I had a lie-in this morning… I got up about 7:30am. As is becoming the custom I took to the beach for my morning bike ride. I love the sound of the ocean, it is one of my favourite sounds in the world. I don’t know if it is because it evokes happy childhood memories of family holidays in Paignton blissfully ignorant of mortgages, taxes, and the other complexities of life, one’s concerns limited to finishing the sandcastle before the tide came in or whether the icecream man had strawberry. While Goodrington Sands may have preserved steam trains working hard up the embankment that runs along its length, the beach here does manage to eclipse it. For starters it is huge. From Mayport Naval Base towards the north it runs southwards for best part of 30 miles to St Augustine where it is split by an inlet before carrying on miles further.
The section I have ridden has almost white sand, the properties separated from the beach by a narrow strip of dunes and vegetation. Thanks to its size the beach never seems crowded despite its popularity. Today I rode north almost at the water’s edge looking to my right at waves crashing in to shore. They are getting big enough to attract the surfers, a number already out at that time. They were joined by anglers with large rods thrust into the sand, the walkers and runners, and today’s oddity, a young woman collecting shells with a large bright green parrot watching proceedings from her shoulder. You see it all here I tell you. I rode for 25 minutes on the beach, enough to start feeling stomach muscles working, yet an easy task that flew by when compared to the same effort on a exercise bike in a grey Beeston living room. I returned by back road through the pretty neighbourhoods to call at the bank and health store at Neptune Beach “village”.
No doubt you can’t say this about all the rest of United States but one striking difference about this area is the polite and friendly nature of its people. Without exception fellow beach users will greet you with either a smile and wave of acknowledgement, or a “how ya doin’?” as you go past. The same goes for neighbours and strangers alike on the streets. A stark contrast to the streets at home where I’d be lucky to get a surly scowl from a passing Beestonian, trousers tucked in socks and fag on. At the risk of sounding like an old giffer, good manners cost nowt and it is a refreshing change to see people have them.
I got the map out this morning and worked out that yesterday Tina and I rode 10 miles. I’ve probably done about 5 today. Slacking. Tina has gone to work and I’m listening to some Ska and Reggae through the iPod speakers sorting out the travel for next week’s road trip. I’ve had my healthy breakfast with lashings of fresh pineapple and strawberries. I have to be good, I think we are going out later for a meal at a new Mexican restaurant with Tina’s friends. Apparently the sweets are enormous and delicious and I’m under instruction to have one. One final thought for today, cold showers might have been dreaded at school but after a ride here they are positively de rigueur.
