FestiVelo: South Carolina's Bicycling Festival

I spent last weekend in and around Charleston, South Carolina. There is a modest bicycling event there called FestiVelo. FestiVelo used to be held in early December, often under conditions of early winter. This year the organizers have chosen to move the date to early November. This allows them to grab a little warmer weather, but sacrifice some of the Christmas colors and lights. Most riders are quite happy with the change.

The actual century on Saturday was cold and windy, but warmed (eventually) by bright sunlight. FestiVelo headquarters -- the start and finish -- were in a lakeside Navy-run recreation area near Monck's Corner, South Carolina. The course was amazingly flat, and in a calmer day I probably could have set a new record. As it was, I finished at my usual time: about 4PM.

South Carolina has not quite decided what it thinks about bicycling. Most drivers gave cyclists a wide berth. Some, however, chose to pass close to me at high speed. It's always subjective, but it seemed as if this was more common than in places like Minnesota or New Jersey. Additionally, there were side-paths along some major roads, but they were disjointed. They would go on for about two miles and end abruptly, only to start up again three miles down the road. Local bicyclists must be incredibly frustrated!

This ambivalence probably affected the negotiations with the local authorities. The ride organizers seem to have promised that we would be 'off the road' by 3PM. I certainly had every intention of finishing by then, but the headwinds ate away at my pace, and added about an hour to my time. The last 20 miles of the ride were on pretty quiet roads (or wide, sparsely-traveled four-lane highways). While it was lonely, it was warm, calm, and pleasant. I accomplished my goal of finishing with a smile.

I don't think I saw more than 100 people on this ride. This stands in stark contrast to the thousands who rode in the rain in Michigan the end of September. I guess getting to South Carolina is a bit difficult. I met several people from Virginia and Maryland who drove down.

This leaves me with one more state to complete this year: Georgia. I'll move from typing this blog entry to packing up to fly to Savannah. I'll be enjoying a century that I've been wanting to do for a long time: Cruisin' in the Country. After that, I'll publish the end-of-year map.