Bold Canadian Whizkid Bicyclists

.
April 27, 2015

I went for a very short ride today that included US-178 between Pickens, SC and SC-11.  This is the stretch that has lots of sweepers in it.  When I got to the Holly Springs Baptist Church at SC-288, I spotted some of the Canadian bicyclists who practice on the hills of our state while it is still too cold and snowy to practice in Canada.  It was in the 70s here today, but was only 48 degrees in London Ontario where they may be from, for example.   They were unmistakable, wearing their maple leaf-emblazoned outfits.  

I saw some other Canadian bicyclists a few weeks ago on US-276 while on my way to the Blue Ridge Parkway.   

This group had parked in the church lot and they were preparing their bikes for the ride.  So far, so good. 

I also spotted three of them walking across 178 to a grassy place. 

OK.  I admit that I have had to use the facilities and camouflage of nature on occasion when nature calls me when out riding. 

But what I didn't expect to see today was that one of them stopped with his behind even with the edge of the road, and began to take a whiz.  Right there, with cars going by and me turning back toward Pickens.

The other two guys at least went 30 feet off the pavement to a line of bushes.  They didn't go behind the bushes, mind you, but at least they were a little further away from the road to handle their business.

I didn't know Canadian cyclists were so bold.  Maybe the boldest of the three doesn't have much to show for himself.

C'mon, Canada guys.  Have a little respect for us.  Enjoy our roads, but do your thing a little more discreetly.  Besides, public urination will get you a citation in South Carolina. 

.
.

.

What I've Been Up To Besides Riding

.
Since I retired from the job, I have had the opportunity to expand my other activities quite a bit.  I won't say it has been easy to make the transition from working to retired, but I am working on perfecting the endeavor.

I find myself in three general modes that I have identified so far:

1. Times when I can't think of anything to do, or want to get started on.
2. Times when I feel that there is so much I can do and I want to do it all at once.
3. Times when I still feel the pressure to get chores and tasks done -- like I did when I was working.  

Odd, all of them, but especially the last of the three. I gotta ditch that feeling.  I have time now to do justice to almost any task.  Pretty soon, I'll get into the swing of this thing. Maybe I need to pace myself better. 

I will say that I have had to keep a more comprehensive calendar of events than I used to. 

Before, I worked, and I came home.  Occasionally, I would have an evening or weekend activity that had to be remembered and required an entry on the docket.  Now, every day is different, so I have to study those little squares carefully to make sure I don't miss something. 

For one thing, the piano playing continues apace.  There seems to be a dearth of piano pounders who still play music from the first three quarters of the 20th century, and who play the old hymns.  ...and the old ladies at the places I play like to give hugs and sometimes kisses, too.  (I have to watch for their lipstick smudges, lest my wife become jealous.) 

I have also come to be of some help to my loving wife, like starting supper before she gets home from her work.  She has given me her secrets for making simple, but tasty, oven meals, and I have used them extensively.  Salmon and chicken breast are two of the best.  (No, I don't wear a frilly apron when I cook.  I do have certain standards.) 

I will admit that I had developed the beginning of a pot belly in the last couple of years, that affliction so common in middle-aged men.

I have always been skinny, and a belly isn't becoming to most guys, especially not to me.

So I cut down on the calories and have started being more active than I had been.  Certainly chores like trimming bushes and trees, and hauling off the detritus, cleaning gutters and sprucing up the house take more calories that sitting behind a desk a good part of the day. 

One other way I have bumped up the activity is by doing more hiking.  Not just the three miles or so around the neighborhood I had been walking every other day, but honest-to-goodness hiking.  One place to do this where the terrain is easy is the nearby Swamp Rabbit Trail.  Several maps of the trail are here. 

It mostly follows the former right of way of the Carolina, Knoxville and Western Railroad, nicknamed Swamp Rabbit years ago because it follows a swampy part of the Reedy River where there live swamp rabbits indigenous to the area. 

