Hi Everyone,
Heading to Charleston SC over the Thanksgiving week and will be arriving Saturday the 21st and leaving Sunday the 29th. Can anybody provide me any cycling routes or local group rides. Thank you in advance.
Check in with the Trek store in Mt Pleasant. Route maps and guidance available. Some great routes from Sewee store ( if you like flat !).
Have fun, Charleston is a great place.
Trysports in Mount Pleasant has an 8:00 am ride on Sundays that is a good tour of the area. Also second Sewee and Awendaw, great riding out that way. The bike shops sell rides of the low country book that has most the local routes for $15.
If you can’t find a group ride, try to get yourself out to Sullivan’s Island and Isle of Palms. On the ver far south of Sullivan’s is a view of Charleston Harbor at Ft. Moultrie, and at the far north is the Isle of Palms marina. On Sullivan’s there are lots of quant old beach shacks and million $ homes. You might even be able to sneak onto Wild Dunes at the north end of IOP, and it’s a semi-private resort with great ocean walks. At the far north end of IOP and Wild Dunes is a tidal inlet that is quiet, primitive, and breathtaking. You’ll have to carry the bike a bit, but it’s worth it. Get onto IOP by taking the IOP connector, which is a long causeway and bridge over the salt marshes in the area. There are some good climbs on those bridges, since the route goes over rivers and the intracoastal waterway. Best part: There is a wide shoulder/bike lane the whole way! Tons of cyclists use that route. Find the IOP connector on the map, park at a nearby shopping center/grocery store, and head east toward the ocean. Enjoy!
There’s a Target near the intersection of SC 517 and Rifle Range Rd in Mt Pleasant. 517 is the IOP Connector. Take that east to IOP. At IOP, on rte 703, turn left and head north, parallel to the ocean. In a few miles you get to the end of the road, which is the entrance to Wild Dunes. You can either bike in, or turn around and head back, passing 517 heading south to Sullivan’s. You can ride parallel to the ocean on 703. 703 eventually turns west toward Mt Pleasant and Charleston, but you’ll want to go beyond that on Sullivan’s until you reach the end and overlook Charleston Harbor. Turn around there and head back to the 703 bridge toward Mt Pleasant and Charleston. Once over that bridge, look for Rifle Range Rd, and turn right, and you’ll soon be back at Target. One circuit with some turn-arounds, but well-worth it for the marsh and ocean vistas.