Ravenel Bridge

Leah and I went to Charleston this weekend on a mommy/daddy getaway, thanks to some really kind friends of ours offering to watch the kids. Leah said she wanted to do some mountain biking with me so we took the bikes. Got my first ride at Marrington. Leah did great but her hard tail started taking its toll on her tail. She stopped at about mile 8 and asked if she could throw the bike down and scream. Her bottom was really hurting her and the roots seemed rather rough even to me on the full squish. As we are riding along the old rice ponds, I look over and see an alligator nest. I am no biologist, but I believe they pile up debris on top of the eggs and the heat of decomposition incubates the eggs. I have never seen one of these before so I stop and walk back to the nest to get a closer look. Leah reminds me that the mom is very protective of the nests and "have I lost my mind?" We ended up with 12 miles which is awesome for Leah since the last time she rode was probably two years ago. We rewarded ourselves with dinner at High Cotton on bay street last night.

At the hotel last night, I told Leah I wanted us to ride over the Ravenel Bridge Sunday am. She told me no thanks...I was on my own. We were in Mt. Pleasant and it would be a 6 mile ride to the bridge one way. I wanted to go over the bridge and do my own version of an urban assault in historic Charleston and then back to the hotel. Figured it would be about a 20 mile ride. Well, I got lost. I ended up on Sullivan's Island before I realized I was going to wrong way. And I couldn't see the bridge on the horizon. I asked some other cyclists for directions and after they set me on the right course, I pressed on toward the goal. Finally after backtracking some, I started seeing the main towers on the horizon. I could see the goal now, so I lowered my head and pedaled. Approaching the bridge on a bike, it strikes you that this thing is a behemoth. It is 2.5 miles long and the masts are 600 feet tall. The road is probably 250'ish feet at the crest. So the climb is 1.25 miles long and 250 foot elevation gain. The headwind was a factor. It was so strong that the decent required work...not to mention the ascent. After the decent I called Leah for a shuttle back to the hotel. I ran out of time to attempt the route in reverse. If you ever want to do any hill training, go ride this monster several times. It will get your attention.