"Swamp Rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus)" by glenn_e_wilson - Swamp Rabbit. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swamp_Rabbit_(Sylvilagus_aquaticus).jpg#mediaviewer/File:Swamp_Rabbit_(Sylvilagus_aquaticus).jpg

The grading that would have to be done was minimized by following the river, thus making the right of way preparation less costly. 

Obligatory history/geography lesson:

The railroad was intended to link Augusta Georgia, through Greenville South Carolina, with the rich coal fields of Knoxville Tennessee.  Alas, there were financial troubles and lawsuits, so only 23 miles of the planned route were completed.  The northern end was at River Falls in northern Greenville County, on the Saluda River; in the same neck of the woods I reported riding in back in May of 2009.  Most of the railroad route is detailed on the Abandoned Rails website. 

A Western-themed park called Echo Valley operated for a brief period in the late 1960, near Cleveland South Carolina, and it had a railroad that used some of the old Swamp Rabbit right of way.  One website called Random Connections, written by local fellow Tom, describes the park and remnants of it (Posting 1, Posting 2, Posting 3).  The park's location was about here on the map, near where US-276 and SC-11 come together north of Slater-Marietta.   

Today, the 18.7-mile Rails-to-Trails Swamp Rabbit Trail has the same gentle grades suitable for railroad operation -- and that makes it an easy traverse on foot or bike.

So far, I have walked about 12 miles of the trail between south Greenville and Travelers Rest.  I have done this in several out-and-back chunks.  I hope to up the mileage of each hike soon. 

I also accompanied a couple of guides from the Spartanburg County Parks Department on the northernmost five miles of the Enoree Passage of the Palmetto Trail, from Sedalia Campground to Macedonia Lake. 

And there are plenty of other parks and waterfalls in the mountains to keep my hiking boots dirty for years. 

I may get out my old road bike and spruce it up, too. 

I have not ridden for a few years, but I might like to ride the length of the Swamp Rabbit some day.  Problem is, I need someone to take me to one end and pick me up at the other.  My sweet wife may volunteer if I ask her nicely. 


What do you think?  Any tips and pointers on how to make a go of retirement? 

.

.

Bikes Galore

.
Yesterday, I went out for a ride as usual.  I picked a route that is similar to one I rode last year with a buddy.  Up US-178 and NC-215, onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, to the visitor center just north of Asheville North Carolina, then wandered back on too-busy roads through Fletcher, and back down US-276 through Caesars Head and back to Easley.

Like this:

View Larger Map

It was a great day to ride.  A little cool -- 41 degrees -- to start, but warming up nicely to around 77 later in the day, with low humidity.  Of course, the temperatures are lower at the higher elevation of the Parkway, so it was just about perfect weather to ride in God's country. 

There were some spots where gravel had washed across the road, and another place where matted leaves had washed across the road and created what looked like little brown mounds stuck to the road.

I managed to negotiate all these with minimal problems.  Once, on NC-215, two touring bikes coming the other way were on my side of the road as I came up on them.  They had crossed the center line to avoid some gravel, but the way they did it was not good: They should have steered a straight path through the gravel, staying in their own lane, as it was a straight section of road. 

There was something else in evidence on my ride, too.  Bikers.  Lots of them.  Dozens, no hundreds.  Maybe thousands coming south on 178 at I was headed north.  You will recall that in my last post, Wiggly Roads Nearby, I referenced the number of maniacal and not so maniacal bikers of all kinds who enjoy this section of US-178. 

They are certainly out in spades today!  More than I have ever seen through here. 

The bikers today were clad somewhat differently than the way I dress for a ride. 

Take a look: 

Yep.  Bicycles.

This is on an uphill section for them.  Their spandex-clad bodies looking fit, but struggling to get up the grade.  Earlier, I had encountered the leaders of the pack going downhill, south of here.

