As day five of our 2013 annual retreat to Hilton Head Island continues, the Wood-Man and I continue to enjoy the riding opportunities in this League of American Bicyclists Silver level town.
(The bike path along William Hilton Parkway)
On Wednesday, the four of us took the opportunity to ride…
The Navigator, Wood-Man, Sherry Shazam , and I are making what has become our annual Rest, Ride, and Recharge (RR&R) trip to Hilton Head Island in the Low Country of South Carolina. A League of American Bicyclists 2011 Silver award winner, HHI provides lots of opportunities to get out and about on two wheels.
(Approaching Spencer Beach, a private community on HHI)
The Wood-Man and I had a nice 16 mile cruise yesterday to shake out the legs and make room for some grilled steaks purchased at the Fresh Market here on the island. I suppose I should have made that Rest, Ride, Recharge, and Eat (RRR&E).
| The Low Country 2012 – Days 1 and 2 |
The 2012 Low Country Rest and Relaxation tour has come to an end. So apparently did my writing time… We’ve been back five days now and this is the first break I’ve had to sit down and post the wrap up…
| The Low Country 2012 – Days 1 and 2 |
Days four and five of our Low Country Rest and Recharge 2012 week have involved shorter rides around the island of Hilton Head. The Woodman and I focused on areas of the island that we’ve only briefly visited previously or not visited at all…
(Our Hilton Head residence viewed from the adjacent golf course)
| The Low Country 2012 – Days 1 and 2 |
Day four of our Low Country 2012 Rest and Recharge week entailed the Woodman and I heading off island for some riding and exploring in nearby…
Day 3 of our 2012 Low Country “Rest and Recharge” week was comprised of some serious lollygaggin’ on the part of me and the Woodman. We achieved a fine state of Lollygag. The Woodman was told many years ago that the type of riding we were doing today was known as lollygagin’. This outstanding form of riding is characterized by slow, pretty much aimless movement with no apparent need for speed or need to be anywhere else than where we are at that exact moment.
"(Lollygaggin’ on a sunny Monday on Hilton Head, SC)
Turns out that when you go about seeking some serious lollygaggin’ or find yourself in a state of Lollygag…
I’ve been a little crazy lately characterized by bad eating, bad sleeping, and no riding. I can pretty much talk with you coherently about 24” base cabinets, 3 1/2” crown molding, and the proper length of a tail line for a septic system. I’m no longer as up-to-date in the world of cycling as I was and want to be. In fact, I had a dream…
When last I heard from myself, the Navigator and I were headed out with the Wood-man and Sherry Shazam for a little battery recharging at nearby Lake Chatuge, which straddles the southwestern North Carolina border with Georgia. Our abode was in Hiawassee on the Georgia side of the lake one street off what passes for the main drag and shopping zone.
(Twin Mountains on opposite shore)
(Red sky at night was a relaxing way to end the day)
The brief two day trip served its purpose of giving us a break in our efforts to get one house ready for sale and the Navigator’s family home…
It is 18 degrees outside this morning as I begin to put finger to keyboard. I’ve been off of my normal writing schedule this week due to numerous commitments in different areas of my life. I did, however, get to spend some time on my recently received Le Tour de France spinner bike from ProForm.
(Shown here in its 99% unpacked and ready to go state!)
I’ve written about the delayed receipt of this product elsewhere so I’ll move on beyond that stage now, i.e., ordering and delivering….
The Navigator, Sherry Shazam, the Wood-Man and I have completed our time in the Low Country of South Carolina and are safely back home in the High(er) Country of Western North Carolina. I indicate High(er) for the benefit of those fine folk living out west whose low places are higher than my high places. Still, High or High(er), it is good to be home. We were welcomed home to a gorgeous view as the mountains have put on their fall colors and are resplendent in yellows, reds, and shades in between. Also, the temperatures are cooler.
