You are certainly correct in your observations that YOU CANNOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, Press Your Luck, AND JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT TO (and you are legally allowed to ride such high traffic streets).
****Unwritten Rules of The Road in The Deep South USA****
1) YOU MUST OWN AN AUTOMOBILE FOR DAILY TRANSPORTATION (alternatively you can choose a Motorcycle but that is a good way to end up Crippled, Disabled, or DEAD)
2) THE ROADS ARE BUILT EXCLUSIVELY FOR AUTOMOBILES, so there is no place for Bicycles, Mopeds, Scooters on congested, heavy traffic streets, roads, and highways. FIND ANOTHER ROUTE WITH LITTLE OR NO TRAFFIC, IF YOU MUST RIDE YOUR DAMN BIKE AS YOUR ONLY MEANS OF DAILY TRANSPORTATION. What's the problem anyway? A 3rd DUI conviction and you've lost your driver's license...............Had to many speeding tickets and accidents that your car insurance now costs more than your paycheck from Wendys can afford..................Your Chevrolet pickup needs a new transmission and the engine is barely any better with a rear main seal that is leaking...
3) LEFT LANE is the fast lane, NEVER BLOCK TRAFFIC FLOW, because if you're doin' 85 or 90mph and cars are lined up behind you, Get The Hell Over Into The RIGHT LANE. It does not matter that 70mph is the posted maximum speed limit, or that your 1996 Chevy S-10 can't do more than 86mph.....IF YOU CAN'T RUN WITH THE BIG DOGS, STAY ON THE PORCH.....which in Interstate highway lingo translates to "Slower Traffic MOVE TO THE RIGHT LANE".
4) WATCH OUT FOR THE OTHER GUY because he/she will be (One of the Following) : Speeding, Distracted, Texting, Eating, Buzzed-Drunk-High, Sleepy, Have No Insurance, Have No Driver's License, or Will Quickly Race Away From The Scene IF A Minor Accident Occurs...
5) BICYCLISTS, JOGGERS, PEDESTRIANS, SKATEBOARDERS, & SCOOTER/Moped Riders MUST ALWAYS remember unwritten rule number 2 is a quasi defacto law which cannot be overcome..........SEE 2) above..........You will DIE carrying forward with your hell bent plans to RIDE ANYWHERE THAT YOU ARE LEGALLY PERMITTED TO DO SO, because a 3500 pound automobile will certainly seriously injure and disable you, if it doesn't kill you, the 175pound idiot human being riding the 28 pound bicycle on streets/roadways that are too damn risky, but you had to be that idiot that pushes your luck and says screw it, ...I am within my legal right to ride these roads....They have a duty to share the roads with cyclists...................YEP, YOU MAY WANNA LET YOUR FAMILY KNOW TO HAVE THAT CARVED INTO YOUR GRAVESTONE.
Seriously, I don't like that it is the way it is, and that drivers don't give a hoot and aren't courteous as they should be, but you cannot challenge the laws of physics.
BE SAFE, RIDE WHERE IT IS SAFE. Do Not Try To Commute By Bicycle If The Route or Routes ARE NOT Safe Enough To Allow You To Do So At The Time That Wish To Cycle Them. This cannot be overstated. Do Not Push Your Luck, because you might be pushin' up daisies or spending the rest of your life in a motorized wheelchair.
Get an old, cheap but dependable car for daily transportation. One such example might be a $3500 to $4000 , 2007-2008 or 2009-2011 HONDA FIT with around 150k to 175k miles, and with One, to Three owners....obviously FROM A WARM STATE and not from the Frozen Tundra land because FITS have a known issue of ROAD SALT(sludge-brine buildup) SEVERELY RUSTING OUT THE DRIVE AXLES in worst case scenarios, they are weakened so much by being eaten up from massive corrosion that they can and do often snap (break).
Honda Fits are tiny but incredibly roomy with their useable interior space. They are inexpensive but extremely durable with an extremely low cost of ownership. 2008 was the year model that the largest number of Honda Fits were sold in North America. 2007 was the first year that they came to North America, although the car had been in Japan and elsewhere from 2001. The first generation models are the 2001 to 2008...............so in the USA, the 2007-2008 are the 1st generation. There is no difference in the engine between the BASE model and the SPORT model. The INTERIOR is exactly the same between 2008 base and sport . Seats and door panels are exactly the same. Sport model has cruise control and an Aux Input on the stereo. 2008 BASE MODEL does not have cruise control. Sport model has a higher watt Stereo with six speakers, while the BASE has the same CD Stereo with only 4 speakers, so less wattage, and no Aux Input.
The engine for 2008 is the same exact 109hp 1.5 liter four cylinder in both the BASE and SPORT.
Wheelbase and interior room is exactly the same between the BASE and the SPORT.
BASE model had 14 inch steel wheels with wheelcovers and the SPORT had 15 inch alloy wheels.
SPORT model has unique front air dam spoiler and rear spoiler, and the BASE model does not.
The SPORT model came factory equipped with a retractable cargo cover (essentially a roller shade that hides objects from view) , The BASE model does not have this.
Both the BASE model and the SPORT model have rear windshield wiper but only the SPORT has a rear windshield squirter to spray windshield washer fluid at the rear windshield.
The engine is exactly the same, and the 5 speed manual transmission is exactly the same, however the SPORT model AUTOMATIC has paddle shifters and a leather wrapped steering wheel. The SPORT model also has front fog lamps within its front bumper airdam, and the BASE model does not have front fog lamps.
