School is back in session as of this Tuesday(!) and in all the excitement, I had failed to make plans for the eclipse. Thankfully, I was hosting a warm showers guest this weekend who came to Greenville especially for the eclipse, and he helped me decide to ride about 30 miles to gain an extra 30 seconds of totality viewing, on the exact totality center line near Central, SC. I’m so glad that I did!

 

It was a dam good ride.

 

 

 

Even in 90+ degrees and long rolling hills, the promise of getting to the center line of totality kept me motivated.

 

 

I stopped several times along the way to peek at the disappearing sun through my glasses. It was fun to see everyone doing the same on the side of the road as I went through the countryside.

 

 

 

I arrived in Central and found Stephen (my warm showers guest) with just over 20 minutes to spare before totality. The light was noticeably different and shadows had a strange sharpened/blurry quality to them.

 

 

 

Through the shadow of a nearby tree, the crescent slivers were visible in the minutes before totality hit.

 

 

And then it was 2:38! The temperature dropped, the sky darkened, Venus came out, the clouds stayed out of our way, it was simply incredible… and iphone pictures do absolutely zero justice to the whole thing.

 

 

I did a weird laugh-cry the whole time and ruined any video we took. We got photos just afterward as the sun was coming back out and we were still dazed and lightheaded.

 

 

Did I mention Stephen came down from NYC and rode around 75 miles on Monday on a folding bike? Major kudos to this guy.

 

We were worried about the traffic on the way home, but it wasn’t too bad (though noticeably heavier than it typically would be). I was glad to have my Abus helmet with integrated light in addition to my regular rear light for some extra visibility on the road.

 

 

 

I had planned to ride the Forgione for this trip, but since I left from work at noon and was in a rush in the morning, I rode out on my Bianchi commuter instead.

Lesson learned once again: the night before, pump your tires, fill your bottles, charge your lights, lay out whatever clothes/accessories you need.. you’ll be ready to roll in the morning with no problem.