piper_chuck

I'm about a week away from leaving NC and relocating to Columbia, SC. We're going to rent a house in Lake Carolina while we sell our house here and find/build something down there. After driving around a few of the roads North of where we're going to live, I'm pleasantly surprised. Looks like lots of quiet country roads and nowhere near as hilly as I've had to deal with around here.

My wife is becoming increasingly vocal about feeling uncomfortable with my riding alone, so hopefully I'll be able to find some small groups to ride with. This has been a bad year for cycling so I'm slower and going shorter distances. I'm typically riding 10-30 miles at a 13-15 mph pace in a hilly area. Hoping to get my speed and distance back up once we get relocated.

If anyone knows of any groups, that'd be great.

Alasdair

I am about an hour or so North of Columbia. I believe that the Carolina Cyclers are very active. Check them out here: https://www.carolinacyclers.org/

GamecockTaco

welcome, Chuck!! I'm in Northeast Columbia and regularly ride through Lake Carolina. Which neighborhood inside of there will you be in?

Go to www.summitcyclesbikeshop.com and be sure to sign up for their yahoo listserv and you'll get plenty of notices of rides leaving from in and around Lake Carolina.

Our Friday night beer ride starts from the Town Center there in LC and goes for 20 miles at 14-15 mph each week at 6:30. The weekly shop rides leave from Summit Cycles on Two Notch Road and then break out into 2-4 groups (depending on numbers) after passing through LC.

Feel free to PM me if you have other questions.

Scott

piper_chuck

Thanks Scott. For the short term, we'll either be in Centennial, or more likely Woodleigh. Eventually, we're probably going to buy or build in Berkley. I'll get signed up for the listserv so I can start seeing what rides are available. It'll probably be a few weeks before we get settled in enough for me to ride.

piper_chuck

Thanks Alasdair, I'll check them out.

piper_chuck

We're here. Bike made it safely. I brought my helmet and gloves. Found a couple water bottles and my shoes. Now all I need to find is shorts and the tire pump and I'll be ready to roll. Shooting for later this week, can't ride until we get enough boxes unpacked to be able to move around the house.

GamecockTaco

Glad you made it, Chuck. Which neighborhood did y'all end up in? Our Wed. shop ride rolls right through Centennial from Summit Ridge Drive and on into Lake Carolina up past the fountain and then on out the backside of the development. Let me know if you'd like some tips on routes to take/distances/etc.

Don't forget, the Friday night ride leaves from Town Center there in LC at 6:30 for 20 miles at about a 15 or so pace. This is more or less a social ride where you can spend most of the ride just chatting with the group.

Sat. there are usually rides leaving at 7:30 AM and rolling through LC.

So, what brought you to Columbia?

piper_chuck

We're renting a house in Woodleigh, it's close to the schools.

I'm going to target this weekend for getting out the necessary bike stuff so I can ride. Since we've got so much unpacking to do, for now I'm going to keep my ride times below an hour and a half or so. Longer distances will have to wait until we can move around inside without having to dodge boxes. Some route ideas in the 10-25 mile ranges, would be great.

I'll plan to join a Friday night ride in a week or two. I'll save the longer rides for later.

Moved to Columbia to work for BCBS.

GamecockTaco

A few of the guys riding in the group work for BCBS also. Which part of BCBS are you working in?

Let's see, a couple of routes:

head out of LC to Kelly Mill Road. Turn right onto it, and roll until you get to the stoplight. Stay straight through the 4 way stop before there (HardScrabble Road). Turn right at the light onto RoundTop. Straight to stop sign. Right onto Langford Road (higher speed traffic, but usually not too much of it and cyclists are very common on this road). Take Langford back past Hardscrabble, past the golf course, down the hill and part way up the next and turn right onto Paschal (if you miss it, take the next right onto Mickel). Take Paschal all the way to the stop sign and turn right onto Mickel. Mickel dead ends at Kelly Mill. Take a right and Lake Carolina and the YMCA will be on your left after about 1/2 mile or so. I'm not positive, but I think this will be about a 12 mile loop for you.

For a slightly longer version, turn left from Mickel onto Kelly Mill. Continue straight until you get go Bridge Creek Elementary and turn right onto Bombing Range Road (new pavement). At the stop sign from Bombing Range, turn right onto Summit Ridge. Take the 9 o'clock turn in the traffic circle in Centennial and that puts you back into LC headed to the fountain.

Those should get you started. When you get a chance and are out and about, try to stop in at Summit Cycles and Tim and Henry can give you a map (at least they used to have some) and point out some routes to you. Or, feel free to ask away here or PM me.

Scott

piper_chuck

I'm in the I/T part of BCBS.

