm down visiting family, that's still the area I would ride my bike. Do not ride your bike down 17 to get out there. As a whole, people aren't too nice to cyclist on that road.

Downside to awendaw, sewee, huger, cainhoy area...you will have some large semi's...more so on cainhoy road area in Francis Marion national forest. Nice little 52 mile loop out there.

Other option is on John's island. St. John's elementary had a nice rubberized track. Makes great brick spot. Chism road is recently paved and 10 miles from one end to the other. Makes for some good out and backs workout w focused TT efforts.

Not as good as Greenville...but I don't think many places are.

Merge Multisport Founder & Head Coach
USAT Level 2 - Short & Long Course
Ironman Certified
Brevard, NC

Re: School me on Charleston [T.Skelton] [ In reply to ]

Oct 7, 15 15:34

Post #17 of 17 (1294 views)

gin joint great drinks, awesome food as well.

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