Denied

We had a soggy day on the bike today. The morning greeted us with rain and cooler-than-appreciated temperatures; however, considering we just left the New England tundra, 65 degree rain is not much to complain about. Still, four hours pedaling in the rain puts the cold into your legs that only a hot shower can cure. Before we could enjoy that shower we had business to conduct.

Our lack of Charleston knowledge makes the riding business a bit difficult. Looking at a map doesn't give any idea of traffic volume nor does it prepare you for the conditions of the streets. So, we instead just pick a general direction we would like to travel and attempt to connect various roads together in an effort to meet our hourly riding goals. We were far from successful today. Along with the cold rain, we were forced to deal with heavily traveled highways with little to no shoulders in which we could ride. Cars here drive fast. Roads are often rough. Streets are NEVER labeled. We found ourselves a couple times riding with 60+ mph traffic with no where to ride. Stressful is an understatement. Fortunately, we made it home safe. A little cold and covered in road grime, but safe.

Once again, we find ourselves occupying our recovery time with internet and some small errands. We were very unsuccessful on the errand front and were denied at every store we entered. First, the bike shop wouldn't fix RKelly's broken spoke tonight. So, he had to leave it at the shop. Then, the liquor store lady wouldn't sell us booze needed as rent for our host house. Apparently, every member of your party in the store needs an ID and RKelly was sans passport, the king of all ID forms. Finally, Hollywood video had no copies of Role Models for sale. We're now being faced with a night of Battleship instead of relaxing movies. I'm sure you're jealous.

Tomorrow's riding includes five hours of training in the morning followed by a group ride later in the day. It's advertised as a very fast ride, but after attending the last turtle trot I will only expect fast once I'm bleeding from my eyes trying to hold the wheel in front of me.

Modern Marvels is on now. Bye.