The map has returned! At least until we leave Virginia.

• Today’s Distance (miles): 46
• Time in saddle: 3h 40
• Max/min temp – in full sun (°c): 44°/23°
• Climbing (feet) : 487
• Calories used: 2,458
• Today’s 2nd Breakfast: Chicken-salad-stuffed croissant and homemade colelsaw with coffee and iced tea, State Farms Nelsonia
• Cafe time: 2h 47

Supper last night was some experimental microwave cookery because my camp stove would have set off the smoke alarm in the motel room. It sort of worked. Pasta with a creamy sauce and extra added tuna. When I tipped it out of the microwave bowl, it perfectly retained the shape of the bowl. No photo, soz. It’s probably for the best. The biggest change now that we’re south of Delaware is that the motel prices are far more reasonable. Not on the coast, where it’s peak season of course, but inland a bit. It’s actually cheaper than camping in many cases. How can that be?

STATE SONGS: Within 3 or 4 miles of cycling from the motel I was in Virginia, State No.10. Several strong song options presented themselves to mark the occasion. 1. Pete Seeger’s minor-key East Virginia:

2. The theme tune to The Virginian, the TV series from the 60s with Doug McClure and James Drury – I loved this show when it was shown on British TV when I was a kid, and always wished I could be like Doug McClure:

3. John Denver’s Country Road, in a live TV version. Surely it has to be this, doesn’t it? Everything fits (apart from from the fact that I’m in East Virginia, not West). Also, during the pandemic, Susie, Jacob and I learnt the harmonies and sang it together to Jacob’s guitar playing, in one of our weekly street concerts for the neighbours. So.

The crazy thing about the original area called ‘Virginia’ is that it referred to what was the very first British colony in North America, and extended across just about every inch of land that I’ve cycled down during the last few weeks, starting in Maine. It included everything coastal south of here as well, as far as South Carolina. It was Walter Raleigh who named it in 1584, either after his sponsor Elizabeth I, ‘The Virgin Queen’, or as a reference to the virgin territory itself. Just as well that Elizabeth’s father Henry VIII didn’t sponsor the discovery, or it could have had a very different sort of name. Ideas? Beheadia? Dissolutionia? Bigamynia? New Codpieceshire? Feel free to add your own. Within reason…

I’ve been asking people if there’s a name for the big piece of land that I’m exploring this week, which separates Chesapeake Bay from the Atlantic, but so far no-one has been able to help me. Today I stumbled upon the answer when I stopped at the border of Maryland (farewell) and Virginia (hello!) and rifled through the pamphlets looking for a useable road map.

I found a map, I’m delighted to say – it’s a cycling map for the whole state of Virginia and should be at the top of this page, all being well. And I saw that the name of the land mass was the Delmarva Peninsula. Great name, slightly Jurassic- sounding. The story of the geological formation of Chesapeake Bay is absolutely fascinating, but I think I’ll save that for tomorrow, when I actually cross it. I met a very friendly couple in the Information Office, Janice and Erica (Hi to you both, if you made it this far!), who were from Pennsylvania but on holiday on the area, staying at a lovely B&B nearby. We talked for some time about the experience of travelling right down the east coast – they know many parts of it well – and the lifestyle of bicycle touring. They wished me well for the rest of my trip and I set off again, clutching my maps. I’ve had an idea about a place I want to visit further south in Virginia, after the big bridge coming up tomorrow, and wanted some advice about it. I’ll explain more tomorrow. The idea is to avoid another intense coastal holiday area, Virginia Beach, even though it’s such a famous place on my route. I feel I’ve seen quite a lot of this sort of place recently, and accommodation of any kind is very limited and expensive, so I’m going to head inland a bit instead…

2nd Breakfast was taken about 15 miles into the ride, at a gas station with a diner attached. I was glad of a break from the heat. Also, a feature of the highway today was the succession of trucks carrying live chickens. The stink they produced as they swept past me was awful, the boxes clearly inhumanely small, and stacked as high as the trailer could handle. It depressed me on every occasion.

The last long stretch before arriving in Nassawadox (!) was all on highway that had been stripped-down prior to resurfacing, leaving a ridged surface that got a bit tiresome. At least I could ride in my own private cone lane. I had originally decided to do fewer miles today simply because of an awkward distance to the big bridge/tunnel tomorrow, but in the end the headwind, the road surface and the heat meant that I’m not sure I could have done a lot more than 50 anyway.

PLAYTIME: This is the name that musicians sometimes give to the precious hours when you’re on a long tour, between the end of the concert and bedtime. It’s exactly how I feel when I head out for an evening meal on this trip, which I don’t do that often. 2nd breakfast, you may have already noticed, is normally my main meal of the day! New York with Jacob at Bixi was great, as was the beach restaurant in Delaware, and tonight was just as much fun, even though I’m on my own. Once I’d showered and spoken to Susie, I went right out to the nearby Great Machipongo Clamshack (I promise I’m not making these names up), just because it looked so good from the highway on the way here.

As I stood staring at the huge fishy/seafood menu trying to decide what to order, the sound system was tuned to a local radio station playing nothing but old Motown/60s tracks. Like a dream jukebox that never played a bad tune. I was thinking I’d enjoy a dead clam, in honour of the blog, but their prices (‘market price’) were eye watering, so instead I chose the fried Grouper with coleslaw and sweet potato fries (to me this is the only acceptable face of the sweet potato), and some local Cobb Island IPA. When the waitress asked me if I wanted cinnamon and sugar dusting on my fries, I was so surprised by the offer that I heard myself say ‘Yes please!’, without even thinking, ‘why?’. Does anyone know, is this a Virginian thing? I don’t recall Doug McClure eating it.

ROYAL NEWS: FOTB John Mills has messaged me from a concert he’s directing with the English Chamber Orchestra tonight. Best of luck, John! And it will be in the presence of King Charles III – we’ll have to get a full report from John when he gets a moment. Prince, now King Charles has been the Patron of the orchestra for decades, so we played for him many times during the years that I was a member of the band. Oh, the stories we could tell…

NATURE SECTION:

SIGNS THAT ARE FUNNY:

LAST MINUTE UPDATE: I was just about to post this, when I thought ‘Why is the air-con suddenly so loud?’ I looked across at the control panel, and saw that it wasn’t even on. The sound seemed to be coming from outside, so I opened my motel room door, and this is what I saw: