Just left Ft Jackson last June. Lived in Columbia so don't know a whole bunch about the smaller towns, which is what most of them are. Been through Camden a couple times, seemed to be a very nice colonial style town right off the highway. I think you'll find you end up going into Columbia for a lot of your recreation/living. Ft Jackson can only really be accessed from the west side so be carefull about measuring straight distances. You're probably setting you girlfriend up for an hour+ commute if you choose Sumter. Military types tend to have to get to work early so weigh your commute against her leaving for work at 0430 - 0500 potentially. Columbia was a pretty nice town, some of the areas in the Northeast (quickly growning suburb) would keep you near the city and its life while giving you quick access to I20 and Florence, only 45-50 mins highway time.

Keith

Do you have any particular areas in the Northeast part that you might recommend? Sumter is 45 miles away from Columbia. I'm going to have to travel into Florence every day also. kind of sucksss but what can you do?

I second that other guy's opinion on northeast columbia. that is probably the best compromise. there are some VERY nice houses out there, but it is becoming an overpopulated suburbia. Sumter might work ok, but that isn't a ver good commute for either one of you. it'd at least be a 45 min commute to the fort, and probably about an hour to florence. if you live in the northeast (columbia, not US) it's only about 45 to florence and it's right on the interstate. DO NOT move to a small town. there's not much of a tri community in columbia, but cola-town is the only place where there's really any sort of community in the state. also, the fort is relatively decent for riding and there are some good trails to run. good luck, and spend some time after your next workouts in the sauna, you'll need some help dealing with the humidity in the summer. drop me a pm sometime if you need a riding buddy or something. i moved away for college (primarily to get out of the city and away from SC) but come back occasionally to visit my folks.

As I asked the other guy, what would you suggest as for the North East areas? My goal is to be able to get her into that frickin' fort in about 40-45 minutes and for me to be able to get into florence in the same amount of time. I'm in pharma sales, so the commute won;t be so bad for me as I'll be going to different areas in florence county, not just limited to Florence itself. Basically, we're seriously trying to avoid small towns. We want to find some places that are populated with people and same things to do. When I pull up map quest, I can't really narrow down to any towns other than Sumter, florence, and Columbia. I have no clue. Only a few are listed on the map quest map. Any recommendations?

I live in a very small town in western South Carolina. I recently moved from Anderson, SC where there was a very vibrant tri community. Same is true in Greenwood, SC. I don't know about Greenville, Spartanburg, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, etc., but I can't imagine that their tri communities would be any smaller or "worse" than that in Columbia. I just take exception to your remark that I quoted.

Bob C.

I live a couple hours west of Columbia. I've done some riding/events in the Columbia area over the years. I've spent some time riding at Ft. Jackson and I've done the drive from Columbia to Florence.

Others have suggested the NE side of Columbia and/or Camden. From what I see on the map, Camden is about the only civilization between Columbia and Florence ... and it's really barely outside of Columbia. I checked it out on my mapping software. From downtown Camden to downtown Florence is spot-on 50 miles. I don't know where you're coming from, but that's probably the easiest 50 miles you'd ever want to drive ... basically dead flat and dead straight. From downtown Camden to the base entrance on the west side of Ft. Jackson is 30 miles. It's almost entirely interstate. Camden would seem like a very logical first place to try looking. And that NE part of Columbia that is the hot/growing area is only minutes from Camden ... so you should have access to shopping, etc.

As for riding on Ft. Jackson, it was off limits for a while after 9/11. I understand it's opened back up, but that they're VERY strict with cyclists about where they can ride and about having them obey every traffic sign and signal. I was recently copied on an e-mail from the base commander threatening to close the base to cyclists because of traffic transgressions.

My experience on roads in the Columbia area is that they SUCK! In my area, we have miles and miles of smooth ashphalt roads or, at worst, chip and seal roads that become nice and smooth with age. But around Columbia (and especially inside Ft. Jackson), well, I don't know how to describe the road surfaces. They're like concrete that's been jackhammered and left in a crumbling mess. In September I traveled to a NE suburb of Columbia and did a century ride that traveled roads mostly north of the city. I happened to enjoy the event 'cuz I just had a really good day (not a race, but I finished first). But the friends I traveled with swore they'd never go back. We were on some of the worst roads I've ever ridden ... period ... let alone in that kind of event. I've also done rides on the west side of town. Same kind of thing. Terrible roads and terrible traffic. Maybe being in a town like Camden will give you access to some quieter, smoother country roads.

So where are you coming from?

Bob C.

