Spontaneity vs Planning Ahead

I’m a fan of spontaneity. For better or worse, much of this journey has been built on that concept. Sometimes it means you get to do completely unexpected things, sometimes it means you don’t get to do certain things at all, and sometimes it just makes things a little more challenging than they needed to be. Today was one of those days where a little bit of planning ahead may have been helpful. Actually, yesterday was really one of those days. Today merely represented the consequences of yesterday’s decisions.

Yesterday’s decision to stop in Myrtle Beach wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I really didn’t look at a map to see what the next few days had in store for me. Sure, I knew Charleston was getting close. As is Savannah. But until I looked closely at the map late last night, I didn’t really have a grasp of the daily distances at which I would be facing. Once I did, I knew I had a bit of a dilemma. Not a huge dilemma, but a first world dilemma.

The ride to Charleston, SC from Myrtle Beach is about 175 km. More than I wish to do in a day. Georgetown, SC is about a 55 km ride. Less than I wish to do in a day. Had I done a little more investigating last night, I would’ve noticed a camping option about 100 km away. The ideal daily distance. But I didn’t notice that. The result? Well, I had a very leisurely morning resigned to the fact that I would be having a very modest 55 km day.

While a 55 km day isn’t ideal, perhaps today’s short distance was a good thing. I’ve been making pretty steady progress lately and, while I haven’t slipped back into race mode, I haven’t exactly been stopping to smell the roses. Spoiler Alert: There were no roses on this day. But there was a bike path that got me off the highway and forced me to slow my pace a bit. The path literally MADE me slow my pace as there were a lot of bumps that my fully loaded bike would not enjoy at highway speeds.

What was interesting is that, as my pace slowed, my mind started to relax a little bit. I wasn’t focusing on maintaining a certain speed. I didn’t have to constantly be on the lookout for careless drivers. I wasn’t pushing hard to fight the wind. I just relaxed and enjoyed the ride, knowing that getting to my destination before dark wasn’t going to be a problem today. I’m not saying I want to stop at 55 km every day but, for today, it worked out pretty well.

As I mentioned, there weren’t any roses along the way but there were several very nice ponds and rivers, and one very large bird. I think it was a blue heron. I had stopped on a bridge to take a photo of a sign only to be startled by the squawk of what sounded like a very large bird. A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed the existence of such a bird. Despite its apparently displeasure with my presence, it waited around long enough for me to immortalize it on film – or an SD card as the case may be.

As for coming up with a plan for the next few days … well, I don’t really see that happening. I mean, a lot can happen in any given day. I’ll just keep taking things one day at a time. Although, I’m hoping to get a response from a Warm Showers host for tomorrow night.

Oh, and hello again to Ted who I met yesterday and has since left a message in the Guestbook. In yesterday’s update I mistakenly referred to him as Tom. Sorry Ted. I blame excessive hours in both the sun and a headwind. I’ve since corrected yesterday’s posting. I hope the rest of your ride yesterday was good.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 61.65 km
Time on bike: 2:43:53
Maximum speed: 40.40 km/h
Average speed: 22.58 km/h

While today’s ride was short, it was still enough to push me over the 7,400 km threshold.