Courageous, they.  As they coasted and sometimes pedaled to go even faster downhill, they were rounding the curves faster than I can ride comfortably on the Ninja.  And they were in packs.  If any of them had faltered, many of them would have crashed.  What a mess of injuries would result!  That spandex doesn't have any cushion and wouldn't last more than a foot or two sliding along the tarmac. 

Makes me feel much more comfortable in my ATGATT. 

Those tiny bicycle tires were certainly doing their best to keep some 200 pounds of bike and rider on the right track.  I didn't get any pictures of their downhill plunge.  I'm not sure my shutter speed is fast enough to capture their passage at speed. 

Whatever the occasion, there were certainly a bunch of cyclists participating.  As a result, traffic had to go slow while passing them, for their safety and ours.

Later in the day, I encountered another group on US-276 as I passed Caesars Head.  Might have been the same group or another one, but it was an organized ride, too.  I didn't see nearly as many of them on this road.

They must have some significant stamina to take on the hills in this neck of the woods.

I might add, that I a saw a surprising number of people with gray hair sticking wildly out of their helmets.  Wow.  I get tired riding the motorcycle up and down these hills at my advanced age!

Anyway, they sure did have a nice day for their ride.

Edit: I later determined that I had encountered the Assault on the Carolinas rides, an annual fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Pisgah Forest.  The AOTC includes three route options--100k, 60k, and 40k. The 100k route goes through North Carolina and South Carolina mountains and valleys and up a challenging 6 mile climb to Ceasar's Head State Park. The 40k and 60k routes go through the river valleys of Scenic Transylvania County.  The ride starts and finishes in downtown Brevard North Carolina.  The longest ride is 65.6 miles, with an elevation gain of 5,567ft. 

My motorcycle ride was also very pleasant.  I didn't stop very often, just enjoyed the roads.  A total of 174 miles, racked up pretty quickly.  It seemed like only a hundred or so when I got home.  I must have been enjoying it! 

On the way home, I snapped this shot at Edens Garden, the little rest stop I wrote about at the corner of SC-8 and SC-135. 

 

Pretty, don't you think?  And patriotic. 

You bicyclists, a tip of my helmet to you, tackling the challenge of these hilly roads. 
.


.

Bears!

.
Back in June, I wrote an article about some Odd Sights I've Seen. Remember this picturesque setting?


The "driver" of this fine example of the automakers' art is this beady-eyed creature.


Well, there is more.

The same homeowner is apparently plagued by bears and other varmints in the area. Look here.

I think that is a wild hog peering out from the wheel well.

And here.

In the driver's seat sits a bear, intent to extricate his vehicle from this rock pile.

And up there on the hill above the car and truck:

There may even be a wolf up there with the bears. Strangely, all of these creatures are apparently scared motionless while I am taking their pictures.

Lets give this some perspective. The old pickup truck is right down the road from the sectioned yellow Volkswagen.


The truck was there the last time I came through, but I was so busy gawking at the yellow bug that I didn't take a good picture of it. I have mended my ways for you now. Google Street View shows the bug but doesn't show the truck, so it is a later addition to the landscape. Unfortunately, Street View doesn't give a date that the pictures were taken.


But I have gotten ahead of myself. The bears are so interesting; I forgot to tell you how I came to see them today, this 24th day of June.

My ride today is a short one. I have started out early -- about 7:00 AM -- because I have chores to do at home later, and it is going to be about 100 degrees F today back there. It will be cooler in the mountains though.

I gear up and start. I ride up to the Holly Springs Country Store and stop a minute to see if anyone else is there. It is located at Pushpin "B" on the map below.



View Larger Map

No other riders are there, so I go further north on US-178 to Rocky Bottom, at Pushpin "C". I turn right on F. Van Clayton Highway, and pass the Rocky Bottom Retreat and Conference Center of the Blind. This is also where you turn to get to the highest point in South Carolina, Sassafras Mountain.

