Windy Saturday near Monck's Corner

Saturday, April 29

We were awakened by the continuing floor show from the adjacent campsites, whose occupants had arisen around 6:30 to get in a hike (so they could get their Hiking badge). Remember, these are not Boy Scouts; it's the Summerville Church of the Nazarene. The mood out there was just more of the "Get away from the fire!" and "Don't throw that in the fire!"; the mood in our tent was drowsy but amused.

We had decided that we would take a short day today, based on the fact that we expected to take a rest day in the Charleston suburb of Monck's Corner the following day, and it was just a quick 30-ish miles there from the campground at Givhan's Ferry. So we got up late, lounged around a bit, had breakfast, packed up, and eventually got going around 11. It was a chilly and breezy morning, so I was already in my windshirt; I even considered putting on my tights. Frankly, the last thing I expected was to be COLD in SOUTH CAROLINA, at the end of April.

Well, cold we were. Riding into a brutal, punishing headwind all day, no matter which direction we turned, it took us more than 3 hours and 12 minutes to ride those 33 miles, all of them a struggle. As we neared Monck's Corner, all I wanted was a hotel room and to be out of the wind; and as we labored down Old 52, I looked up to see a couple on a tandem go flying by in the opposite direction, obviously enjoying the aid of the tailwind. We waved, and Nancy rang her bell; moments later, they appeared at our side and began riding with us along the remainder of our route, even helping us find a quieter way around to our destination.

This couple was none other than Marty and Nita Hayes. They accompanied us to our hotel, and we chatted for a while outside the front office; then, when I went inside to get our room, they invited us to their home for dinner. They even offered to come pick us up! We were happy to accept their generous offer, seeing that we seemed to have much in common.

Dinner was astounding. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, green beans, fries, mashed potatoes, barbecued pork, barbecued chicken, and, to top it all off, a truly WONDERFUL apple crisp with vanilla bean ice cream. It turns out that Marty and we were all in the Navy at about the same time, and in fact he was in nuclear power school in the class that entered after mine. We certainly were in Orlando at the same time. AND, he was a Machinist's Mate, like me! While Marty and I bonded in front of the big screen over my first beer in a week, Nancy and Nita talked in the kitchen (and, although Nancy won't confirm it, I suspect Nita was using magic to create all the great food we shared for dinner).

After dinner, we talked about their recent race at Sebring, a 12-hour competition in which they placed THIRD on their tandem! They even got a mention in the Ultra-Marathon Cycling Association's magazine!

They were a truly delightful pair to share an evening with, and as they dropped us off at our hotel for the night, we agreed that we might see them in the morning, and might ride a little with them. We will definitely keep in touch.

Tomorrow looks like the weather will hold out, so we will probably go on to Andrews, a ride I have been saying was 50 miles but which is actually only 40 (because, although I can do integrals in my head apparently I can't add). We'll get an early start since it is Sunday and we want to avoid the late-to-church crowd. Til tomorrow!