AIR CONDITIONING controls and the 3 binnacle gauge cluster are the same between the 2008 Base model and the 2008 Sport model.
Horsepower is exactly the same at 109 horsepower for all the 2008 Honda Fits as there is no difference between the Base and the Sport in the engine bay.
I think the APRIL 2008 Consumer Reports issue featured the Honda Fit. It was their highest rated and most recommended car of all cars in any category at that point in time.
It was 100% Japanese content.
The Honda Fit DOES NOT HAVE A TIMING BELT, it has a timing chain which is specified by Honda that should last the life of the car....well beyond 250k....beyond 300k miles.
Anything you might want to know on these cars can be found on the fitfreaks DOT NET .....just Google fitfreaks.
An ancient 2008 Honda Fit is the least expensive, decent old, supremely reliable ancient used car that you can buy.
It isn't much but it can carry so much, and it won't cost you much in either gasoline, or cost to buy one, and you sure as hell won't be having any down time with it in the shop.
It seems that nobody wants something that small today as the price of gas is relatively cheap today ( historically, adjusted for inflation) at the April 2024 price of $3.75 per US gallon for 87 octane regular unleaded.
****************************************You Just Gotta Face It that In Most All of the Cities in The United States of America, That YOU MUST OWN A CAR unless you're living in poverty or/and on goverment assistance/Section 8 housing and doing your best to scrimp and save up until you do better your situation and can afford a reliable enough, old used car.
Yes, you can carpool and share rides with friends and family but you are often extremely limited by where and when you can go anywhere. Bus schedules aren't exactly punctual and it make take 55 minutes or longer, just one way on the local bus for something that can be travelled by car in just 12 minutes.
Ditto for trying to commute via bicycle if you must take a roundabout "long way" on safe roads..........You gotta ask yourself is it worth it to spend an hour commuting each way by bicycle in brutally hot, rainy, or cold weather. It is just beyond stupid!! Now, certainly, if you are close enough to your office, perhaps once in a while when the weather is great, it might be acceptable if you're within six miles or less.
GREENVILLE SC is a thriving, "happening city" . Yes, it has been shedding its racist southern attitudes for half a century. It is only recently been shedding the awful Pass The Loot, sleazy television "send money" sinister ministers that buy tv airtime on over-the-air tv stations at times such as 5 AM to 7Am when such program slots are inexpensive.
Like the old infamous 1978 song , "Far Away Eyes", except substitute radio station for tv station and substitute Anderson/Greenville/Spartanburg and/]or Rock Hill/Charlotte for the the Los Angeles location in that song that Mick sings so well.
The Spinners are a great group. I don't mean the Rubberband Man , band, the Spinners , although that was a great group too.
https://www.facebook.com/GreenvilleSpinners/
You do have the Swamp Rabbit Trail there in Greenville and you have the Doodle Trail about 45min drive time away in PICKENS SC which is only about 25 miles west of Greenville SC, however because of stop and go traffic lights, getting there to Doodle Trail by automobile will take you 45 minutes, although it is only 25 miles away.
----Swamp Rabbit Trail---
https://www.greenvillesc.gov/316/Swamp-Rabbit-Trail
----Doodle Trail, PICKENS, SC ---
https://www.cityofpickens.com/doodle
YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO PERSONALLY CONTACT AND COMMUNICATE DIRECTLY WITH A COUPLE OF THE BOARD MEMBERS of bikewalkgreenville.org.
Anderson, and at least another member of the board, will be able to tell you everything that you would ever want to know about cycling in Greenville, SC.
That info is priceless, and those cats will be more than happy to answer anything about cycling in Greenville, SC.
Reach out to them.
https://bikewalkgreenville.org/board
There is an event next week in Mocksville, NC which is about 2 1/2 hours north up I-85 about 25miles south of Winston-Salem.
https://nccyclingfestival.com/
https://nccyclingfestival.com/rides
If you want to ride FLAT LAND rides, you can get in the car and go to Charleston SC for a weekend getaway......you are about 3 hours and five minutes if you just drive the 70 mph posted speed limit on I-26 to Charleston. over the bridge from Charleston by car then on to Mount Pleasant , Sullivans Island and Isle of Palms are nice areas to ride, although during June, July, August, you will see a lot more cars.
Greenville SC
https://greenvillejournal.com/commun...cycling-mecca/
https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/...ad-less-eaten/
**On another distinctly Musical note, I don't guess that you're an old fossil, rocknroller, baby boomer like me, but for the benefit of other old foe-geeze who might be seeing this GREENVILLE SC thread, ****** JOHN FOGERTY with George Thorogood opening the show on the first SUNDAY in JUNE 2024 in GREENVILLE (the Simpsonville SC ....an outdoor amphitheater there) It is the first show on Fogerty's 2024 tour where bad ol' George joins the tour. IT WILL BE A NON STOP, ENERGETIC, UPBEAT, HIGH ENERGY, ROCK N ROLL SHOW as long as the weather is nice and there are no thunderstorms, which could be a possible threat at that time of year in the south.
Your grandparents and your parents will understand if you don't recognize either of those names. I already have great seats for that, as a friend bought four of them at the box office in Simpsonville SC on thursday on the way to their mountain house in North Carolina.....avoided ticketmaster fees and got paper tickets, but if cancelled, you can only redeem for refund the tickets in person at the box office there in Simpsonville and the box office is only open when its open.