Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 89.2km
Average speed / 平均速度: 13.9km/h
Time on bike / 走行時間: 6h 25m
Total distance to date / 今日までの積算距離: 2273.7km (plus 4200km)
Ascent / 上り: +715m
Descent / 下り: -1335m
The day began with a fruitless adventure, trying to cycle along a half finished empty canal. It all began when I began noticing tunnels all along the side of the road.
Now me being me, I just had to go check them out. There were sounds coming out of most of them suggesting that work was being done, so I resisted the very strong urge to explore the insides.
The canals however, were all deserted, so I cycled for about 2km along one particularly good stretch.
The degree of completeness quickly diminished however, until I was cycling on mud so sticky that on two occasions I had to remove the back wheel completely to clear out the mud from between the mud guards and tyre, that had caused the wheel from stopping turning…
“I know, how about we cycle to England on those well formed sealed roads down there!” I finally said to myself, thoroughly convinced that the last two hours of slow progress were not worth it at all. Made some nice photos though…
The rest of the day was spent battling short uphills followed by equally short downhills. The upside however was that I was chased by a gentle but persistent tail breeze.
At around 4pm, just as I was approaching Rushadiye, I spotted a group of men down by the river having a BBQ. They spotted me too, and began furiously waving me down, inviting me down for a feed. I joined them for chicken and tomatoes and bread.
Rather than stay in a hotel in Rushadiye, I pushed on for another 4kms to a riverside camp spot for the night just out of town.
permalink この記事についてコメントを書くToday’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 77.94km
Average speed / 平均速度: 17.1km/h
Time on bike / 走行時間: 4h 33m
Total distance to date / 今日までの積算距離: 2184.1km (plus 4200km)
Ascent / 上り: +610m
Descent / 下り: -1130m
There’s nothing quite like a 40km downhill to get the spirits up.
I had already loaded the bike up when I looked outside at the weather. Snow. Horizontal snow. I had checked out of the hotel already. It would be a pain to have to go back into the hotel…with any luck, the wind would be a tailwind…
Before leaving, I stopped in at the baker’s for some bread. Jolly interesting, these bakeries.
(イメージにクリックすると動画が新しいウィンドウに表示されます)
I was on the road by 7:20am. I love being on the road early. You cycle for three hours and it’s still morning. That’s a great feeling.
As hoped, the wind was a tailwind. It was blowing hard, but not into my face. The downhill lasted for more than an hour and a half.
However, by the time I was at an altitude of around 1200m, the snow had turned to rain. With Susehri only 20km away, the fact that I was going to be drenched didn’t matter.
Arrived in Susehri at about 12 noon. First impressions were not good, with indifferent and unhelpful hotel staff. And the locals seem to be scared of foreigners. They whisper to each other a few meters from me. I pick up ‘tourist’ and ‘bicycle’. If one of them does pluck up the courage to speak to me in English, you can almost see them shake, and they look as though they think I’m going to bite. Perhaps it’s the beard…
Plus the rain soon changed to slushy snow. If only it had been a nicer day, I could have gone much further, and camped for the night…I guess days like this make you appreciate the good days…
The weather forecast for tomorrow looks better, so I’ll be out of here early.
permalink 3通のコメントあり日本語要約:クルド人って、ご存じでしょうか。多くのトルコ人が嫌う民族です。僕はホテルの部屋で、4人のクルド人とシェアーしています。今まで、トルコ人から得たクルド人の印象は、クルド人は危なくて、望ましくない民族だという印象でした。しかし今日こうやってクルド人とせしたことで、クルド人はこの世界の99%の人と同じく、とても親切でいい人たちだということが分かりました。
I have had inklings for a while that there were cheaper rooms (less than NZ$10) at most of the hotels that I have stayed at so far in Turkey, so last night I inquired if there was anything cheaper. I was shown a 5 bed dorm room, which is perfectly OK for me, for NZ$7.