The road is quite rough. They are clearing brush from the sides, so there is also some debris on the road from that. I am not going to the top of the mountain today, so I don't turn right at Pushpin "D", which is the road that goes up there. It, too, is a bit rough, but has surprisingly few switchbacks and steep grades. There are no long views from the top that I have been able to find, so I don't go there often.

I continue along on Glady Fork Road -- my first time here. The pavement is fair. If it were better, this would be a nice motorcycle road, with few driveways and some nice curves. There is a little series of waterfalls along the road that are kind of pretty.

I reach East Fork Road and take a hard right. It is on this road that I encountered the bears, located just before Big Hill, at Pushpin "F" on the map.

After I ogle the fake wildlife, I go up Big Hill, this time a little faster than before, as I know the road better, and I am not looking for places to stop for pictures.

I turn right on US-276. It is quite straight through here, a contrast to further south nearer Caesars Head State Park. I spot a sign for DuPont State Forest and take a left on Cascade Lake Road to see what is there.

The road in is well-paved and easy, with little traffic. This is also the first time I have been here. I turn right on Station Road, then follow Sky Valley Road, and continue to Old CCC Road before I turn around at Pushpin "I" on the map. The paper map I have with me doesn't detail this area very well, so I am not sure where the roads go, and anyway I need to keep my ride short today.

It looks like the park is a great place to hike, sightsee, mountain bike, fish, hunt, kayak, swim, and ride horses. It is not far from the bears I showed you earlier, but there are probably real ones here. A map of the trails shows more than ninety miles of them.

Here is a picture of a small rapids that is visible from the bridge over the Little River at the Hooker Falls parking area.


And here is one thing you can do at Hooker Falls besides look at its beauty. It is about an eleven-foot drop for these fellows.


Notes to self:

• Go back and see more of this park.
• Cascade Lake Road looks twisty near the lake. Visit there some time.
• Explore the gravel part of Sky Valley Road (which starts where I turned around at Pushpin "I").
  

Aside: You know how I seem to be attracted to gravel roads -- maybe I need to get a little dual-sport bike. How about a Suzuki DRZ400SM? Only 300 pounds -- like a motorized mountain bike.

This New York City couple on the ADVrider Forum has certainly used their pair of them a lot. They have ridden mostly off pavement, about a week or two at a time, all the way from New York to Alaska (so far), storing their bikes along the way and flying back to New York between legs.


I leave DuPont Forest and head south again. Next up is Caesars Head State Park. This is a good stopping point in preparation for the ride down the twisty road to the south. As I am taking off my helmet, a guy on a bicycle comes into the parking lot. I ask him where he has come from. Traveler's Rest, he says, about twenty-two miles from here, and an elevation difference of about 2166 feet, not counting the downhill sections that he had to regain on his way up. He says he is taking it easy today on his ride because it is so hot. I wish I were in that kind of physical shape. He bids me adieu and says that he is going to "turn on the air conditioner" now -- in other words, he can coast down the hill he just labored up, and cool off on his way.

I walk over, take a quick look off the edge of the escarpment toward Table Rock, then gear up again to go down the hill. As you can see in the stretch between Pushpins "J" and "K", some of the turns are quite tight, so I use a bit of rear brake to also apply throttle without gaining too much speed. Part way down I catch up to two guys on cruisers, and I follow them back to Pumpkintown (just north of Pushpin "M") where they stop at the restaurant there.


My ride was only 115 miles today, but I have seen some new territory -- and some bears! I wouldn't have missed that for the world.


Other nearby attractions:
Green River Road and Saluda, NC
Jones Gap State Park
Saluda North Carolina and the Saluda Grade
Caesars Head (at Pushpin "J")
Table Rock (west of Pushpin "L")
Sassafras Mountain (south of Pushpin "D")
.

.

Poinsett Bridge over Little Gap Creek

.
There is a historic bridge not far from home, built way back in 1820. It is located in Greenville County here in South Carolina, and is the oldest surviving bridge in the state, possibly in the southeast. It was constructed of stone and was one of the first completed elements of the State Road, which would ultimately connect Charleston to Columbia in South Carolina to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.

