No need for the alarm clock to wake me up this morning because Mother Nature was a busy bee loudly making sure we were nice and wet. Fortunately, the rain did stop as I was about to break down my wet tent and finishing packing my gear on Wardog.

This morning on the way to Charleston we had to take the full lane sometimes to avoid the large puddles and to prevent any early morning wise guys from trying to splash us while in the middle of a puddle crossing. It was not long until we happily found the West Ashley Greenway. We rode on this nice greenway for almost ten miles through some wetlands to the outskirts of Charleston.

The route designed by Adventure Cycling Association takes a rider around a large portion of the waterfront of Charleston and then crosses the two-mile Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge. Riding on this route during the golden hour was about as good as it could get.

I did find a crew member of the Carnival Cruise Line walking to the ship as he was heading for a multi-day trip to the Bahamas. He said they will have 3900 passengers and 1500 crew members aboard this lovely vessel. It is essentially a small city floating in the ocean.

Just before crossing the cable-stayed bridge, I said hello to a young lady running and she asked where I was going. She said I should follow her and throw in some burpees for the road. I laughed and said I am good and then she replied I should follow her anyway for what she thinks is the best view in Charleston. Cannot say no to that and the slight detour was taken.

She had already done a five minute plank exercise and was in the middle of her ten minute run when I met her. At the viewpoint is where about twenty of her highly motivated friends merged back together for some burpees and other strenuous exercises early this morning. They all wished us luck as we pedaled on after taking in the view.

It was now time to cross the bridge via the incredible bike and pedestrian lanes that are completely separated from traffic. The views while crossing were spectacular and were the reason why I saw so many runners on this beautiful morning. The views coming down the backside of the bridge were similar views I remember from flying helicopters. It was amazing to look across the pine and oak forests on the other side. I would say this is the most amazing bridge I have ridden across to date.

After Charleston, the route ran through Mt Pleasant meandering through quiet streets all the way to Sullivan’s Island. Today’s entire route was great as it stayed off highways for about ninety percent of the day.

The last portion of today’s route was through the Francis Marion National Forest. The smell of pines was a perfect early afternoon treat and this treat was topped off nicely by no other humans being around for miles and miles besides the rare vehicle passing by every so often. Today was a good day of cycling for sure.

Tonight we are camping at a primitive campsite at the base of an out of service fire lookout tower. We have been waiting for an impending thunderstorm to start as it has been flirting with us for a couple of hours now. We shall see.