It turned out that the four others sleeping in the same dorm room were Kurdish builders, staying in Refahiye for five days to do some work on new apartment buildings being built in the town. One of them was Ilhami, a carpenter who spoke fairly good English. He invited me to the builders’ headquarters for breakfast along with the other builders.
The HQ was a three minute drive from the hotel, so we all piled into his Renault diesel car. The car obviously disliked being woken up so early on a cold morning, needing some persistent turn overs to get the engine to fire into life.
The HQ was a well built canvas tent next to the building site. The rest of the crew had already finished breakfast, so we got stuck into the remaining food. Fresh bread heated on the coal fueled pot belly stove, black olives, soft cheese, hazelnut spread, honey, and plenty of tea.
Ilhami later showed me his work on the buildings.
The kindness and generosity of these Kurds went in complete contrast to what every Turk that I have met has told me about these people. The Turks apparently greatly dislike the Kurds, and even the very nice owner of a restaurant in Posof in eastern Turkey said that the Kurds are unwanted and certainly not needed in Turkey. It appears that the Kurds are one of the biggest ethnic groups of people on the globe that do not have a nation state of their own. According to that Wikipedia article link above, the Kurds have fought Turkey, among other nations, for recognition. Must be where all the anti-Kurd sentiment is coming from in Turkey I guess…
The rest of the day here was spent updating the website, and checking up on the progress of other blogging cyclists on my links page.
Tomorrow I head north west towards Amashye.
I leave you with an image that I far too frequently see here in Turkey. I have seen more of these in Turkey than in any other country. It makes my stomach churn to see a man’s best friend like this.
やっとです。風がやんだ。空気がすんでいて、最高の１日でした。
夕べ、ちょっとだけ怖かったです。夜中1時過ぎに、テントの外に音がしました。
動物が何かのの委を嗅いでいるような音。そして足の音。うわさのオオカミなのか。心臓が止まりそうでした。ウサギだよと、僕が自分に言いました。しばらくすると音がなくなりました。オオカミが多いってみんながいうから、そうだったかも。。。
朝が来るとほっとして、出発の準備をしました。朝ご飯の用意(ポリッジ - 燕麦(えんばく)300mlのコップいっぱい、カバノキ、乾燥アンズ、乾燥ブドウ、オリブ油、塩、水750ml - これを全部混ぜて、15分火を通す)、荷物の整理と荷作り、テントをばらす、荷物を自転車に乗せる。だいたい2時間の時間が必要。
今日の天気は素晴らしかったです。風が全くなくて、音は道路の横の砂と時に石が落ちている音だけ。最高。
峠のうえまで上る道は長くて急でしたが、ゆっくりと上って、午後1時ごろに頂上につきました。そのあとは下りだけ。
(イメージをクリックすると動画が新しいウィンドウに表示されます)
レファヒエ町についたら、子どもたちが走ってきて、Hello mister, you want hotel?と叫びました。6人の男の子が親切に僕をホテルまで連れてくれて、荷物と自転車を元気よくホテルの3階まで運んでくれました。いつの間にか、明日、同じ男の子たちはレファヒエ町のツアーをしてくれることになりました。にぎやかになりそう。
夜の食事はオスマンさんのレストランで食べました。レストランの壁にトルコの骨董品がぶら下げていて、いい雰囲気でした。
Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 55.58km
Average speed / 平均速度: 10.2km/h
Time on bike / 走行時間: 5h 25m
Total distance to date / 今日までの積算距離: 2060.4km (plus 4200km)
Ascent / 上り: +590m
Descent / 下り: -175m
日本語要約:向かい風が吹き続ける。いつやめるのか。長い、長い上り坂。しかし１日の終の近く、2人のドイツ人と出逢って、暖かい出会いとなりました。
Woke up feeling great. No head wind, it was relatively warm (only -5 degrees). Today is going to be a great day!
By the time I had packed up the tent however, the familiar stiff headwind from yesterday had picked up again. I decided to push hard. Head wind shmed wind. I can beat this, I thought.
