Friendly towns and the town of friendly people

I waited out the downpour before leaving Orangeburg. It was an easy 16 miles to Bowman. Almost as soon as i left town the landscape flattened out. I was closing on the coast for sure, and it felt good. As i pedaled I was on the lookout for a place to make camp. I would spot a place and mark the mileage on the speedometer. If I didn't find anything better before hitting town I would grab something to eat and then pedal back to the spot.

But Bowman S.C, just as Bowman G.A some 350miles Northwest, had a city park. Clean and welcoming with restrooms and bandstands. I rejoiced in this good fortune as much of my kit was damp or sodden. I wasted no time in setting my pan for food and stringing up my kit to dry for a couple of hours. It was a wet day, who would mind me doing this? Nobody as it turns out. I was almost uninterrupted. If I ever meet a girl with the surname Bowman, or go to work for Bowman Inc. i will know that I am on to a winner!

Dawn and some sun crept through. The tent was pretty much dry and I had used one of those handwarmer heat pockets to dry the inside of my sleeping bag overnight. It worked a treat!
So I set off for the town of St George. The chain squeaked and I should re-oil after the rain. It'll wait until I stop again. the road is flat and now I average 20mph. Up by over 20% on my average speed at the start of this tour, despite the cold, tired muscles.
I have never considered myself an Athlete. Athletic- yes, but not an Athlete in the sense that I see myself dedicating any length of time to becoming faster or stronger. Which is a false appreciation because in all sports I play, I try to keep improving.
i think it's the term that needs debunking. The term Athlete is heard most often on the TV, applied to persons aiming for a pinnacle of sporting success, and if it's on TV it's in the public eye. It gives rise to the idea that to be an athlete you must aspire to compete at the highest level. Which puts goals out of reach for us.

As I said when I had just set off, goal-setting was important but to focus solely on the imagined end is counter-productive. Often this end seems unattainable, unreachable, and we risk devaluing the path and subsequently any success we do have. Or alienating people from trying to achieve altogether.
I can see the finish line now but to rush toward it without pausing would be to miss the beauty on the way. Namely Charlston and Savannah.

I will share a story of an athlete i met, with whom we might all relate better, than to the national idols we watch on TV. I met the South African Paraolympic 100m sprint champion in a dirty kebab house in Central Manchester one night in 2007. He was drunk and making an amusing pass at my friend. Technically he was the 100m record holder but he wasn't allowed to compete, despite applying, in the Olympics as his artifical legs were classed as a technological advantage. Or something to that effect.
So here, throwing back a lager and dropping sweaty kebab meat all over himself, was a different way to achieve success. I'm not urging promising sprinters to chop off legs, but trying to show how becoming an athlete does not have to follow a singular path, and is closer to everyday reality than you may think.
I can already hear myself telling young athletes that the key to success is not whether you win or lose the Sophomore year long-jump final, but that enjoying it enough to not lose faith in sport is far more important.

I bumped my numb butt into St George past a sign that read 'St George- town of friendly people'. It was accurate too.