Holding Together

05-Aug-08: A Long Way From Home
Turkey: Sebinkarahisar to Kelkit
120km, 6h 10min ride time

I woke this morning feeling a long way from home…much more than most days. And I could not really say why I felt that way on today rather than any other…I just did. But it did not take long to forget the homesick feeling as I hurried about as per usual getting ready for the day ahead.

Breakfast provided by the hotel consisted of 1 boiled egg, 3 olives, half a slice of tomato and 2 slices of cucumber…combined with a copious amount of white bread, butter and honey…not really the most nutritious start to the day in preparation for cycling in excess of 100km. But I have started to take matters into my own hands and now carry a backup supply of muesli with me, which I put to good use this morning. But I do have to say, which I may have already done so, that Miles has been cooking up a storm dinner wise…just so that I don’t skew the picture too badly!

The day started out with breathtaking scenery…I felt like Frodo Baggins trekking my way into Mordor?…we were being dwarfed by rugged rocky mountain faces towering above us on one side and a deep rocky ravine on the other. The climbing stared quickly today and gave no concession for cold morning legs…and we continued to climb repeatedly for the first half of the day. After about 25km Dan managed to get his chain completely stuck so that there was no easy way of recovering from the situation…we ended up having to break the chain and reconnect it. Actually it is comforting to know that across all the riders we probably have most skills necessary to recover from most mechanical issues that happen en-route.

The scenery after lunch was traditional farming land with wide open fields of hay and families out with hand tools cutting and gathering the hay. The roads went from climbing steeply to gradually ascending and the surface changed from nice smooth bitumen to rough asphalt, the vibration of which resulted in numb hands and very tired legs…and the weather turned from cool to hot. Having said that we really can’t complain as we have been very lucky weather wise…last year the riders were battling temperatures in the early 50’s…10 degrees hotter than we have had it at its worst.

We are camping tonight beneath the branches of a small woodland beside an open field…we have a ground water pump which has served as a shower and provided essential water for me to finally get around to washing my bike properly for only the second time since leaving Paris! I have had a pretty good run as my chain is still in good condition and I am still rolling along on the same tires and tubes that I left Paris with…not a single puncture in over 5,000km. Touch wood.

We are entering a more traditional region of Turkey now and are attracting even more attention than before, if that is possible…and it seems we are also entering the region of ratbag kids as I had one spit at me yesterday and another throw rocks at me today. It may have something to do with the way I am dressed, or it may not, but it is hard to tell and our historian Paul assures us that they give concession to western women dressing differently and that provided with are with others we won’t be taking any unnecessary risks dressing in traditional biking attire. It has been suggested though that we do start dressing more conservatively off the bike for our own comfort.

06-Aug-08: Sitting Ducks
Turkey: Kelkit to ‘Windy Peaks’
117km, 5h 46min ride time

Where to start…well I am sitting in the back of the support van on a rolled up sleeping mat because it is the only place I can find that is not in the blazing sun or gale force wind! I have spent in excess of an hour erecting and reinforcing my tent against ridiculously strong winds…my tent is a 4 season tent and should be able to withstand such conditions, however add to the wind the inability to secure pegs in the rock hard ground and the task gets a little more complicated. The campsite is on the highest point around where we could not be more exposed to the elements if we tried, but granted we are next to running water in a cow trough which did mean we could wash ourselves!

The riding today started out in wide open farming and agricultural land with little vegetation aside from the wheat growing in the fields and the pretty purple wildflowers by the roadside which are infested with a plague of grasshoppers. With little change in scenery or terrain and little respite from the sun, the day took its toll quickly and by lunch at 10.30am we were exhausted. After lunch the road stayed much the same for a further 20km and Mother Nature threw in a headwind just to test our limits.

Thankfully the scenery started to change as we headed into the mountains once again…the amount of vegetation increased and accordingly so did opportunity to rest in the shade. The last 15km of the day were the most interesting and renewed our energy somewhat as the scenery became picturesque and the terrain became undulating. We stopped at a corner store in a very small town (with about 5 buildings) on our way to camp to buy an ice cream and a cold drink…we became the source of entertainment for 4 local boys who were very interested in how my shoes clipped to my pedals and what all the numbers on my GPS meant.

And so I return to how we came to be perched on the top of a mountain like sitting ducks just waiting for a massive storm to blow in and obliterate us…I hope for everyone’s sake that does not happen! Admittedly there should be a beautiful sunset and sunrise from here…and we certainly have a loo with a view…there is a photo of the ‘bush camp’ toilet system, which involves 2 shovels (for hole digging and absence of which is the indication of occupancy), a lighter (for toilet paper burning) and a collection of rocks (for marking pre-loved territory).

07-Aug-08: Digging Deep
Turkey: ‘Windy Peaks’ to Yusufeli
135km, 7h 57min ride time

For me, and overall, today was one of those riding days that remind me of why I came on this trip…the scenery was spectacular and the climbs, headwinds and road conditions all came together in a perfect blend of interest and challenge. My body cooperated and I felt strong all day, despite the length of it.

I spent the day keeping Dan company who has fallen victim to a nasty stomach virus and has been suffering the usual effects of such an infection…not a happy state to be in while riding a bike in any condition and today certainly delivered every condition short of driving rain! So we rode slowly but surely as he dug deep to find whatever strength he could to get through the day…having committed to achieving EFI status does have its drawbacks when your body starts to fight your mind against the desire to get on the support van. But we made it eventually and in the end rolled in within minutes of 80% of riders, which says something about how much the terrain and general conditions slowed everyone down.

Upholding another of my personal ‘comfort commitments’ to ensure I stay in a hotel on rest days was quite easy on this occasion, with a hotel being within 100m walk of the campsite we were supposed to be staying at…air-conditioning, wi-fi, hot water, dinner and breakfast all included…happy days!

08-Aug-08: Uploading
Turkey: Yusufeli – Rest Day

I slept well last night in my air-conditioned room at Hotel Barcelona…we are in the town of Yusufeli about 2 days ride away from the Georgian border and the home of white water rafting, and seemingly not a great deal else.

As there were no rooms available at Hotel Barcelona I will spend tonight in a little cabin style room at the campsite tonight…no air-conditioning but all other facilities for a fraction of the price, so can’t really complain.

And as per usual today has been spent updating my blog…whilst sitting in a small restaurant at the campground watching the Olympics opening ceremony with Turkish commentary. There are now a whole host of new photos from Turkey to see…images 82 onwards are the newest additions. I have also uploaded some new GPS detail for the past week…there appears to be a glitch in the file settings so that they are appearing in imperial measurements by default…I think you can change the settings from your end on a per view basis but am working on it from this end!