My wife and I will be in Mt. Plesant staying with the in-laws and need some routes/recommendations for a ride and run. Need probably 60-70 miles for the ride and about 10 or so for the run. If anyone has suggestions we would both greatly appreciate it.
http://www.charlestonbicyclecompany.com/index.htm . I am sure they have route maps of the best places to ride. I’ve done the After the Bridge Run Ride out of Mt. Plesant. There are some great roads back through the country. As far as running there are good roads around the beach out toward Sullivans Island and you can also run the bridge back into Charleston which is pretty cool.
Hard to beat running on the beach at IOP. You can get your 10 miles in with a little creativity. Cycling is tougher issue. If you need to get the 70 miles in then I would suggest a drive over to Daniel Is. Traffic is much less an issue. You could get 70 in on MTP with a 2 loop course. I use to ride around some of the MTP neighborhoods, ride over the connector to IOP~Sullivans IS~ over the Cooper River Bridge and return. Do this twice with a complete circuit of IOP-Sullivans and you’ll be close. There are group rides from Tri Sports on SUnday morning. There is a group ride from Gold’s Gym on James Island on Sat am.
Thank you both for the info. It will be odd riding on populated roads. Living in KY I can go 4 hours and see maybe 20 cars total.
I have contacted one of the ride leaders that does the Sunday ride from Trysports. Looks like that ride is about 30 miles. Are there any rural parks or anything to get away from stop lights and traffic? Otherwise it would probably be safer for us to ride with a group.
I would highly recommend staying off of 17 if at all possible. My wife was ran off the road by a truck right between 41 and the IOP connector. I had a colleague when I lived there that was killed on 17 in the same manner but was not as lucky as my wife. If you dont want to ride in a group, you can head out towards Awendaw, or McClellenville for some rural country roads.
I just returned to KY (Louisville) a few months ago. Since you posted that you’re not use to high traffic situations then I would advise riding with the groups. MTP was one of the worst pedestrian cities in the country, its not a great place to ride. As the previous poster said stay away from 17. The Sat James Island ride has two groups, 17-21 mph and 21+ so you can get in a decent ride. The Tri Sports ride on Sun was more sedate, 17-19 and uses much of the route I tried to describe.
Also get ready for the heat and oppressing humidity. Bike ride is fine but I would think twice about the 10 mile run with 90 + degree heat.
Heat and humidity do not really bother me. Kentucky gets nearly the same weather as SC. It was 84 with 80% humidity yesterday. Put in an hour ride and a 13 mile run.
Thanks Chappy. We will probably hook up with a group, both of us will feel a lot safer that way. Of course we could always take the trainers outside and ride in the heat with no wind. Perfect training for IMKY.
Hard to beat running on the beach at IOP. You can get your 10 miles in with a little creativity. Cycling is tougher issue. If you need to get the 70 miles in then I would suggest a drive over to Daniel Is. Traffic is much less an issue. You could get 70 in on MTP with a 2 loop course. I use to ride around some of the MTP neighborhoods, ride over the connector to IOP~Sullivans IS~ over the Cooper River Bridge and return. Do this twice with a complete circuit of IOP-Sullivans and you’ll be close. There are group rides from Tri Sports on SUnday morning. There is a group ride from Gold’s Gym on James Island on Sat am.
Chappy,
Would you know a pool to swim in when visiting Charleston/James Island? I know the Golds in James Island. Thanks.
In Charleston the MLK pool is a 50m pool. I never used it but used the county pool over in MTP. I understand that if your going to use the MLK pool to do so during daylight hours, not a safe neighborhood was the report.
MLK 50m pool downtown…or the MUSC Wellness Center 25m pool.
For the OP…I’d suggest the James Island/Johns Island area as well. Its on the other side of the area from Mt. P…but you’ll get to see a different part of the area. If you drive to John’s Island, park and ride…you can then wander to see the Angel Oak and Kiawah Island area as well. Folly Beach has its own charm…definitely different from IOP…and is emminently rideable as well.
As for run routes…its hard to beat a 5-8 miler downtown that takes in the Battery, Waterfront Park, the Citadel, and some of the historic district…
Thanks Chappy! Much appreciated!
Thanks Tribriguy
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Love Chucktown. Never been there in summer. My two oldest sons live on James Island. Open water swimming @ Folly beach sounds good. Poll suggestions & run sounds great also. Need to work out while visiting next week. Will be hitting Golds on James Island also. Love the food there also.
I’m heading there for a wedding this weekend. I’m going to be doing the Cooper River Bridge Run and was hoping to get in a ride with my GF that day or early Sunday. Where on James Island would you suggest for a good 20-30 miles?
Thanks,
Andrew
My wife and I love to hike wherever we go. We once hiked for 4 hours in July on the Palmetto trail, near Charleston. lol! It was 95 and humid, walking in grass up to your knees! The spiders webs were sometimes 5 foot across the trail with
huge nasty looking spiders. We got lost and ran out of water, but someone in a nearby motor home park helped us after we came out of the brush. (very strange looks from the folks)
The moral is. Just because its a trail on someones map doesnt mean its still a trail that time of year.
We will do our hiking in Colorado thank you.
There is an organized ride on Sunday called After the Bridge Run Ride.
Here are some details: http://www.charlestonbicyclecompany.com/ABBR.html
Thanks, that looks really cool but we’re a bit tight on money so I think we’ll piece something together on James Isl. I came up with a 32 mile route that seems like it will be good, hopefully. I’ll have to make it back out here for the race and then the century one year, that would be a lot of fun.
MLK is fine during the day and used by lots of local swimmers and triathletes. The water is a good temp and clear. Showers and rest rooms are okay. Pay $2.00 to swim. It is an outdoor pool with bubble. When are you going to be in town? MLK pool will close for a week for bubble removal soon. I will probably swim at MLK on Thursday and will check the dates closed.