[See my separate post for the special announcement about this trip]

Today really was as simple as expected, at least to navigate: A1A South for about 56 miles, until I got to Daytona Beach. Once again I left before 5, cycled without a break until I reached my destination, then collapsed into a wide booth in a lovely diner to rest my weary bones, drink ice-cold water and cup after cup of coffee, and EAT! I could leave it at that, but as ever there’s so much more to say about my day here on the Atlantic seaboard.

• Today’s Distance (miles): 56
• Time in saddle: 4h 55
• Max/min temp (°c): 44°/19°
• Climbing (feet) : 
• Calories used: 3, 550
• Today’s 2nd Breakfast: 3-egg scramble, home fries, sausage and rye toast, coffee at the Daytona Diner, Daytona Beach.
• Cafe time: 3h 05

The experience of leaving the wonderful town of St Augustine in the dark had a couple of surprises for me this morning. The first was this chain gang of convicts, who gave a me quite a shock as I turned in the road where they were working:

I had decided to have a look around town again before rejoining the A1A and crossing the Matanzas River on the famous old Bridge of Lions, and my next surprise was very different. No photo, but as I turned down a narrow alley I saw a touring bike propped up against the wall, fully loaded with panniers and lots of improvised attachments – not that dissimilar from mine in fact – and with a crumpled pile of rags left beside the bike. “That’s interesting’ I thought. ‘I wonder where the owner is?’. Then I realised that the crumpled pile of rags on the floor was the owner, because he suddenly looked up at me, having had his beauty sleep disturbed. He was around 60 or 70 years old (could be a few years either way), bleary-eyed, bald and had a bushy white beard, and had clearly slept on the street. I said good morning, but he didn’t manage anything in reply, just turned around to face the wall and tried to get back to sleep. I thought about the severe German man I met back in the Prairies of Canada, who told me he happily slept rough in fields or towns without hesitation. There are many ways to travel with your bike, and I think I know now that I’m very much in the ‘soft pretzel’ subset. Maybe you just get used to it, waking up on the pavement having saved your pennies for food and drink? I hope that I never find out.

The first hour and a half were in darkness again, but I kept an eye on the time to try and get another sunrise picture near the sea. The Atlantic was directly in view for several long sections of the ride, and at around 6.30am I reached a bridge overlooking the sea and could not believe how stunning the sky was.

After that, it was head down, and cycle. Once again, the sun was already uncomfortable to ride in at 7.30am. I stopped briefly at the Flagler Beach Fishing Pier, where I stuck my head in a water fountain and put on all the sun protection stuff I have, refilled bottles with nice cool water and returned to the road for another two hours. There was no shade at all, until I got to the tall hotels of downtown Daytona Beach which created brief pockets of cooler air. It was pretty unpleasant (the lack of shade and the place itself). My first destination, until check in time at least, was a diner with great reviews on Google.

The Daytona Diner was great, and the waitresses didn’t mind in the slightest that I needed to hang around for ages drinking coffee after I finished eating, just waiting for check in time at the nearby Ocean Court Beachfront Hotel. I have had such a good run of luck with diners – fingers crossed that it will carry on that way.

The beach in Daytona is 22 miles long (four miles longer than Chesil Beach on the Jurassic Coast back in Dorset) and claims to be ‘The World’s Most Famous Beach’. In fact, being America, they’ve officially branded it with that name, so it must be true.

The town is most famous for cars, of course, with the Daytona 500 being the most famous race on the Indy Car circuit (not something I follow but I’ve seen it from time to time on TV whilst on tour in the US). Hundreds of thousands of people descend on the town and the hotel prices go sky high. Hence my third cheap deal in a row! This is their off-season. Who would be here in August? Me. The town is so car-crazy that you’re even allowed to drive your cars and motorbikes on the beach. @Jim & Lewis Cannings – tempted? Of course you are.

…but now the offshore storm made the scene even more dramatic. Another reason I got my room so cheaply, I discovered, was that they were hit by a bad storm a few months ago and the pool was wrecked, along with the beachfront walls of several hotels. Repairs are underway but it’s not quite at its best.

The air was cool for the first time in weeks, which felt so good, I can barely describe it. I paddled as the lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled, and the sea was as warm as bath water.

ART AND CULTURE: I passed a gallery on the A1A called the Baliker Gallery and loved the use of old tree roots and stumps to create sculpture, plus the fact that they were right out on the road for all to enjoy. The gates are great, don’t you think? Let’s have a gallery:

STATE SONGS PART II: FotB Jake Rea suggested a brilliant and (for me at least) very surprising piece for Florida, because I didn’t know that Frederic Delius had lived out here for a few years running an orange farm, and wrote a suite based on his impressions (to add to the unlikeliness, he actually wrote it in Zurich!). Delius was such a quintessentially English composer that it seems such an odd side road in his oeuvre. But then we all need the odd side road in our oeuvres, just to keep things fresh…

ADIRONDAK CHAIRS – TIME IS RUNNING OUT!:

IN OTHER NEWS: John Mills arrived in LA yesterday for some very glamorous recordings and concerts in California, but today was heading out with a keen bunch of musician colleagues for a coastal (rental!) bike ride. I’ll post photos later unless they start a travel blog of their own. John’s already sent me a new category of photo:

SIGNS THAT THINK THEY’RE MOVIES:

SIGNS THAT ARE FUNNY:

SIGNS THAT SHOULD BE FUNNY, BUT ARE NOT: