Lancaster County Ride

The saturday after thanksgiving was a gorgeous day. The day before, rain and more rain but with the weather going to be clear, a good ride was in order. Looking at Gravel Maps, we found a route in Lancaster County, SC and decided to give it a try.

Before starting the ride, a good breakfast is always a good idea. I decided to stop at the local Waffle House and would meet Kirk here later. A great breakfast it was. When Kirk arrived, the temperature was high 50's with sunny skies. We had about an hour ride to the start of the route so we zipped up and headed out.

The ride to the starting point was easy and uneventful. Luckily no holiday traffic to speak of (we do try to take back roads). We finally arrived and began the ride. This ride was to be 125 miles.

The start of the ride was fantastic. Tons of off road trails and it looked as if it was going to be a fantastic ride. We stopped multiple times to take some pictures.

After about the first hour, we began a stretch of road that was all asphalt. Pretty countryside but just tons of roads. Then we began to hit parts of the route where the off road is no longer accessible. At one road, it was gated and marked No Trespassing. We were able to bypass that one but found yet another where the road is no longer a road. We bypassed that one to find the end that is now part of some community where there is a l0t of fencing.

We kept following the route and came to a lot of roads that ended in nothing and had to turn around. After a couple of hours, we stopped for lunch and bio break at a gas station. We decided to give it a few more miles and within 5 minutes, off road trails again. We were in heaven.

Then we found this one trail and decided to follow it. What a trail. It turned into a steep rutted downhill. At the bottom, we hit a dead end (well,  very LARGE pile of dirt). We got of the bikes and followed a trail around the dirt to find an extremely steep creek bed and decided to bypass it.

We got back on the bikes and needed to head back up the rutted steep trail. Kirk went first. It was wet clay, slippery, and lost traction at one point and then laid down his bike (and I might say he put his bike in a great location as to not block the trail).

Then it was my turn. I think I was bit too slow and ended up getting stuck in a rut. A bit clutch work and some pushign and I was back up the trail. I stopped, and went back to help Kirk. We got his bike back verical and he buzzed straight up the hill. Great excitement and a good workout for both us and our bikes.

We got back on the road and hit yet another dead end and turn around and opted to stop the route and head back home. Even though we did not complete the route, we ended up on our bikes for almost 6 hours of ride time, over 240 miles, and smiles all around. A great day and great ride.