Archive for October, 2007
Thursday, October 25th, 2007
64km Yeşilova to Sülekler
Today was a complete contrast to the previous run of rainy weather that had us feeling down. We pulled back the curtains from our hotel room window and saw blue skies and sunshine. Perfect! We packed up quickly and rushed out to enjoy the roads in a way we haven’t for a few days. It turned out to be an almost-perfect day of pedalling. A few small towns early on let us stock up on goodies and then we turned onto a scenic route heading south where the huge sky filled with fluffy white clouds was matched only by the rocky mountains hovering on the horizon. A little stream babbled beside the road. We admired leaves on the trees which had turned shades of orange, yellow and red and farm workers out taking in the autumn harvest waved to us from the fields. We went up and up, around twists in the road, continually climbing until finally we reached a pass that took us by surprise – despite being over 1,500m it wasn’t on our map!
The downhill was also a welcome and unexpected treat and very handy as just at the peak Friedel’s bike decided, without warning, to stop changing gears on the back ring. We used the descent to easily cover a few more kilometers and then settled on a hilltop camping spot where Andrew sits now, trying his hand at fixing gears and shifting mechanisms. It’s something neither of us know anything about so if we can’t figure out what’s gone wrong we may have to head straight to the big city of Antalya to seek out a bike mechanic instead of doing a longer route along the coast.
1 Comment » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Turkey by andrew
Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
In the mud in Turkey
Oh, what a wonderful morning! Well, ‘wonderful’ in the way only pushing your loaded bicycle through a field of mud in the rain can be. Now you can see why we needed a break after this! Tomorrow should be better, or so the weather man promises…
No Comments » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Turkey, Video by friedel
Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
34km Karahüyükafşar to Yeşilova
The weather forecast said sun, sun, sun when we checked it yesterday but over the past few days we’ve had just the opposite — a run of rain. One day of rain is okay, two is manageable but after three days of wet weather you start to feel a little down. This morning’s drops turned our field campsite into a mud hole and our heavy bikes sunk into the muck, the wheels completely stopped from turning by the thick clay that coated the tyres and brakes.
We had to carry our bikes out of the field and then take shelter in an abandoned building, where we scraped the mud out with our hands so the wheels would turn again. Late in the morning we finally got underway, with a fine drizzle still falling on our heads. The clouds cleared a little as we came over a mountain pass, giving us a fine view onto a lake below with its turquoise blue waters. Even on a grey day the reflection from the lake was beautiful but before we could snap a picture the rain returned so by the time we got to the town of Yeşilova we’d had enough.
A hearty lunch of pide – the Turkish version of a pizza – gave us a chance to think and we decided stopping early for the day would do the trick to get us back on track. Happily this little town is just big enough for a hotel that is reasonably clean and doesn’t break the bank so we snapped up a room, cleared the laundry out of our panniers and sat back, hoping for the weather to improve tomorrow.
1 Comment » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Turkey by andrew
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007
57km Karahisar to Karahüyükafşar
There’s something wonderful about rolling out of a tent in the morning. Views across fields and mountains, fresh air… and for Friedel especially this morning there was a double happiness that we were able to get up at all after an overnight scare from the weather.
What started out as a normal evening turned into a fierce rain and lightning storm that lasted well over an hour and, while Andrew stayed perfectly calm, playing the role of the strong man, Friedel was having a fit as every flash of lightning lit up our tent like a light bulb.
Let’s face it. When you’re camping with bicycles (no car to take refuge in) and in the middle of nowhere without buildings to run to, there’s not a lot you can do to minimise your risk of being hit in a lightning storm and the thought of being fried by a bolt from above was frightening. (more…)
1 Comment » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Journal Entries, Turkey by andrew
Monday, October 22nd, 2007
30km Geyre to Karahisar
A fantastic breakfast started our day off right but it quickly went downhill from there. We couldn’t resist the hotel’s offer to cook us breakfast for a very reasonable price and we gorged ourselves on eggs fresh from the chickens running round the yard as well as homemade jam, bread, olives, tomatoes, cheese and a huge pot of coffee. The storm clouds started to gather and we asked the hotel owner about the weather report but he gave us a disdainful look and informed us it hadn’t rained in months so he didn’t expect anything to change today.
The owner was wrong of course. Not long after his prediction the water started to fall from the sky in buckets. We’d just started out on the road when the downpour really got going, around the same time as we discovered a flat in Friedel’s back tyre. Thankfully we were only meters from a petrol station so we did a run for cover and fixed the tyre while three bemused service station attendants looked on.
There are so many gas stations in Turkey and they are nearly always devoid of customers when we pass, we have to wonder how in the world anyone affords to employ so many staff! In any case, after providing entertainment for three bored employees we sat under the forecourt awning for some time and discussed our options. We voted for a tour of the town and then to do a run back to the hotel for tea, waiting to see how the day would develop. (more…)