Busy week and weekend. Found and unpacked cycling shorts and shirts. Looked for floor pump, but no luck. It wasn't in either of the boxes I hoped. Since that failed, it's probably going to be quite a while until I find it, so I guess I'll have to use my frame pump temporarily. It'll get the tires full enough, it's just nowhere near as easy to use as the floor pump. I also managed to pick up a cold, probably from a lack of sleep, so much dust from the move, and from the A/C vent that blows on me all night long. Going to have to do something about it. Fortunately, the cold is progressing quickly, so I think it'll be gone soon.

Thanks for the routes. I'll try them out in the next few days. I'm going to hold off on deciding about the Friday night ride until I see how many times I can ride this week.

I do have a question about the route. When I take the turn on Kelly Mill after leaving LC, do I turn left rather than right? Looking at the roads on mapquest, that seems to get me on the right course. The route looks pretty easy to follow and I've driven several of the roads above LC, so the names are familiar.

GamecockTaco

oops, yep, sorry about that. Had a few routes in mind and gave you a wrong turn to start. L on Kelly Mill, R on Round Top.

Friday ride turns L on Kelly Mill then L onto Mickle, so I'm used to going both ways.

Again, sorry about that.

piper_chuck

No problem, I looked at Mapquest ahead of time. As I was going down Langford I decided I wanted to go a little further, so rather than turning on Paschal, which has no sign, I turned on Mickel. Other than the rough surface, I really liked the tree covered atmosphere of Mickel. Unfortunately, I had not studied Mapquest quite enough so when I got to the intersection where Paschal (according to the sign) turns left off of Mickel, I didn't know which way to go. I went left, wrong guess, which made my ride quite a bit longer than I expected. At the end of that road I figured I needed to go right, but after that for a while I didn't quite know where I was. Sure would be nice if more streets had signs. Eventually, there was a sign saying I was on Bookman Rd, which I knew would meet Kelly Mill, so I kept rolling. I passed Robin Hood and Gibbs, both of which sounded familiar, but decided I was better off on a road I knew would eventually get me home. After a while I made it to Kelly Mill and finally home. My bike computer, which started malfunctioning about a month ago, said I rode 15.7 miles, but Mapmyride shows the route at about 16.7 miles.

As I was riding I found that the drivers are similar here to what I was used to in NC. Most are polite but there are a few boneheads who insist on passing when there's no room. After the first one forced a car coming from the other the direction into the grass (this was on a straight stretch with complete visibility and very little additional oncoming traffic) I made a mental note to take more of the lane to try to reduce such dangerous driving. However, not long after that, another type-A driver decided to pass me on the fairly sharp right turn on Roundtop. Once again, an oncoming car had to hit the grass to avoid a collision. It's beyond me why people can't slow down for a few seconds in the name of safety.

Anyway, it was great to finally get on the bike. Should be able to do a Friday ride soon.

GamecockTaco

glad to hear you made it safely, albeit with a little extra mileage (my wife has yet to believe my "but honey, I got lost" stories when I run late).

And, yes, if you had gone straight on Mickel instead of the L onto Paschal it would have taken you to Kelly Mill. Also, Robin Hood does cut through to Kelly Mill, but beware the groans you'll have to make as you read the rest of the street names in Robin Hood Acres. I don't recall where Gibbes goes through.

And, yes, there are a few idiots out there who don't understand that it's not their road. Luckily there aren't too terribly many of them. Step outside tonight along LC Drive (whatever it's called) and wave as the pack passes by. We should roll through there by 7.

piper_chuck

Joined the Friday ride last night. Good ride, met a bunch of people and learned some new roads.

GamecockTaco

I apologize then. I was there also, riding a bike with my name on it and wearing a yellow/gray Tour de Cure jersey. I spent most of the ride at the front, but fell back for a while in the middle to chat with Bruce who was riding at the back of the pack.

Sorry I missed you.

Scott

piper_chuck

Darn. Next time I'll have to try to meet more of the people. I haven't been able to attend a Friday ride since. Combination of work and family stuff has kept me busy.

The good news is I've finally had time to start arranging things in the garage. Today I found not only my track pump, but also my tools and the cassette that's more appropriate for the flatter terrain around here. Won't be able to make the upcoming Friday ride, but hope to make the one in two weeks.

Porter20

Piper_chuck congrats on your move. I miss South Carolina a lot. If you get the hall pass sometime, be sure to check out Greenville (about 1.5 hour away) & go ride some hills. Or if you are real aggressive, sign up for the Assault on Mt Mitchell.

Oh - and as nice as Scott is; don't let him talk you into being a gamecock fan

wolfpack 

Paris Mtn. go climb that one a few times.