raybo

I am planning a bike tour from Charleston, SC up to New Jersey. I intend to follow the ACA (Adventure Cycling Association) Atlantic Coast route.

According to that route, I should take the Savannah Highway (17) out of Charleston toward the east, turn onto the Dalemar Highway (165) and then turn onto 61 at Cooke Crossroads.

Looking at a map of Charleston, it looks far more direct to simply take highway 61 (Ashley River road) all the way from Charleston to Cooke Crossroads.

Can anyone tell me if the part of Highway 61 that comes out of Charleston is OK to ride a bike on? Is it any better than the Savannah Highway? Using the Savannah Highway adds about 15 extra miles. Is it worth this extra mileage?

Thanks,

Ray

ahsposo 

What exactly is your start point? The Battery?

I live in Savannah and have visited Charleston only in a car but as I remember from old Charleston out Ashely River Road is fairly heavily trafficked until Magnolia Gardens. 17 from downtown to out past the Mark Clark Expressway is pretty typical urban traffic too. I don't remember Charleston roads making any concessions to bike traffic.

You may be one of those fearless guys I'll see crossing bridges or negotiating heavy urban traffic I wouldn't think about taking on.

Good Luck with your ride.

raybo

Thanks for your reply.

Now that I've looked closer at the map of Charleston, I've found other possible routes.

I discovered the West Ashley Greenway. Unfortunately, it goes along the route of Highway 17. While it provides safe riding, it does nothing for a more direct route.

Google maps seem to show that virtually all the roads out of and around Charleston are narrow, shoulder-less highways. So far, I've found two route at MapMyRide.com and wonder if these are any better. Both of them go toward Columbia but I would turn off toward Moncks Corner when I crossed the ACA route.

Any thoughts on these?

https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...ston/146104449

https://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...ston/734239309

As for where I am starting, it is somewhere in downtown Charleston. I haven't finalized my accommodations yet.

Thanks, again,

Ray

ahsposo 

One of the reasons the ACA may route you that way is to avoid some of the Port of Charleston container truck traffic and other heavy industrial traffic. Those two routes look like they will take you through some of the worst of that.

raybo

I wrote to the Charleston Bike Club and got a cue sheet for a ride from Charleston to Moncks Corner. It goes via Mt. Pleasant and looks like a nice ride.

Here is the route on Bikely.com: https://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...-of-Charleston

Is this a route you would recommend?

Thanks,

Ray

ahsposo 

Oh, yeah. That looks good. I haven't ridden but it goes through the Sumter N.F. and every other N.F. I've ridden was nice. Low traffic and scenic.

The more I look at that route the more I want to ride it. The stretch along the beach should be a great start to your ride. Also if I have it in my memory correctly the bridge over the Cooper River (I think that's the Cooper River) has a MUP attached to it and will be a nice hilly challenge to get your system started.



It's under construction in this shot.
Have fun and Good Luck!

Nota

Hey, Ray,

What date are you leaving from Charleston? Have you managed to finalize your route from there up through North Carolina? If so, care to share the details?

I'm still trying to plot out a decent course to go from the northern most part of the Outer Banks, NC, down through Charleston, SC.

I'm leaving May 23rd, and expect to be down in Savannah on or before the 29th. If by chance you're going to be on that stretch during the same time period, and I happen to cross paths with you, I'll certainly wave and say "Howdy". I'll be ridin a dark bronze colored Univega, with black colored trunkbag&pannier setup.

Good luck with your trip and be safe.

Happy trails,
Nota

raybo

While I haven't finally decided, I am pretty sure that I will ride this route out of Charleston: https://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...-of-Charleston . It isn't any shorter than the ACA one but spends more time in the Francis Marion National Park.

After that, I plan to ride the ACA route. You can see that route here: https://tsteven4.qwestoffice.net/maps...oastRoute.html (it takes a while to load and may even cause a pop-up error message, but should display eventually).

I'll look for you. I ride a blue Waterford with red Ortlieb bags.

Ray