Been on vacation for a week or so, and getting back to "normal" after several days of chores and several hundred emails from work.
I spent a week in Myrtle Beach, SC and looked into renting a bike with a trail-a-bike for my son so we could spend some time exploring the area. Bad idea. The place we stayed was near the new Hard Rock Park, and frankly cars are not optional in that area. The only way to get to a place to buy food or drinks or stuff necessary for a few days w/ a baby is via a car. We had to traverse a four-lane bridge to get over the Intercoastal Waterway, then an interchange of the two largest roads in the area, US501 and 17. Everything under the sun was within 4.5 miles of our place; however there were about a million cars driven by people unfamiliar with the area and therefore very eratic in their driving. We saw more cyclists than I would have imagined, given the battle conditions of getting around. In and around the "Broadway at the Beach" area, I saw dozens of people riding bikes. They were mostly young teens using the bikes to get around without cars, but only in that specific area. They must live on the opposite side from where we had come. Also, I found a good number of folks riding along the main drag right off the beach, 17 business. Of course, they mainly rode up and down the sidewalk from shop to shop and to the public beach access. I noted most of them carried nothing, and had no provisions on the bikes for carrying anything, not even a drink. One would think if you were heading out for the day at the beach you might carry some kind of bag with a few items, or even a towel. Not so with people I watched. They usually only had a hat and presumably money to buy snacks or play putt-putt.
While I watched the few cyclists going up and down the main street, I was struck by the epiphany that one could certainly leave the house and be gone all day and carry the typical tourist kit with them on a cargo bike, like the Yuba Mundo or any bike modified w/ the xtracycle conversion. Seems to me the condo/house/resort rental places there could do their clients a great service by providing a cargo bike for their use while at the beach. Obviously, there are places, like where I stayed, that aren't very conducive to riding, but down closer to the actual beach, there's lots of places within an easy ride, and it's flat as a pancake there. I'm pretty sure I could carry the requisite cooler of beverages, sun screen, folding chair and baby tent, towels and a host of sand excavating equipment on a yuba or xtracycled beach cruiser. Even an umbrella for shade seems doable. So why don't the bike rental folks get on the cargo bike train? Is it money for the initial outlay? Are they afraid the harsh conditions of the sand/salt/rain and renters would destroy their fleet before they are paid for? Maybe they just don't know about such bicycles.
I will say that the place we stayed did offer bikes to rent. There were about 10 Sun bicycles, single-speed cruiser types, with torn seats and rusted seatposts lying on and around an old bike rack. In addition there were about a dozen Next 20 inchers scattered about nearby. Unfortunately, the property was less than 5 acres, was bounded on one side by the Intercoastal Waterway, and on two other sides by roads leading to the Hard Rock Park, which were quite busy, with no markings for bike lanes, or even sidewalks - where most Beach cyclists seemed to ride. The last side of the property was adjacent to a lonesome road leading away from a defunct outlet mall, curving back into what looked like a questionable residential area. It was not a ride I would have taken my kids on, even if the resort had any provisions to carry them along in their rental fleet, which they did not.
I suppose overall I was disappointed in the rideability of the area. It was not at all like the bicycle-friendly Hilton Head, SC area. Again, even an area rife with bicycle lanes and separate paths and with nearly a hundred rental shops to choose from, not one bike I've seen there had anything more than a basket on the front with which to carry things. While Hilton Head is far more bicyle-friendly, it's got room to grow as well.
If you know of a nice bicycle-friendly destination for a family vacation, by all means leave a comment. I'd love to explore it!
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Found your post tonight while searching for a place to get in some training miles at Myrtle Beach. I've been going there since I was a kid and I'm truly shocked at the lack of options. The one bike shop in Myrtle Beach is actually down in Murrells Inlet. They have shop rides, but for someone like me staying in N. Myrtle Beach, it's unrealistic to try to join on these rides as it would be a 30-45 min drive to even get to the shop.
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't kill the Myrtle Beach and surrounding communities to get together and mark more bike lanes, etc! Who knows!
Anyway, hope you had a relaxing vacation since it sounds like your job was waiting on you to return. :)
Hey jen, checked out your blog too, I'm originally from SW VA, even a hokie alum, so I know some of the places mentioned in your rides up there. I'm not far from Greensboro. Work near the airport.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to ride in Myrtle, I suggest you rent a clunker, or better yet buy a wallyWorld bike for less than it would cost you to rent a bike for the week, ride it along the beach in the hard wet sand near the water. You can go a good long way without any cars to bother you. When you're done w/ the vacation, donate your bike to the first kid you see walking around. Or maybe just leave it parked somewhere unlocked. Somebody will get some use out of it, and you won't worry about the salt damaging your rig, which looks like a Surly in the photo.