Showing off to the locals: Susan in her
Speedos
The radio station said I had a four-hour window before the rain started again. In reality, unbeknownst to me, I had a whole day. Which is how I came to find myself cycling through historic Virginia in a swimming costume burnt to a crisp. Frankly I was just pleased to be able to move without squelching. In the last few days I've been in serious danger of developing trench foot.
The whole scene is quite apocalyptic. The roads are covered in dead frogs and snapping turtles (which, by the way, cannot tell the difference between a rescuer and some prey) the water keeps on rising and meanwhile, I keep pootling along on terrain which acts like a self-propelled rollercoaster, constantly cranking up and whizzing down.
The break in the rain has allowed me to verify what people have been telling me since I got here - Virginia is indeed a very pretty state and makes for really lovely cycling. Nothing seems out of place, fields are perfectly manicured and the whole scene is so pastoral you feel thuggish simply raising your voice. Which happens whenever a 10-tonne logging truck blows you off the road.
Every other driveway here leads to a farm or plantation (I feel I should be channelling Scarlett O'Hara.) Apparently the age group in the US which is not buying fresh fruit and veg is the 25 to 40-year-olds, and according to farmers at the Orange County Market, that's having a big impact on sales. Personally, though, I find it unsurprising as supermarkets only sell multi-packs in bulk. I've been on the hunt for a single carrot since I've been here to no avail.
The good news is I've managed to cycle all day without getting a puncture or having to deal with a spontaneous jack knife situation. My stop in Culpeper meant Bike Stop checked over my stead and gave it the thumbs up while I stocked up on cookies in Food for Thought on E. Davis Street. I've found a brilliant website called www.delocator.net which shows all the fair-trade/ non-corporate coffee houses in any particular US area and it turned up a number of cool cafes in Charlottesville so I'm staying here an extra day to check things out. Can someone sort something similar out for Britain please?
Obviously chilling out here has nothing to do with giving the Speedo sign engrained on my back time to fade.
PS Thanks for the Moonshine tip!
