Turkey
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Turkey
23 Nov 2021 - 18:01
Lunch Sheltered By A Bridge
24 Nov 2021 - 19:55
The rain stopped before we surfaced from our tent this morning and gave way to a persistent and powerful icy headwind - which, combined with a day of hills, made for a challenging cycle. We have opted to take the main road for the first ~150km of Turkey which can be mentally exhausting too. We were down to the wire on daylight but made it a few km further than we had planned, motivated on by the incentive of a warm hotel room with a comfy bed and a shower.
Our route tomorrow is a little shorter and less hilly. We are planning on an early start to make the most of the better weather forecast first thing. -S
Bike Lane!
25 Nov 2021 - 13:07
We were stopped for lunch on the side of the road and two policeman pulled over. They then escorted us, lights flashing, along the road to a cafe where they treated us to Turkish tea and coffee and a lovely chat. Turkish hospitality is so welcoming. -S
Puncture
Brake Pad Replacement
26/11/21
Bike maintenance, headwinds and acts of kindness. These have been the main features of our time in Turkey so far.
So much kindness; new friends sharing coffee, strangers asking if we need anything. To the man who gave have us sandwiches as he passed us (fixing punctures again) and simply walked on; we wish you had stopped to talk. Turkey is teaching us a new way to be. Be patient, think of others always and trust that people are good. -L
Tea Break
Two security guards at the entrance to an industrial gas plant waved us in for a cup of tea. We had a nice chat using Google translate.
27 Nov 2021 - 17:40
Asia
We have reached Asia.
Istanbul
The past 10 days in Istanbul have been in equal parts eventful, fun, and challenging. The day after arriving in the city a strong storm ripped through, damaging buildings and taking lives - we were glad to be staying in the shelter of an AirBnB rather than our tent that night. We had decided that this would be a good place from where Lucy could return home for a few days to visit family while I took time to catch up with some work, play music, and rest. I still do not like cities but at least the walls of the apartment could provide shelter from the bustle and noise like they did from the storm. However, the day after Lucy left I was evicted from the Airbnb without notice, by the authorities - from what I understand the host didn't have the correct tourism accommodation permit - this meant relocating myself plus two bikes and all our gear to a nearby hotel. A few days after arriving in the hotel I was visited by two men who needed to "inspect the curtains" of my hotel room - I suspect they may have been officials checking that I had actually moved out of the AirBnB!
It's not all been so dramatic though - I had a really great time sharing stories and playing music with Tobi and Louisa from ChainsAndChords who are on a similar cycle adventure to Lucy and me and who we have been following on Instagram for a few months. I also found some musicians to join with for a traditional Irish music pub session - the first I've been able to find on our journey so far - it's been a lot of fun to be finally playing music with other people again and definitely makes up for the accommodation drama!
In a few more days Lucy will be back to rescue me and we'll be ready to begin our journey along the Black Sea coast towards Georgia. It's likely to be a cold and wet few weeks as winter catches up with us but we plan to have another rest once we arrive in Georgia (maybe a small town this time!) where we will wait for the beginning of spring before continuing East. -S
Another Week In Istanbul!
We didn't make it out of Istanbul as planned! A broken part on Simon's bike means one more week while we wait for parts to arrive.
Leaving Istanbul
And we're off again! 😀 🚴🚴♀️
23 Dec 2021 - 12:27
Wrecks from the storm a few weeks back.
On The Move And Happy
It feels so good to be back on the bikes! We spent all day saying this to each other and grinning. Although we are happy to move on, Istanbul has been one of our favourite cities of the trip so far! It's a place of huge variety; live music, ferries, beautiful mosques, bustling bazaars, busy nightlife, friendly people, chilled out areas with library cafes, and some smooth seafront cycle paths.
More importantly we really treasure the connections we've made here. Simon meeting other musicians at the Irish music sessions, and through busking and chatting with Louisa and Tobi from @chainsandchords , and the links we've made with fellow cyclists along the cycle path. And then yesterday and this morning Simon had a couple of lovely conversations in a mixture of Turkish Sign Language and British Sign Language with a lady who is Deaf who came to clean the hotel room - we enjoyed one of the longest conversations we've had with a non-English speaking Turkish person. It made our week. -L
Note, we also almost adopted this dog, or did he adopt us? He ran with us for 10km before ditching us for 2 other cyclists 😯
Happy Christmas
It seems a bit counter intuitive to be heading north just as winter arrives but we will be doing that for these first few days out of Istanbul. We have decided to take a route along the Black Sea coast so that we avoid the mountains in the middle of Turkey.
Today the temperature barely made it above freezing but with the sun shining and a gentle tailwind it was almost perfect weather for cycling.
We escaped the suburbs this morning and are back out in the countryside... Returning to being gifted tea by strangers and getting chased by dogs every 20 minutes.
Tonight we are back in the familiarity of our tent, being lulled to sleep by the sounds of a nearby flight path and the distant howling of wolves.
Happy Christmas to all who are celebrating, happy belated Yule to others, and happy weekend to everyone else! ⭐ -S
26 Dec 2021 - 10:58
The Black Sea
Filling Up
26 Dec 2021 - 16:51
Yesterday we did a half day of cycling so that we had some time to have a Christmas catch up with family and do some route planning for the next couple of weeks.
This morning, after possibly the biggest breakfast of our lives, we set out to begin our journey along the Black Sea coast. We knew it would be a hilly day but the app we use for planning, which until now has been very reliable, was off by about 50% with how many metres we'd be climbing - this meant that the difficult day we had prepared for ended up being even tougher. The weather was good though and we had some amazing first views of the coast.
Tonight we have set up camp on an area of sand dunes. Tomorrow should be a flatter day and will give our sore muscles a chance to recover. -S
27 Dec 2021 - 16:38
Last night Lucy was kept awake for much of the night by the cries of a pack of Jackals that were circling the area where we were camping. We have crossed paths with Jackals on a number of nights in Albania, Greece, and Turkey - they seem harmless if left alone but their calls and the sound of them warning off other Jackals isn't particularly sleep inducing!
Thankfully today was a much flatter day than yesterday and again the weather has been almost perfect for us - cool and sunny with a gentle tailwind. We know this good weather will end in a few days - we are really enjoying it while it lasts though.
As we pass through towns and villages we are usually met by people with expressions caught somewhere between curiosity and bemusement. We can only imagine the reactions @mredpratt would have been greeted by when he pedaled along some of these very same roads on his unicycle 6 years ago.
Tomorrow and the next week or so are quite hilly again, and very steep in places, so we will be aiming to keep our distances lower than we have since leaving Istanbul. -S
Hotel
We planned a short day today after the last few long days... Though we didn't expect to arrive by midday! An afternoon to relax!
Today we had a series of tunnels along our route. We had planned 2 alternative routes as we usually do what we can to avoid tunnels, however as we approached them the road was relatively quiet and the weather was good (so other vehicles didn't have misted up windows) and it felt safe so we decided to go for it. This cut out a number of steep hills and probably the reason for our speedy progress!
29 Dec 2021 - 11:01
29 Dec 2021
Today was one of those days that started off really well and then around each corner just kept on getting better and better.
We were prepared for hills, but we didn't expect the magical views that we would be treated to as we were climbing them. We couldn't keep our eyes on the road because the scenery was so breath taking.
After a hard few hours cycling up from Eregli we reached the top and began our descent towards Zonguldak. We stopped in a service station to buy some fruit juice and have a breather where we got chatting to Ilker who was interested in our journey and gave us tips of places to visit on our route. Before we knew it he had invited us to spend the night at his house with his wife, two children, and a family friend - so we took the address and a few hours later found ourselves sharing an incredible homemade Turkish meal and discussing travel, language, politics, and life. It was a very special evening for us, to be welcomed into a family as if we were part of the household.
30 Dec 2021 - 17:35
When we planned our route for today Komoot told us there would be lots of very steep climbs. This morning Ilker warned us that the route we had chosen would be very steep. A number of people stopped us as we cycled out of Zonguldak to tell us that the road ahead was going to be very steep.
It shouldn't have been such a surprise when we found the road was too steep to cycle! We spent much of today pushing up hills. If nothing else it means our increasingly scrawny arms got a bit of a workout.
This evening we arrived in Filyos. Tomorrow we'll be heading to Bartin for new year and a day off the bikes.
Happy New Year
Looking back on our adventure so far. 🚴🏻♂️🚴🏼♀️ 🇬🇬🇫🇷🇩🇪🇦🇹🇮🇹🇭🇷🇲🇪🇦🇱🇬🇷🇹🇷
All the best for 2022!
We have collected a lot of mud, grit, and salt from the roads over the past few weeks so while we are having a day off today we popped to a garage to give the bikes a good clean.
Bus
The past 10 days have been a really nice introduction to the Black Sea - we've had incredible weather, amazing scenery, and have made new friends - but we have realised that our plan to cycle the length of the coast during winter may be a bit over-ambitious. We are feeling pressure from the weather, terrain, shorter days, and our Turkish time limit.
If we continue as we are we should just about make it to Batumi in time, but the pressure will make it less enjoyable and our daily judgement calls as to whether it is safe to ride or which route to take could become compromised by our need to be making progress East.
So, to take away the pressure of time, and to keep as safe as we can, we've decided to jump on a bus to Samsun and skip the next week of cycling. This means we are going to miss some of the scenic places that we had hoped to visit along the route. From Samsun we will cycle the remaining ~600km of coast to Batumi with plenty of spare days to sit out bad weather.
Samsun
Çarşamba
Back on the bikes today. The first of a few very flat days today. The road was pretty busy but we had a wide hard shoulder to ride along.
5 Jan 2022 - 14:21
It has been a nice couple of days now that we aren't feeling the time pressure that we were under before. Although the road here is a bit busier than before we have had more opportunity to stop for some sightseeing and taking breaks for çay, Turkish coffee, and baklava.
Tomorrow we are planning to detour a short distance into the hills to explore Ünye Castle and the countryside there before rejoining the coast again and following it around to Ordu.
Ünye Fortress
Cycle Path at Ünye
6.01.22
We imagined that the steep climbs, now being tackled on our own terms, might feel a bit easier... But this wasn't the case! Inclines which were at some points covered with slippery patches of algae made for a difficult climb.
Unfortunately, once we had reached the summit, we found that the castle was closed for renovation, though we did enjoy the beautiful views and a little hilltop nap in the warm winter sunshine.
I had struggled with the motivation to get up those hills this morning, and in the afternoon I appreciated the flat dual carriageway as we cruised alongside the stretches of beaches and promenades. I think I may have even got a little sunburnt.
- L
7 Jan 2022 - 13:46
Today we left the dual carriageway for the whole day and followed the coast around a rocky headland. Our plan was to camp out by the lighthouse but it turned out to be a very popular walking spot so we carried on going. We met Nermin (right in the photo) who is Turkish but grew up and has spent much of her life in Rosenheim (our last stop of Germany where we have family).
Tunnel Avoidance
9 Jan 2022 - 17:44
We'll be arriving in Trabzon in a couple of days, at about the same time as rain is due, and snow after that. We've had a week of sunshine and warm air making it feel like spring is here already - we are enjoying it before the return of winter next week.
Today there were a few tunnels along our route, including a long one which we didn't fancy cycling through. There was no gap in the centre barrier for a few km so we had to unload our bikes and climb over to reach a side road and follow the headland around.
Tirebolu Castle
Mountain Valley View
10 Jan 2022 - 20:04
We left the main road for a while again today to avoid some more long tunnels, it was pretty muddy and rough in places - we stopped for a chat with some ladies working on their vegetable patch (they speaking Turkish and us speaking English) - they didn't seem to rate our chances of making through the way we were headed (last time we ignored this advice, in Albania, I ended up going for a swim in the stagnant mud of a salt marsh!) but we decided to keep on going and it turned out to be a really nice ride - a change of scenery and much needed respite from the noisy traffic.
Trabzon
A very busy route into and through Trabzon - a big contrast to the mud tracks of yesterday!
We are going to rest here in a hotel for 2 or 3 days and shelter from the rain that arrived at the same time as we did.
12 Jan 2022 - 20:31
A day off the bikes allowed me to explore Trabzon in a different way. While Simon was catching up with some work I joined a tour to visit Soumela Monastery and experienced some snowy mountains as a stunning bonus! The monastery is closed at the moment but it could still be appreciated from the nearby roads.
-L
Snowy Mountain Views
We woke up to see mountains dusted with snow and I felt childlike excitement all day pointing out any snow covered cars. Cycling today was a real treat with crisp air and a (mostly) blue sky.
-L
16 Jan 2022 - 18:34
We\'ve had a couple of days indoors sheltering from the strong winds and snow. Hoping for a window in the weather tomorrow so that we can get back on the bikes.
Perfect Cycling Conditions
A break in the weather made for a great day on the bikes.
Hopa
Our final stop in Turkey. We are here in Hopa for a few days to wait for a band of rain to pass and to give us time to arrange our PCR test which is required to cross the border into Georgia.