(A bit of a rarity here. I’ve had to combine two maps to cover the border crossing)

This great report came in from John Mills after directing the royal concert from the leader’s chair in England the other night.

“Wow that rain!! The horizontal speed of it coming out of the drain pipe! Speaking of drainpipes, our gig went well thanks! Lovely string programme of British stuff plus Dvorak serenade (or the British Airways ‘sitting on the tarmac’ theme tune to most people).

I was lucky to have a tremendous team around me last night with lots of old friends of yours including Claire Finnimore on viola. I didn’t think there was a chance the King was coming since, well, he’s probably quite busy these days but he did indeed come along! He passed a few comments on the length of the movements in the Capriol suite and we had a chat about the encore at the end. He made an excellent guess at Finzi which was as close as anyone was likely to get! It was the minuet from John Ireland’s Downland suite which goes nicely at the end of a gig. I did a little second half speech about our relationship with bats in the old churches of Norfolk and how Warlock was into bats as he was the occult. Rehearsing the first movement disturbed our flying friends and sent them careening round the church so I warned the king and co to keep their heads down!”

• Today’s Distance (miles): 56
• Time in saddle: 5h 11
• Max/min temp – in full sun (°c): 41°/33° (the minimums are getting higher every day!)
• Climbing (feet) :351
• Calories used: 1,601
• Today’s 2nd Breakfast: Egg bun, home fries, coffee, root beer, at Wendy’s somewhere
• Cafe time: 4h 12

Last night was a repeat of the one before – first I saw that the clouds were changing above Virginia Beach:

…then an hour later the deluge began again. Another good night to be in a motel! I mustn’t use up too many of these lucky breaks.

Any excuse to play this great American pop song from the 80s. I notice the YouTube video has had more than 37,000,000 hits. That shows you the power of a good piano hook in the chorus. Everyone remember this one?

I was relieved to get away from the part of Virginia Beach where my motel was. I didn’t enjoy being there at all, and the motel was terrible. It felt great to load up the bike and get rolling into the suburbs and away from the shoulderless highway. Apart from stopping at a LIDL (they’re springing up everywhere here in the US) for some fruit & veg, I had a smooth run as far as the enormous Veterans Bridge over the Elizabeth River (which runs, of course, straight into Chesapeake Bay). It was quite a sight after such a long period of very flat cycling. It created a steep hill on the bike lane up to the apex of the bridge, where it crossed the water.

On my right as I rode along was a gigantic mound of grass-covered something. I say something, because on the other side it was clearly an exposed heap of garbage, and smelled that way too. There were diggers working on it, on crazy inclines, and many birds of prey circling around.

At the highest point I stopped to film this short clip of the river and the surrounding land – right at the end you’ll see the something mound:

Then it was 2nd breakfast time – yaaaay! Wendy’s today, in the town of Chesapeake (where else?), and a breakfast combo of egg bun, home fries and coffee. And root beer. A lot of root beer. Free refills are toooo tempting. (I always use the refill machine to also fill all of my water bottles with fresh water and ice). I knew that there was nowhere to stop for a while after this, as I was going to heading south for about 40 miles, and passing the place I mentioned yesterday – none other than The Great Dismal Swamp.

GREAT DISMAL SWAMP DAY ON IoT:

Apart from having the best name of almost anywhere I’ve ever visited on a bike – perhaps running it close with Saint-Louis-du-Ha!Ha! in Quebec (the only place in the world with two exclamation marks in its name) – the Dismal Swamp is a National Wildlife Refuge. It was established in the 1970s to try and repair the devastating damage done by logging to the ecosystems. The swamp was also famous for being the refuge of enslaved people from the southern states between 1700 and 1860. These people were known as the Great Dismal Swamp Maroons. There’s a novel, I discovered, written in 1856, about the life of people living in the swamp. I’m keen to try and read it, but it may have to wait until I get home, or at least Florida! It’s by Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and it’s called Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp. (Update – I’ve just downloaded a sample on kindle!)

I was also hoping to ride alongside the Great Dismal Swamp Canal for a while if the bike path was up to it. Typing ‘Great Dismal Swamp’ so often just keeps making me laugh. I think I’m a bit road-warped.

I was staggered by the peace and the beauty of the Dismal Swamp after being on the highway. I went from thinking about the incredible quantity of waste generated by every fast food meal I buy…

..to this, in the space of a handful of miles:

The trail I found followed the canal at the edge of the Dismal Swamp for many miles, surrounded by huge, high trees.

I was so happy to be somewhere like this today, and it gave me a tremendous boost. I spoke to a woman at the entrance to the trail who said there were black bears around, one spotted this morning, but not to be too concerned as they’re very likely to run away. Same with me, I told her. She also got a photo for me:

There’s so much to say about the Swamp and its history, but I almost don’t want to. My memory of it now, as I write this, is as a place of refuge from the heat, the urban mess, the road, the noise. It was bliss, honestly.

I should say though that the canal was built by slaves, ‘outliers’, who worked in atrocious conditions, up to their waists in mud and water hacking out roots and undergrowth to clear the land. Here’s the full, awful story:

Once on the Carolinan part of the swamp trail I took this video:

The stunning beauty of this place is very much ‘hidden’ by its extraordinary name. Just imagine telling your partner: ‘Darling, I’ve booked us a romantic weekend, just like I promised, somewhere that’s supposed to be beautiful’. ‘Oh how thoughtful. Where?’ ‘Um… it’s called the Great Dismal Swamp. I got a great deal on the cottage.’

I actually only saw one property in the whole time I spent passing through the area. It looked pretty old, and I had a feeling that if the walls could talk, they would have quite a story to tell:

I did have one glitch after the Swamp, when a ‘Road Closed’ sign turned out to actually mean ‘Road Closed, Even For Bicycles’. No one was working there and there was a spooky atmosphere with all of the dormant machinery:

Then it was a very hot 20 more miles of afternoon country cycling in mostly full sun – stopping when ever I passed a gas station to get a chocolate milk and enjoy the aircon! – into Elizabeth City and my lovely motel (this time), the Quality Inn, with pool. I’m going to sign off now so I can enjoy it, and go for a steak at Applebee’s Grill. I’ve probably forgotten lots of things I was going to add, but there you are. Tomorrow is going to be a long cycling day over to the Outer Banks. Until then…

Oh, I know! I do want to thank all of the lovely people at Beechwood Park School for their encouraging words and support on our WhatsApp group today – I haven’t yet managed to respond, but it came just as I was in a little bit of a dip, and really perked me up. I read it as I rode along in the highest heat of the day. Thanks so much to you all! Bxx

STATE SONG No11: It had to be James Taylor, didn’t it? Hard to argue, I feel, but I’ll consider challenges. Carolina In My Mind:

WHAT IS IT SAM?:

ART & CULTURE

SIGNS THAT ARE FUNNY: