How WF&B Started

A significant part of my law practice involves travel to regional locations where the use of a small airplane is ideal. A four-hour drive can be reduced to an hour-long flight eliminating time out of the office, overnight stays and dreaded hotels.

In the summer of 2009, I had to see a client who was incarcerated in the South Carolina Dept. of Corrections (SCDC) maximum security prison Lee Correctional in Bishopville, South Carolina. Bishopville is a two and half hour drive from Greenville, but only forty minutes by airplane.

I really wanted to fly, but there was one problem: Bishopville Airport at the time was just an airstrip and didn’t offer any services. There wasn’t even a road linking it to an adjacent two-lane highway.  After landing in Bishopville, I would have been stuck at the airport.

My mind was set on flying and I determined the only way I could get from the airstrip to the prison was to use my bicycle. I planned to put my bike in the back of the airplane and pedal through the town to the prison located on the other side — approximately 8 miles roundtrip. I thought my idea was so ridiculous that I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing, including the officials at the jail.

The next day I flew to Bishopville.  After landing, I pulled my bike out of the airplane and threw the strap of my briefcase over my shoulder and started pedaling across a grassy field to the two-lane highway. Twenty minutes later I arrived at Lee Correctional.

I pedaled through the visitor’s parking lot to a lamppost to lock up my bike — no, Lee Correctional did not have a bike rack. When I looked over the complex and its 18 foot fencing and razor wires, I began to think I just might be in trouble.  A bicycle could be considered a security risk in that an escapee could abscond faster on a bike than on foot.  I started to get nervous — I wasn’t dressed like a lawyer, I was sweating like crazy and I had just arrived at a maximum security prison on a bicycle.

I was cursing myself for not calling the jail in advance and wondered if I was attracting the attention of the exterior guards. I was fumbling with my bike lock when an SCDC pickup truck pulled up alongside me. Inside was a rather plump middle-aged SCDC officer with a short-barreled 12 gauge shotgun across her lap. I was frozen and thought ‘I am in big trouble.’

The Officer looked me over and said in a typical slow southern drawl, “Boy, what in the hell are you doing?!” All I could do was smile and say, “Well, I am Matt Kappel, I am a lawyer from Greenville and I am here to see a client of mine.” There were a few seconds of silence while the officer tried to comprehend what I had just said. The officer was understandably confused and at a loss for words.  Finally, she asked “Boy, did you ride that bike of yours all the way down here from Greenville?!” She instantly realized the ridiculousness of what she said and before I could offer an explanation she said sourly  “Man, I feel sorry for your client.”

I told her the complete story and fortunately, we both laughed (at my expense).  As she drove off,  she waved at me and said “No problem — just be sure to lock your bike up real good.”

When I planned this out, I really wasn’t sure if it was going to work. After seeing my client and biking back to the airport (and not getting arrested), I was surprised at how much fun I was having — and this was a trip to a prison!