Day 10 - Hampton to Santee, SC - 71 miles, 1066 feet ascent
But still when two or three shall meet
And old tales be retold
From low to highest in the Fleet
We'll pledge the Blue and Gold
~ Navy Blue and Gold, third verse
Greetings from the Best Western in fabulous Santee, South Carolina. After 71.6 hard fought miles we arrived to find a cheering section and sweet relief from a ride spent enduring rain, wind, angry dogs, and uncharted gravel roads. What a ride and what a day!
Today started out with the most blessed of text messages saying that John Carman ’75 bought coffee at the nearby McDonalds and had enough for everyone to enjoy first thing this morning. A note about John, he reached out to the G2G Fellowship and traveled from Aiken, SC to join us for dinner last night. John, I hope you’re reading this, thanks a million. Coffee makes the wheels turn.
Otherwise, the day started with another trek down the street to the local greasy spoon for breakfast as our dated, but satisfactory digs lacked meal accommodation. We attended this errand without issue before sunrise and adjourned to our rooms to pack, prep, kit-up, and get ready to ride. Imagine our surprise when our thirty percent chance of rain became a one-hundred percent chance of rain. Eleven riders sitting around at a motel with their doors open looking unhappily at the rain conjures an image of the children in the Cat in the Hat hoping against hope the rain would go away. Thankfully for our protagonists, it did go away, though not entirely. We shoved off in rain jackets, and cold weather gear and got to the business of pedaling. The rain abated, but the wind never let up and the sun made only cameo appearances in the early afternoon.
Phil Troy, USNA ‘75, and his wife, Deborah joined us for lunch in Branchville making for another joyous reunion of classmates. Trivia question: how many Naval Academy graduates does it take to change a flat tire? We had our fourth and fifth flats today, both on the same bike. Aside from being a rough day in general, it was also a rough day for tires. Chuck Geyer gave us advance warning about road work ahead, but it was SO much worse than a text could have conveyed. Picture a road surface ground into gravel. Now imagine trying to ride across its three-mile length in tires 28 millimeters in width. There may have been some profanity.
We had a plethora of animals on today’s ride including some unhappy dogs doing their best to ward off cyclists. We had horses, mules, goats, and sheep and that doesn’t include the roadkill. Additionally, we identified a mystery crop as peanuts and found our first peach orchard.
Bob and Jenny Phillips, also from USNA ’75 were a sight for sore eyes coming into the Best Western parking lot to cheer on the conclusion of our ride. They drove up from Mount Pleasant, SC and joined us for dinner. Bob and Jenny, thank you for making the trip.
Some other words of observations:
If the back end of your unloaded truck is lower than the front end, you might be a redneck.
People are decking out houses for Halloween. Some of these houses are scary enough without decorations.
Mileage update:
553.19 total miles, 8,373 ft of climbing. Tomorrow we will reach our halfway point of 606 miles five miles prior to reaching Sumter, SC.
If it ain’t raining, we ain’t training. Life on the road is great. Bill the Goat, we’re coming for you! Go NAVY!