Problem was that the headwind was cold. I cycle hard, I heat up. I sweat. I remove layers of clothing. The chilly wind cools my body too much… In the end I resigned to plod on at a slow pace to avoid sweating too much. Ugh.
(Click on image for short video clip - will open in a new window)
Erzincan was only 20km away, so I am there by 9am. A rather convenient time to indulge in a second breakfast. The first was my usual porrage (rolled oats (300ml mug full), hazel nuts, dried apricots, raisins, three tablespoons of olive oil, salt, 750ml water, boiled for 15 minutes, sugar on top), the second was Turkish Chicken Doner.
I attempted to update the website at a nearby internet cafe, but only succeeded in uploading a few photos. The computer I was on was slow and sluggish.
The headwind lasted all day as I inched up the ever so gradual almost unnoticeable uphill out of Erzingan. It was one of those roads that stretched into the distance, ever so straight. You can see where you need to get to, and you are moving at a snails pace to get there.
I stopped at a truckers’ cafe for lunch. They had the best sized portions of any restaurant I have been to here in Turkey. 300 plus grams of fried chicken and a massive salad. I paid for it though. NZ$7. The most I’ve paid for a meal in Turkey.
It was around 3pm when the most unexpected thing happened.
“Aye? Those two don’t look like Turks!” I thought to myself.
Sure enough, the couple driving the Volkswagen Campervan were not Turks, but Michael and his girlfriend (if you’re reading this, Michael, do remind me of your girlfriend’s name), driving from Germany to India. What an adventure. On a bicycle, you cross borders with very little hassle. With a vehicle, you’ve got all sorts of document stuff you need to think about.
They treated me to some great German coffee, and we parted ways. Thanks guys, you lightened up an otherwise tough day.
permalink この記事についてコメントを書くToday’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 82.77km
Average speed / 平均速度: 13.3km/h
Time on bike / 走行時間: 6h 13m
Total distance to date / 今日までの積算距離: 2004.8km (plus 4200km)
Ascent / 上り: +210m
Descent / 下り: -460m
一日中向かい風が強く吹いていました。それに旅の最初のパンク。
5時半に起きました。起きてすぐにバナナ2本、マンダリン3個、パン300グラムを食べました。昨日の夜にミルクを買うべきでした。朝はミルクが必要、僕は。
ホテルを出たのは7時15分でした。街はまだ静かに眠っている。
最初の30分の走行はいつものように、体がまだ起きていない状態で。周りがあまり意識していない。しかし冷たい風が服の隙間を通り抜けて、目を覚ませます。
それでも、今日の自転車はいつもよりも重く感じていました。昨日のきつい上り坂のせいなのか。9時ごろにおやつを食べに、しばらく止まりました。後でこぎ出す時に気付きました。パンクだ!こいつは珍しいな。旅が始まって最初のパンクでした。
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パンクをすぐになおりましたが、10時過ぎに冷たい向かい風が吹き始めました。１日だけでも追い風が欲しいなと思いながらこいでいました今日の道は下り坂が多かったですが、狭い谷に吹く向かい風が強くて、思い通り進まなかった。
線路の近くにキャンプをしています。気温は比較的に温かいマイナス1度です。
Today’s distance: 113.03km
Average speed: 15.1km/h
Time pedalling: 6h 47m
Ascent: 790m
Descent: 1230m
Distance to Date: 1922.0km (plus 4200km on old speedo)
I only took one photo today.
And that’s it. I think I may be getting some hints. I have crossed this pipeline so many times in the last two months, and saw the beginning of it in Baku, Azerbaijan, that maybe I should make the detour to Ceyhan to see the end of it…might be a chunky 500km or more detour though…
The day began with a 5km dead end mistake that saw me ride to the entrance of the Erzurum air force base. I thought I was going towards Ashker.
“The road to Ahsker is back that way!” the helpful soldier said in good English.
