Kiawah Island - Beware

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

Post Reply
Roadie17
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2017 3:23 am

by Roadie17

We are packing and leaving two days into a scheduled week at Kiawah. I had planned on it being a place to do some riding, having seen nothing in the material about the place that suggested unfriendliness to riders, in fact, quite to the contrary. Now for the fine print:

1) Bikes are only allowed on unmarked mixed use paths. By unmarked, there is no center divider and they do not predictably follow roads. Cyclists are not allowed on the roads at any time. For, me it was 6.8 miles by road from where we were staying to the resort entrance.

2) All bikes are supposed to have a permit from the Town of Kiawah. Permits are technically available Monday through Friday, but conveniently when I called they were all out. You cannot use Town of Kiawah roads without said permit.

3) I did not spend a ton of time looking, but it was not clear to me there were any good places to park and pull your bike out of the car.

The other users of the mixed use trails are basically oblivious. I called "passing on the left" twice, each time one of the group moved left into me instead of right.

I should have done more research up front, shame on me.

:(

User avatar
wheelbuilder
Posts: 1193
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2017 2:10 am

by wheelbuilder

Wow. That totally sucks!
Never cheer before you know who is winning

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



ChiZ01
Posts: 477
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 6:20 pm

by ChiZ01

the island looks like all residential and private roads, does not look like to be a fun place to ride bikes

User avatar
nycebo
Posts: 229
Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:04 pm
Location: New York, NY

by nycebo

I've ridden bikes all around that island since I was a kid. I've never had an issue riding on paths, roads or the beach. Is this a new policy?

However, Kiawah is very flat, filled with tourists and very slow drivers. I'd never travel there to train on the bike. Get a beach cruiser and just do some laps up and down the beach. Or, just sit on the beach. The view is incredible. Missing a couple days of training won't hurt you.

AJS914
Posts: 5397
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

Are the roads public roads? Can a municipality really ban bikes from the public roads? Couldn't you pedal off that island?

I see lots of tracks on the Strava heat map.

Honestly though, the riding doesn't look that great. It sounds like you should use the hotel gym, swim laps in the hotel pool, do some cross training, and enjoy relaxing.

Post Reply