I'm 50 miles west of Columbia, and have many chip-seal roads to choose from. Luckily, they are mostly very lightly traveled. I ride these back roads towards Columbia and back fairly often. There is a newly asphalted very hilly road (Camp Rawls Rd) that I love to ride on...going from my house to the end of that road and back is exactly 50 miles. Great ride. Now that I have a beam bike, I don't mind chip-seal roads one bit, and that new asphalt feels like a wooden velodrome when I'm on my Titan Flex. I don't know about the riding east of Columbia, except that you will need to take care about the sand on the roads that you are sure to ride through. Keep your chain clean! Oh, and be sure to keep your teeth clenched if you are gasping for breath...lots of swarming gnats out there...you sometimes need clenched teeth as a filter!

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

Here's some good news for you. Checkout Set-up.inc for some good races in the area. Also my parents live in SC and the governor is really into cycling. They are acutally building a bike lane on several roads. They have them completed along Hwy 6 from St Mathews to Santee, SC. I took my bike home for Christmas to ride the new lane but the weather was bad. I understand that the plan is to have it go from Columbia to Charleston.

About the towns to live in.... Camden can be a bit snooty ( it's got a bunch of old money and is very horsey). Pretty little town though. You will probably have trouble finding a good pool in any of the towns in between. Good luck finding a place.

I have to go against dirtrnr on this one. SC has some good tri clubs with some great athletes. Florence has a club and I personally know that the Upstate Triathlon Club and the Charleston triathlon club are two very good groups. I can not speak as much for Columbia but I feel sure there is a group there, if you go to one of the local bike shops, they can get you in the right direction. We have a lot of good races put on by Set-up inc., Go Tri Sports out of Hilton Head, and Charleston Triathlon Club. We also have some good ones put on by local communities. We have a lot of good places to get out on the bike especially along the coast and in the Upstate. When you get to sc come over to Greenwood we have three really good tris (sprint, olympic, and half iron). We have a great thursday night ride too as Psycholist will agree...........

thanks for the info. We're coming from Philadelphia. We are both I'm going to have to see exactly where my territory will be before I really start looking. I'll keep all of these suggestions in consideration. Thanks!

GrindinTeeth wrote: come over to Greenwood we have three really good tris (sprint, olympic, and half iron)

Are you a dentist?

I've done two of these three Greenwood races. Nice races, nice area. That up-the-wall finish line is a bear, though!

Set-Up has 10 races in SC. There are probably 10 more. NC has more than that. It's probably possible to race almost every weekend during the summer in either a du or tri in these states, with double-race weekends fairly often. You'll be fine as far as participation in the race community, and, I'm sure you'll be able to locate any kind of housing arrangement you prefer somewhere within 50 miles of Florence...as long as it's not the "big urban thing" you want.

Welcome to the area. I hope you're not in the 45-49 year-old AG ;)

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

So Grindinteeth, your handle helps me narrow you down to one of two people. Did you go before me or after me in our astounding relay triumph?

I had so much fun there that I've decided to focus on some time trial and triathlon relay events (if anyone will have me) next year. I've got a new TT bike due to arrive in a couple of weeks.

And how about this weather? I did a 2 hour ride outside in shorts and short-sleeve jersey today! Fabulous!

Happy New Year

Bob C.

You got me....I was your swim leg. The weather has been awesome, but I am embarassed to say I have not been able to touch my bike. December has been crazy busy. I'm hoping tomorrow will be the day. I need to do some work on my bike first. What tri bike are you getting? Let me know if you what to get some rides in between now and spring. Hopefully this weather will hold for the rest of the winter. Not likely......Titan, you also are correct I am a dentist in the Greenwood area. I was the race director for the Festival of Flowers Tri last year and will be this year as well. Sorry about the hill at the end. Hope you can make it back this year.....

Sorry about the hill at the end. Hope you can make it back this year.....

It was eye-opening! I sure hope to be there this year...nice race!

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

Hey my tooth-grinding friend,

I have a 2005 Trek Equinox 9 coming. It seemed like the most value I could get for the money. I've got a great LBS in Anderson that I work with and he's fixed me up pretty nicely. For race days I'll use the Hed Alps I already have for the front. I've got a new Renn disc for the rear. I think it should be a pretty sweet TT machine. It looks like they flat ripped off the P2K design except for a few trick details. We'll see.

Any time you want to ride, let me know. I've been doing some nice 50 to 60 mile loops over in my neck of the woods on Saturdays and Mondays. On Wednesdays I go to Anderson and do a 3 hour ride with some folks up there. The other days I fill in with roller workouts. That sounds like a fixed schedule, but I'm actually quite flexible. I'm in the book. Give me a call!

Bob

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Bob C.

The "science" on any matter can never be settled until every possible variable is taken into account.