I have ridden there three times so far. These photographs are from my first and second trips there, the first on a warm day in June of 2008, the second on a cool ride the day before Christmas, 2008.



The Poinsett Bridge is the only bridge left of the three originally constructed as part of the Saluda Mountain Road. It still stands in remarkably good shape. The Poinsett Bridge has a Gothic or pointed arch that is 15 feet high and 7 feet wide. The total length of the bridge is 130 feet. Stepped parapet walls were constructed on both sides of the bridge. The height of the bridge, from the water to the top of the parapets, is 24 feet.

Not much remains of the old Saluda Mountain Road except that portion adjacent to the bridge. The old roadbed has been masked by the construction of County Road 42, also known as Callahan Mountain Road.

Another original feature of the bridge was a railing or guardrail on either end of the stepped stone parapets. This would have served to protect travelers along those areas of the bridge, especially around the abutments, not protected by the highest section of the parapets. This railing was presumably made of wood.

Except for the arch, the stones used in the bridge are only roughly hewn. To ensure a good fit, mortar was used throughout. In fact, the only smooth-faced stones found in the whole bridge, are those that define the outer edges of the arch, technically called the “surround.” The arch, which rests on bedrock in the streambed, is formed by rectangular-shaped blocks or voussoirs that are slightly wedge-shaped and cut to fit into the arch. The stones facing outward are slightly raised to create relief. The alternating pattern, the relief, plus the pointed apex of the Gothic arch, give the bridge a medieval look. Overall, the bridge walls contain roughly coursed stone. Given the difficulty of transporting stone in the era of animal transportation, it is likely that the stone used in the bridge was quarried nearby.

The bridge’s date of construction is known because it is recorded in the key stone of the Gothic arch, which forms the passage for Little Gap Creek, called Callahan Branch today, a small tributary of the North Fork of the Saluda River.

The bridge is located immediately north of County Road 42, often known locally as Dividing Water Road. See the map of my entire ride today with Poinsett Bridge shown at pushpin "E." It is just down the road to the northwest of Boy Scout Camp Old Indian.

This close-up map shows the bridge at pushpin "A."


View Larger Map

The roads near here are frequently used by bicyclists. They have painted certain instructions on the road surface where the grade is especially steep ("Grunt," if steep uphill), or where there is a tight curve or other hidden hazard ahead.

The bridge is named after Joel R. Poinsett, then director of the South Carolina Board of Public Works. A physician, botanist, and politician, he was also the 15th United States Secretary of War under president Martin Van Buren. This is Poinsett's picture:

[From Wikipedia.]

He is also credited with bringing the "Flor de Noche Buena" (Christmas Eve flower) from an area of southern Mexico called Taxco del Alarcon. The perennial, known as the poinsettia, is a favorite Christmas-time plant.

A number of years ago, the Nathaniel Greene Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a stone marker on the south side of the bridge. Somebody left his motorcycle helmet and tank bag near the marker -- must be forgetful.

It reads, “This bridge on the state road from Greenville to Asheville was built in 1820 by Abram Blanding, Acting Commissioner, Board of Public Works, Joel R. Poinsett, President.”

The earliest listings of toll rates charged 75 cents for a carriage pulled by 4 animals (horses, oxen, or mules). A conveyance pulled by 2 animals commanded 62 cents. One pulled by 1 animal, 25 cents. Other vehicles, presumably wagons, also had to pay based on the number of draft animals: for 6 or more, it was 75 cents; for 5, it was 62 cents; for 4 animals, 50 cents; and for 3 or less, it was 37 cents. A cart was charged 25 cents. A rider on horseback, 12.5 cents. A led animal cost 5 cents. A herd of animals driven to market were charged per head, depending on the type of animal: oxen, 5 cents; cattle, 3 cents; goats, sheep, hogs, or turkeys, 2 cents. All South Carolina citizens living within 10 miles of the toll gate did not have to pay.

