Student blazes trail to Wando High

Jackson Hamilton -- a Wando High School junior and avid cyclist -- was determined to ride his bike from his home in I'On to school.

But his parents refused to let him, insisting it was too dangerous. Every route featured heavy traffic, narrow roads, five-lane highways and no designated bike lanes, not to mention the likelihood of distracted or outraged drivers.

"If he did this (biked) both ways each day for the next year and a half before he graduates, I think his number would come up," said Jackson's father, William Hamilton, an attorney and vocal advocate for bike lanes and sidewalks. "It's just not safe enough yet."

But the 17-year-old was persistent.

So they decided to organize the Warrior Cycle Ride, complete with police escorts at particularly dangerous points. Jackson created a Facebook page and invited people to join the ride. William blogged about it on Indigo Journal and started a petition calling for better bike routes to Wando.

On Friday, despite a light rain throughout the night, 15 people joined Jackson on his ride to school, starting in the dark from the Bi-Lo pavilion near Shelmore Drive in Mount Pleasant.

Of those 15, four were Wando High School students and six were candidates for Mount Pleasant Town Council -- George Freeman, David Kent, Howard Chalmers, Phyllis Sheffer, Paiam Etminan and Kenny Oubre -- all of whom expressed their interest in making the town more bike- and pedestrian-friendly.

Adding to the challenge of the roads, most participants were not used to riding in groups.

The first sign of how challenging this ride was came within the first 20 minutes. The group was split at a left turn from Mathis Ferry onto U.S. Highway 17. When the second group entered the highway, some chose to stay on the road and some took an ample-sized sidewalk. When a motorist pulling out of a driveway blocked the sidewalk, candidate Oubre ran off the sidewalk andhit a streetlight post with his shoulder.

He was shaken and in obvious pain, and the group stayed with him until EMS picked him up. He was released shortly thereafter with diagnosis of a separated shoulder.

Miles down the road, the whole group got back together in Charleston National subdivision and had an escort back across U.S. 17 and into Park West subdivision, then to Wando.

As Jackson rode past the lines of cars pouring into the school near the end of the 13-mile journey, he occasionally pumped his arms in the air in triumph.

The effort underscored the need to make Mount Pleasant more bike-friendly. Jackson said, "(Mount Pleasant) is built for cars, but 10 years ago, this part of it was barely built. If they can build it that fast for something that's one and a half tons and can go 50 (mph), they can definitely retrofit it for something that's 15 pounds and can go 20."

That said, Jackson admitted he was equally pleased at achieving the personal goal of riding his bike to school.

His father described the feat as being "like scaling Everest to Jackson."

Still, he didn't let Jackson ride the bike home on Friday. After the ride that morning, Hamilton put Jackson's bike in the car and drove it back to I'On.