Day 39: Greenville to Columbia
Five days, five centuries, 555 miles, just over 34,000' of climbing, and my right calf said enough.
It was 70 degrees when we set off around dawn this morning. The rains overnight had gone by, and the skies were clearing.
After getting out of town, we had some nice roads for a while.
However, mostly we were riding through moderately densely populated areas, so finding interesting shots of nature was a bit challenging.
As we got into the morning, we did hit some farmland.
However, most of the time there was not much to photograph. For while, we were riding next to some railroad tracks which produced this photo.
Most of the last two thirds of today's 117 mile ride was spent on busy 2 or 4 lane roads, populated with gas stations, fast food stores, and businesses, and which did not have usable shoulders. It was simply one of those rides where one counts down the miles to the destination.
We occasionally would have a brief detour off the main road onto something less trafficked. One of these detours produced this shot.
About halfway through the ride, my right calf starting hurting me off and on. By the 90 mile mark, it was just hurting. I had been riding with the group above, but dropped off with about 20 miles to go to ride at a slower pace due to my calf. With a massage, icing and ibuprofen, I am sure my calf will be OK for tomorrow, but I will likely ride quite moderately.
Just two more days now, 170 miles, and essentially no more climbing. Almost there.