As unlikely as it seems now, the Saluda Mountain Road (the old State Road) and the Poinsett Bridge, remained in use until at least 1955 when construction was begun on the North Saluda reservoir to the northwest. In the year or so that followed, the road was realigned so that the Poinsett Bridge and the sharp turns associated with it were cut off by a new road bed, located immediately south of the old bridge. You can see the old and new alignments on page 53 of this report.

In this view looking across the bridge, you can see a silver Kawasaki Ninja 650R parked on the road. I wonder whose it is.



And that Ninja is still there.

A close up of the bike. The road is downgrade to the right.



Pictures from another trip, on December 24, 2008:







If you go:
There is a parking lot across the road from the bridge. It is gravel and uneven.
There is a very a narrow paved pulloff on the north (bridge) side of the road, but it is downhill toward the northwest, so your bike might come off its kickstand if parked headed downhill. My bike in the photos is parked headed uphill on this pulloff.

Watch for bicycle riders. They sometimes travel in groups, not necessarily in one line, and are slow on the upgrades but surprisingly fast on the downgrades.

The area nearby has an abundance of two lane roads with a wide variation in surfaces. Many of the curves are not well marked with advisory speeds.

Other nearby attractions:
Campbell's Covered Bridge
Old Esso Filling Station near Landrum, SC
Green River Road and Saluda, NC
Jones Gap State Park
Saluda North Carolina and the Saluda Grade
More of the Unusual

Reference:
Poinsett Bridge: A Historic Context and Archaeological Survey
(much of the historical information in this posting is taken from this paper)Prepared for: South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
Prepared by: New South Associates, 6150 East Ponce de Leon Avenue, Stone Mountain, Georgia 30083, Mary Beth Reed – Principal Investigator
July 7, 2004

Wikipedia entry for Joel Roberts Poinsett.

Joel Roberts Poinsett historical marker.
.

The intermediate steps on two wheels

That first step toward riding a motorcycle was actually preceded and followed by much bicycle riding. I did not have a 26 inch two wheeled bike until I was about twelve years old, but I rode it many miles through the same neighborhoods I would later ride the mini bike. The mini bike put an end to that riding for several years thereafter.

Interestingly, the 26 inch bike was purchased from Sears Robuck & Company using silver dollars given to me by my dad. He had received them from his customers on his laundry and dry cleaning route. Before he gave them to me, he polished them up in the basement at the sink using a scrub brush and scouring powder. This made them clean and bright.

When I started college, I lived close enough to commute on a bicycle, so I went to a department store, with a schoolmate advising, and bought a ten-speed bike. I fitted it with a luggage rack, and it served me well through engineering school and beyond. Many a day could find me wheeling onto campus with my books strapped to the rack. Even in winter, despite my northern location, I often rode if the streets were reasonably clear.

There is another interesting anecdote that I must tell you. I was nearing graduation from college as my wife-to-be was just getting started on the same campus. She would make it a point to "happen by" the engineering building at just the right time to intercept me as I arrived. She knew that I always locked my bike to the railing in a particular stairwell, so she also knew where to position herself. If I were driving in, my parking place would vary depending on availability, which made it much more difficult to find me. So that bicycle played a bit part in our marriage of almost thirty-four years now.

That bike lasted until I was about twenty-eight years old, when I rounded a corner and a car pulled out catching the bike frame just behind my leg. The bike was fatally injured, but I escaped without harm.

I bought a new ten-speed bike and rode it many a mile until about ten years ago. We moved to a new place where the roads have no berms, and drivers don't watch for bikes, so I started running, walking, and did more in-line skating instead. Actually, I had started skating when I was about forty years old. I bought a set of skates and protective pads at a closeout store. Yes, an older guy skating is a sight to behold. I am the only adult in the neighborhood who skates on the street. The protective gear is a precursor to my using ATGATT today (All the gear, all the time) when I ride the motorcycle.