January 29th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,Turkey
The weather forecast for today was rain, snow, and wind. I saw none of it, and had a great day of riding.
Snow and ice still remained after yesterday’s full day of cold rain and following snow during the night.
It was at times hard going up the very steep hills between Ayancik and Turkelli. The road had been cleared by a grader in the early morning, but the thin layer of snow that ramained meant that I had to concentrate on keeping the bike rolling over clear road. If not, the back wheel would spin.
I had read Peter Wulff’s account of his cycling along the Black Sea coast of Turkey yesterday, and according to him, there were some big hills. He is not wrong. The hills in this part of Turkey are the steepest I have cycled anywhere on this journey. I have only once ever climbed faster than 14m/min on this journey, and that was in Dushanbe in Tajikistan while cycling around the city on an unloaded bike.
I was doubting the accuracy of my map when it said it was 30km from Ayancik to Turkeli. The towns looked so close together. At least, as far as the crow flies they are. The road however snakes up rivers and up to about 400m above sea level before once again dropping down to Turkeli. The hills continued in this way for the whole day, but I was feeling strong and enjoying the challenge.
The steep downhills took their toll on my brakes however, and soon my front brake pads, which had not been changed since Uzbekistan, began making the tell tale sounds.
A simple two minute replacement job done, I was on my way again.
By the way, the next time I embark on a journey, it will be done like these guys. I met these Three Norwiegans (Nikolai, Per, and Øyvind), on the approach to Inebolu Town. They began their round the world tour on scooters in New York. Legendary. Meeting them made my day. Full respect to the classiest transport on the planet. They have a website!
I found a nice campspot right on the beach about 11kms from Inebolu. I made sure to pitch the tent upwind of the rotting dead cow though.
Do you have memories of Makarewa?
the smell of the freezing works!!!
Man, those guys are well kitted up. You are right, what a great way to see the world … on scooters. Nice and cheap as far as petrol goes, plus you get to see as much of the country as you would on a push bike with a lot less effort! MInd you , I don't think they would have done too well over those areas where there were huge boulders and river beds etc, like you had to go through.
There looks to be plenty of beach. Why camp near a rotting cow?
Aunty Les, looks can be deceiving. I can assure everybody that flat ground suitable for camping is far and few between here on the coast. Especially when you give yourself about 30 mins before it gets dark to come across a spot at the end of the day…
