Playing It Safe

09-Aug-08: Day From Hell
Turkey: Yusufeli to Gole
126km, 8h 13min ride time

Today dished up nightmare conditions…hills, headwinds, bad roads, heat…did I mention the hills? Such that I am writing this blog in retrospect as I simply did not have the energy left to write it last night after rolling into camp at 5.30pm. The last 25km took us 3.5 hours to cover…temperatures hit the mid forties and the road surface was non-existent and a succession of loose gravel, crusher dust, wet crusher dust (which acts like quick sand) and loose rocky and sandy surfaces…each of which was a nightmare to ride on and horrendously slow going. Add that to the fact that we were riding continuously in an upwards direction and into a headwind…we rode to sheer exhaustion and questioned how we ever thought this could be fun…

Amidst the hellish conditions some things en-route did register their presence…we are now heading further east and the atmosphere has noticeably changed and not for the better. The children now say ‘hello, hello…money, money’ and some throw things at you if you do not give it to them…and the towns feel like ghetto neighborhoods on the edge of a riot. We passed by a gypsy village consisting of shelters that were little more than caves built out of river stone and perched precariously right on the edge of the water…it looked like something from a fairytale, only in the fairytale the occupants of the shelters would be beavers and water rats. We have clearly entered the poorer region of Turkey and as a foreigner I feel less welcome than I did a few days ago.

After somehow surviving the ride from hell, which incidentally ended up being 5km further than expected…not a happy discovery when you are on the edge of collapse and around each corner is another climb and no campsite! On arriving into camp I found my bag and sat crossed legged next to it with my still helmet clad head on it and sobbed solidly for about 15 minutes…the fun is draining rapidly away from this journey.

For the past day or so we have been aware of unrest in Georgia and TDA has been monitoring the situation…almost as if to answer my prayers for some relief from the relentless cycling program, we found out this evening that Russia has invaded Georgia and that we will not be entering Georgia for safety reasons. This change of plan has ensured us at least 6 days of rest…and it could not have come at a better time, physically or geographically…we are now to miss more climbing and the worst roads of the trip, which were to be in Georgia. Yes, we do miss Georgia and now have a break in the continuum of our journey, but this change of plan is just an alternative journey and one which I am happy to see the positives in.

10-Aug-08: Credit Where Credit is Due
Turkey: Gole to Kars
83km, 5h 13min ride time

Despite my gripes to date with the lack of responsiveness of the Silk Route staff I am more than willing to give credit where credit is due…I have been quite impressed at the staff’s response to the change of plans as a consequence of the Georgian situation…Miles in particular has stepped up to the mark and has seemingly played a lead role in implementing a new route for today, finding us new accommodation and laying down plans for our onward journey to Azerbaijan…

We set about on an alternative riding route today, which in lieu of riding 135km further east towards the Georgian border has taken us south-east to the larger city of Kars, which is to be the starting point of our onwards journey. From Kars we are to catch a bus back to Ankara and from Ankara we will fly to Baku in Azerbaijan (via Istanbul!) to recommence the tour on August 16th.

The ride today felt very much like the day we rode into Istanbul as the last day of the Orient Express tour…like an unofficial ending point. But unlike the ride into Istanbul, this one was not easy! We started the day with a climb lasting 45km and into the mother of all headwinds…it took us 3.5 hours to cover the first 45km and if it were not for the following 15km of downhill to lunch I am not sure my energy levels would have made it through the day.

So here I am now in the city of Kars awaiting further instruction on our little war avoidance sub tour. Unfortunately, we are each personally responsible for the cost of the flight, 2 nights accommodation and baggage excess associated with getting from Ankara to Baku…all of which I have just found out is not covered by my travel insurance due to an overriding blanket exclusion for all losses incurred as a direct or indirect consequence of invasion, war, etc…brilliant!

I will keep you posted…