(My snazzy new Fat Cyclist jersey got a nice workout in Palmetto Bluff)
We had a great time on our week long getaway. My overall summary goes something like this…
Yesterday’s (October 4, 2011) ventures out and about on Hilton Head Island took the Wood-Man and I to the Hilton Head Diner located off of William Hilton Parkway. We’ve had fine breakfasts and better service at this location while on our trip to the Low Country despite numerous negative reviews on Trip Advisor. Our riding for the day was by plan limited. The most ambitious we felt was…
In our effort to discover new areas of riding in the Hilton Head Island zip code, we stopped by an excellent LBS, Road Fish Bike shop, and asked for some direction on riding that wasn’t characterized by constant stop and go. As I’ve noted before, HHI has really made cycling from place to place for transportation, commuting, and shopping quite easy. The separated bike paths along major roads like William Hilton Parkway keep cyclists relatively safe from the speeding traffic, which is often quite heavy. From a fitness point of view, the downside of the paths however is…
The Navigator and I, along with Wood-Man and Sherry Shazam, are into our 2nd full day of vacation in the Low Country of S.C. We’ve made our 3rd annual trek to Hilton Head Island for a little fall getaway and Low Country cycling, sun, and, of course, cuisine. But first…
Sunday was my first opportunity to take the Salsa Fargo out and enjoy it in its real element – off-road, loose gravel, steep climbs. The Wood-Man and I headed out to the Sunburst Picnic Area above Lake Logan on NC 215. A Forest Service Road just off the picnic/campground area was our destination. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t what I got…
By yesterday (Saturday, November 27th), my post-Turkey haze had lifted enough and holiday/home chore duties had been cleared enough to make some time for a ride. Heaven knows I needed it! The Wood-man and I determined on Friday night that we would get out and put a few miles into our legs this weekend…
(Part II)
| This is part II of two parts covering Zeke and the Wood-man’s ride on Saturday, October 23, 2010 from Waynesville, NC to Newport, TN. To read Part I, CLICK HERE! |
In Part I, the Wood-man and I had just competed our 20th mile of the trip and were sitting nicely amidst the colors of Betsy’s Gap. We were ready to mount up and head down…
Well, the ride that the Wood-man and I undertook Saturday is hereafter named The Wood-man’s Betsy’s Gap Invitational” and should probably happen annually from this time forward. As the only invitee to this year’s effort, I was pleased to accompany the Wood-man on a 65 mile jaunt…
Yesterday, Sunday October 17th, was a beautiful day here in Western North Carolina. We have been on a wave of some late summer – early fall temperatures for the past few days. The nights have been crisp with frost warnings each night but the days have been just simply outstanding with temps in the upper 60’s and the low 70’s. Yesterday made it to the mid-70’s. It was perfect weather for….
The Navigator and I returned safely home to our Western North Carolina mountains on Sunday. We had a great time in the S.C. Low Country enjoying our “fun in the sun”, good friends, good riding, and good eating! We didn’t go through any temperature shock on this trip upon our return home. We left Hilton Head Island under sunny clear skies with pleasing temperatures in the mid-80’s only to return to our house under sunny, clear skies and pleasing temperatures in, yes, the mid-80’s. We aren’t yet seeing the changing of the leaf colors that herald the arrival of fall although we know that isn’t far behind.
The last ride…
The Wood-man and I took our last HHI ride on Saturday getting in another 20 miler around the island. This time we headed out in the opposite direction of our previous ride and found ourselves with more open space and longer lengths of uninterrupted pedaling.
We found a very nice run across the island along Marshland. Everywhere we went was on an integrated bike path. The paths along Marshland included wooden bridges over the marsh and were approximately 8’ wide in most places. We had clear sailing almost the entire length of Marshland. From Marshland, we explored out a spur to Spanish Wells and then back along Matthews to the William Hilton Parkway, which took us back to our abode at Palmetto Dunes Plantation.
We did enjoy our food while on the island. In the order of best meals, I would rank our experiences as follows: (best to worst)
So, there you have it… Zeke’s unsolicited, not-in-demand brief review of Hilton Head Island eateries.
Back home and riding again…
I was pleased to get to commute home on Monday after a long day of “dig your way out of having been gone for a few days” work duties. I tried very hard to really be away from work this past week, which meant the emails had piled up to the tune of about 100 a day. Top that off with the usual Monday morning network blues and it was a recipe for a no-fun Monday. Before the whining gets to you, I’ll say that the great weather was continuing in the mountains and I was privileged to enjoy it on a 23 mile spin home. I felt sluggish and heavy to get started but warmed up to the task within about 5 miles. When I finally came along the Pigeon River on Hyder Mountain Road, my spirits were lifted and the heaviness in my legs was gone.
If ribbons were the theme for my last ride along these roads, then “droppings” might have been the watchword for this ride. The road seemed to be littered with various types of droppings – chestnuts, acorns, horses. I was presented with the opportunity to dart around and over each of them. I briefly contemplated whether a chestnut hull could cause a flat. I was glad to find out it did not.
As I was traversing NC 110 from Canton to Bethel, I could tell that the sun was setting a little further in the southwest than it was a couple of weeks ago. My final couple of miles home were in the shade of the mountain as the sun had already dropped below the crest of Ratcliffe Mountain. I punched on my front Planet Bike 1/2 watt Blaze light for a little additional safety.
Bro Dave finds a gem…
According to the September 20th post on BikinginLA, my west coast based brother has been scouting out possibilities for a cycle powered washing machine. Link over to BikinginLA and check it out. You’ll find the link near the bottom of today’s posting. It was kind of nice seeing the reference to Bro Dave out there on the west coast!
As for me, I”m killing off the last few minutes before heading into our BicycleHaywoodNC meeting this evening. I’m hopeful we are on the cusp of getting some monies for a bike plan for Haywood County. We should be a step closer by 8:00 p.m. tonight!
Until later,
Zeke
To make a tax deductible donation to support Appalachian State University Cycling, follow this link:
http://www.give.appstate.edu/.
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