Within an hour of leaving my motel I had rattled across an old metal road bridge over the St Mary’s River, and into FLORIDA! The last state on the list this summer, but it’s a big old state. There were some breathtakingly beautiful views out over the open wetlands, as the soft morning light crept across the horizon.

• Today’s Distance (miles): 42
• Time in saddle: 3h 59
• Max/min temp (°c): 38°/23°
• Climbing (feet) : 402
• Calories used: 2,325
• Today’s 2nd Breakfast: Blueberry muffin and coffee at Urban Grind, downtown Jacksonville
• Cafe time: 3h 14 (This could have been 0h, 00’, but I stopped short of the last city bridge at Urban Grind!)

I’d been saying in the ‘comments’ section that I crossed into Florida at 6.30am this morning, but when I checked the photo time stamps I realised that it was actually an hour earlier, 5.20am! Ow. I have two photos to prove it was pre sun-up:

Now that can only mean one thing…

THE LAST STATE SONG, 2023 – SNIFF!: Let’s make it a good one then, shall we? Once again, several possibilities sprang to mind and I’m not feeling choosy today. Let’s have a few! We’re in Florida! How about some down-low, back-beat, rootsy Muddy Waters blues? Deep Down In Florida from his great 1977 album ‘Hard Again’ (!):

I’m a big Steely Dan fan, and also the love the solo albums that Donald Fagen made either during breaks from the band, or when his troubled-genius collaborator Walter Becker was ‘indisposed’ (which sadly was quite often). Becker actually produced and played on this album. This track, Florida Room, refers to the typical screened-in outdoor room that‘s so popular down here (Ol and Laurice have a great one at their place in Delray – see you there soon, guys!). The song has such a frictionless, sunshine-state groove to it, and comes from a 1993 album that is weirdly prophetic about the technological future, Kamakiriad.

Actually I think I’ll stop there, and hand over to you – any more suggestions? Quality is not the only criteria; all varieties of cheese are also welcome.

The many rivers the highway crossed this morning became mesmerisingly beautiful once the sun was rising. The water looked so motionless, and there was hardly a breath of wind. The odd thing today was that the sun seemed to take a long time to properly rise, appearing to linger at the horizon for ages, like someone not wanting to get up just yet. I wondered if perhaps this was because I’d become used to having tree cover until around 8.30am, and had been missing this moment? The wetlands were so exposed that the views were stunning, but I also felt relief that I was not doing this ride in full midday sun. 37° was the predicted high again today. I’m not sure what that would register on my ‘in full sun’ wahoo bike computer’s thermometer, and don’t really want to find out. The earliest section of the ride yesterday was 21°, but this morning the equivalent section had gone up by another few degrees, to 24°. It’s amazing how much heat the air and earth can retain, even without the sun’s glare.

The long section of construction into Jacksonville I was a bit concerned about was not a problem in the slightest. Being Sunday morning, and the 17 being a lesser road with the Interstate so nearby, it was quite deserted again. On this stretch I passed the biggest non-tower crane I think I’ve ever seen.

Then as I crossed the Trout River road bridge towards downtown Jacksonville, I heard that iconic sound, the call of an American freight train in the distance. I knew they did that mostly as they passed through railway crossings within a town, and I was right beside the rail bridge, so I stayed put for a couple of minutes and waited to see if it would appear on the river:

I arrived in downtown Jacksonville at pretty much the only decent coffee shop that was open on Sundays, but luckily it was a really good one, Urban Grind on West Bay St, close to the St John’s River. My brother Oliver had recommended having a look at the River Walk, but I needed to caffeinate myself first, and also muffinate, and juiceinate myself too [I think that’s enough ‘ates’ – Ed]

After that was all dealt with I followed my bro’s advice to the letter:

INTRODUCING THE JACKSONVILLE ST JOHN’S RIVER WALK (BIKE RIDE) GALLERY: It’s a stepless route, so even when the path goes up and over a smaller river, it’s done on ramps.

I passed two fishermen, one getting ready to launch his kayak out to his favourite spot under the massive road bridge, and the other with his ice box cooler already almost full. They were both after the same fish, they told me: Croakers.

I bumped into the same man four times this morning – once with his daughter in Urban Grind, when they asked me about my journey, once when I saw him working out down at the open-air gym on the River Walk, then twice more as he ran along the path. I asked him his opinion about the summer weather, and he said the thing that felt different to him this year was that it doesn’t seem to cool off at night, which he thought was strange. Equally, the rain that did fall, he thought, didn’t seem to bring cooler air as it would normally. He was clearly finding it as hard to work around with his keen cycling and keep-fit activities as I do! I compared notes with Ol and Laurice during a FaceTime call from my luxurious room later, and they confirmed that they had had similar impressions of how the weather has changed this summer, particularly the lack of afternoon rains.

It was now after 11am and the sun was getting high and the heat was building fast, so I rode up the bridge’s cycling and pedestrian ramp over to the south bank, where my hotel was.

I haven’t yet mentioned a bit of very good fortune I had when planning today’s itinerary. I always scour motels on Google maps, as I find it a great way to spot last minute deals, or compare prices without visiting loads of websites. This trip has involved far more of this sort of thing than I ever expected it to! Anyway, in the conference centre quarter I noticed a crazily low price for a high-end Marriott hotel, clicked ‘Make a Reservation’ and got myself a luxury room for boiled peanuts. Less than many run-down motels I’ve stayed at on this trip, and quite a few campsites too. After all the very basic rooms I’ve had*, with broken or absent facilities and empty pools, as well as a few pretty inadequate campgrounds, it was the first time I felt a bit like I would on a Concert Tour, when places like this were the norm. I may be spoiled for the next few stops.

*I can’t really grumble about this because all I need is aircon, clean sheets and towels, and a comfy bed. Most of the time I get all of those things.

Supper was a takeaway I ordered from a nearby Sports Bar and Grill, where the waitress persuaded me to have a beer whilst I ‘waited’ (the quesadilla was on the counter when I arrived). ‘Great idea!’, I said. See you all tomorrow for Day 45, and a crashing return to non-luxury living. Boo. This has been fun.

SIGNS (ETC) THAT ARE FUNNY: