Seg #35 Sawmill Canal Trail 12/12/2013 Summerville, SC

Start	Sawmill N,Summerville	N33.03421,W80.16089	N-S miles 5.2
End	Sawmill S,Summerville	N32.95241,W80.16302	Trl lgth 7.1mi Ride 14.2

* Average and maximum speed, calories burned and temperature not available due not bringing my bike computer

 After pedaling needed latitudes on the Palmetto Swamp Fox Trail (PSFT), I drove to Summerville and rode the out and back of the Sawmill Trail. This trail is like an interstate highway compared to the Swamp Fox. I flew right along on average at over fifteen miles per hour; allowing me to finish the ride in the daylight and getting me on the road to Augusta in timely fashion.  I only saw one person on the PSFT but the Sawmill Trail had several walkers, several with dogs, runners and a few bike riders. All these folks despite temperatures hovering around fifty degrees---freezing to most South Carolinians. Perfect riding weather for an Iowan.

I have never seen this way of cutting grass and weeds
along a canal before but I would love to give the Canal
Authority an Oscar for Best Originality.  Who would of
"thunk" of such a novel machine---instead of falling
into the canal, just drive down the middle with the
mower suspended from hydraulic arm---cool!

The Sawmill Trail is a stroll in the park
with a hard asphalt surface, excellent
signage, therefore the comparison to
an Interstate Highway.

Neils addresses the participants of  GM Periodontal Symposium
while presenters load their lectures on the computer. As always the
presentation by Ft. Gordon and GRU periodontal residents were
excellent. What a great learning opportunity.Each year it's better!

The whole reason for this trip was to attend the Glenn Maze Periodontal Symposium at the College of Dentistry, Georgia Regents University . Was I ever impressed with the presentations by the second and third year residents. When we first started talking about a resident based symposium in 2006, there were too many scheduling obstacles to pull it off but with some give and take, we were able to get the program started in 2007. Kobi and Fred fine tuned the symposium 2010 and the rest is history. For a periodontist or general practitioner interested in periodontics, this symposium is immensely valuable for learning therapy backed with research documentation. What a great program.

Because our sons and their families were scheduled to arrive at our house the next day, I unfortunately needed to leave the symposium before the last presentations. I needed to get to Columbia to check in the rental car and bunk down for a few hours of sleep before a 6 a.m. flight. Everything for the trip went like clock work, from buying and selling a bike, riding the South Carolina latitudes, rekindling friendships and playing golf with Augusta golf buddies Randy, Dick and Steve. Unfortunately the last leg of the return flight fell apart. United Airlines canceled my scheduled flight and all remaining flights were full. I waited on stand-by for a couple flights but quickly realized there were too many people ahead of me and few, if any, seats available to ever make it on a plane by going standby. What bothered me was United said the original flight was canceled due to weather yet flights from Cedar Rapids were coming and going on schedule. Since snow storms were moving west to east, it appeared that either all flights from the west would be canceled  or there was something funny going on. I think United ploy is to cancel the first flight from Cedar Rapids if it isn't full and make passengers reschedule or standby. I know of at least occasions where I was on the first flight of the day only to have it canceled. I think United cancels the first flight to fill every seat out of Cedar Rapids. Being a small airport, the first flight to Chicago is not full even though the turn-around flight back to Cedar Rapids is packed. They probably figure there are enough other options to get to Cedar Rapids, that they can squeeze off scheduled passengers. Badgering around O'Hare, I started to thinking of renting a car. I should have phoned agencies rather than taking shuttle buses. What a scam. When I went to the to rental car dealers, they were more than willing to charge you double the rate you could get on line or by phone.  Finally I rented a car on-line car from Enterprise for $120 versus $290 from the Hertz agency at the airport. Bad weather was forecast for the later in the afternoon so I wanted to get out of O'Hare and head west to Coralville asap. The whole process of getting out of Chicago was pretty stressful given I had to go through screening three times. Basically I did a poor job managing my way out of O'Hare. As an Amazing Race addict, I failed to use any of the tricks teams use on that show to get through airports. One of my re-screens was due to my forgetting a sack of Christmas presents at a standby boarding gate. So for the third time I back through screening. Each time the line was longer and slower in harmony with heightened adrenalin flow. The weird thing was, the sack I left in the boarding area was in the spot, untouched for an hour. I thought certainly either the sack would be stolen or picked up by security. But, there it was and no one hand cuffed me. Thank goodness the snow storm moved slower than expected and other than a few flurries, driving conditions to Iowa were not that bad. 

I was bushed when I got home, so I took a nap before driving back to the Cedar Rapids airport with Geoff to pick-up the California Maze's; Kayoko, Karri and Kiara. They were due in at midnight but their Denver flight was delayed until 2:30 a.m. On top of that my car's defroster decided to poop-out creating serious visibility issues. Despite window icing and the skating rink roads, we made it back from the airport a little after 3 a.m. There were some pretty tired folks at our house but once the body batteries were recharged, we had one our best Christmas's ever; lots of snow and all the activities it brings, plus playing cards and craft activities. What a nice couple of weeks we had!

The Long Beach Mazes (Kayoko, Kiaria,Karri,Geoff) got their
fill of snow and cold. They got back home before record cold
weather hit eastern Iowa. Leaving another day later would have left them
stranded. Frosty was happy for them as well :-).

Seg #34 Palmetto-Swamp Fox Trail 12/11-12 2013 Halfway Ck-Monks Corner SC

End	Moncks Corner, SC	N 33.221241,W 79.910474	N-S miles 13.3
Start	Halfway Ck Rd	N 33.03081,W 79.72174	Trl lgth 29.9mi Ride 26.6

* Average and maximum speed, calories burned and temperature not available due not bringing my bike computer

Being a Midwesterner, one would think I would not write a post describing a trail ride in the month of December, but since I was heading back to GRU/MCG Augusta for a Periodontal Symposium, of all things, named after me, I decided to bundle a couple bike rides with some rounds of golf with my buddies; Randy, Steve and Dick.  After extensive trail analysis, I had determined that the only place I could fill a latitude gap of 33.22124 degrees to 32.95999 degrees was to ride a couple of  trails in South Carolina;  therefore I flew to Columbia, rented a car and drove to the Palmetto Swamp Fox trail north of Charleston. Before leaving Iowa, I considered boxing-up my bike and taking it on the airplane. That was too expensive. Then I checked shipping outfits like UPS and Fedex and found the cost of shipping unreasonable. "OK, I will rent a mountain bike (MTB) from a bicycle shop in Charleston", I told myself. I called every bicycle shop in the Charleston area listed in the Yellow Pages. The only rental option available was a single speed beach bike for $50.  "Heck", I thought. "Why not buy a bike off Craig's List, ride two trails and then turn around and sell it". 

I hawked this 29" Mongoose for $125 and sold it to Raj for $80. The larger
wheels made for good rolling over rocks, logs, roots, holes, etcetera that
plagued me on the Swamp Fox Trail. Rear shocks would have helped with
the sore buns. Glad I rode the tough trail before this easy Sawmill Trail

Craig's List did not let me down.  I found a bike for sale in Mt. Pleasant, SC, a short twenty miles from the Swamp Fox Trail. After several emails and phone calls with James on Morningdale Drive, I arrived at his home late at night, paid him for the bike and then disassembled and loaded the it in the back seat of the Hyundai Sonata I rented. The Red Roof Inn was close to where I bought the bike so I was in bed by midnight. 

The next morning I was off at the crack of dawn for the Palmetto Swamp Fox Trail (PSFT). I had a new toy to use on this ride. I call it my STAFD---Smarter Than a Fifthgrader Device (Samsung Note 3). After plugging-in the coordinates for where I would start riding, I was able to locate trail heads, much easier than other rides traversing America. About 9 a.m. I was ready to hit the trail where the Swampfox crossed Halfway Creek Road. This trail did not appear to be as user friendly as most of the trails I have ridden. In fact, it darn right tough with tree limbs, trunks and ubiquitous roots along with bumpy ground and six to twelve inch holes. Pine needles and tree leaves softened the ride a tiny bit but in retrospect it would have helped to have a bike with dual shocks. The bike I rode on this trip had front shocks and  twenty-nine inch wheels which slightly softened the body rattling from an alligator back trail surface. I would only average about five miles per hour on this rugged path. There was more guesstimating of speeds and distances due my forgetting to bring a bike computer from my my bike at home. 

One of several tree trunks across on the trail.  Maybe an
expert could jump over this hump in the road  but this guy
carried his bike over such obstacles. This ain't no bike trail. 

A triathlon-like run, bike and kayak
event was planned for sometime after
I rode the Swamp Fox Trail. Hundreds
of orange circles were painted to spare
runners of injury. My foot goes down
a foot but many holes were deeper. 

The Swamp Fox Trail is one of the Low Country’s oldest rails. It offers a long, flat, out-and-back journey through the swampy wetlands and coastal pine forests of Francis Marion National Forest. When Revolutionary War General Francis Marion sought refuge from British troops in the state’s Lowcountry swamps, he earned the nickname “Swamp Fox.” His guerrilla tactics and legendary reputation eventually led Boy Scout leaders to name this trail after Marion when it was built in 1968. As far back as the late nineteenth century, logging companies had already moved into the area, eventually developing a 300-mile network of rail beds for their logging trains. The network was abandoned during the 1920's; a decade before the Forest Service purchased the land. Today, the former elevated railway right of way  makes for hiking and mountain biking paths in stretches that are swampy. Single plank boardwalks and footbridges help negotiate the trail in the wet areas. Fortunately I did not need to deal with open water, only muddy stretches that I could ride through most of the time. No equestrian or off-road vehicle use is permitted yet I am convinced many of the holes in trail were horse induced. Deer, wild turkey, songbirds, and waterfowl were seen on my ride but no alligators, thank goodness. 

A real treat was spotting all kinds of
mushrooms. This orange globe shaped
Amanita was exceedingly pretty but deadly..

Globe mushroom opened

Although I had planned to complete the needed latitudes of the PSFT in one day, I could not make decent time on such a rough trail. So the next day I was back at the Witherbee Ranger Station to ride four miles southeast  and back to the car. I was able to talk to a expert mountain biker at the Ranger Station, This guy said he was an expert rider and thought this trail should not be considered as a biking trail but a hiking trail only. I am glad I toughed it out to complete all needed latitudes. Then it was off to Summerville, SC to ride the Sawmill Trail..