Man I hate it when that happens.
Once on the correct road - a four lane highway with light traffic with the sweetest verge I have ever ridden on - it was a beautiful mostly slight downhill ride to Ashker. The road was smooth and snow-free, and my knee only uttered a few grunts in the morning while it warmed up.
From Ashker after lunch it was a long 300m uphill that was gradual enough to mean that it took about an hour to climb. The resulting downhill however was awesome. Half an hour of downhill wonder on the same smooth four lane highway with little traffic. I love it when that happens.
So, the knee is feeling strong, and it was a good long day of cycling. Hit an angry dog on the snout too.
OK, just now in the internet cafe I took a couple of candid pics. They are of the kid next to me playing a role play game involving lots of shooting people with automatic weapons. He is hardly big enough to reach the keyboard and mouse, but knows all the cheat keys, and is totally absorbed in the game. I could have stuck the camera up his nose and he wouldn’t have noticed.
日本語要約:地図には峠がなかった。峠がありました。2、200mの峠でした。向かい風に吹かれ、途中で気持ち的に大変でした。そしてとうげのむこうがわにもかぜにふかれて。そのうえ、右の膝あに痛みが生じてしまいました。右足に力を入れることができないくらい。あ~~~。エルズルム市に2日間休むことにしました。
I have done something to my knee. I hope it doesn’t last too long. I can’t put any power into my right knee otherwise it hurts like jolly billio’s. I do have a knee support thingee deep within my panniers somewhere so I hope that helps. I think the cause of this could have been either yesterday’s happy jumping spree or the killer passes today and yesterday, or a combination of both…
I need to write to the map company that makes the map I used up till Erzurum. They failed to mention the 2,200m pass between Tortum and Erzurum. I began having those nasty negative thoughts, similar to that time in Tajikistan, as I was being battered and abused by the slope and accompanying strong freezing head wind. There was only one thing I could do in order to get over that pass today.
“I have the physical ability to do this.”
“I am capable of this challenge.”
“I enjoy cycling.”
“I love being here right now.”
I knew I was lying to myself, but as I said those words out loud, they made me feel better.
For some reason I was really cold today. Serves me right for not eating enough at breakfast. It is amazing how important a solid breakfast is. It heats my body for most of the morning. Today as I dropped into the Erzurum basin, the wind cut into me like a knife.
Cold fingers.
Excruciating “must stop and moan” pain as fingers heat up again.
For the first time I wore my down jacket for more than 10 minutes of cycling. I wore it all the way from the top of the pass today to Erzurum (40km). All because of an insufficient breakfast.
(click on this for short video - will open in new window)
Erzurum is a big city of 402,000 people. I cycled around as long as my right knee would allow it before stopping at a cafe for lunch. Right next to the cafe was a hotel. To my surprise they had a standard $7 room. Promptly checked in and wandered to the nearest internet cafe. Internet cafes are rarely more than a 15 minute walk from anywhere in towns and cities in Turkey.
The plan is to take tomorrow off, and since it’s just not the done thing to cycle on a Sunday, will leave Erzurum on Monday. This should give my knee some time to get its act together.
permalink この記事についてコメントを書く今日は今まで一番きつかった１日でした。１日(7時間)で合計で1、470mを上り、それでも80km近く走行ができました。やった~!
オルツ町をでて、すぐに気温が氷点下15土に下がりました。時間が立っても、１日の最高気温はわずか氷点下7度でした。
10km走っていない内に、犬がやってきました。またか~と思いながら、いつも武器に使っているアルミのパイプをだして、攻撃を待ちました。しかし今回は違う。何と犬は静かに僕のそばを走っています。やさしいな、こいつ。
ちょっとリスクはありましたが、犬を呼んで、触ってみました。本当に人馴れで、何もしませんでした。そして首輪を見てください。このような首輪はよくみます。飼い犬が野良犬に首にかまれないようにつけてあります。
標高2000mまで上る道は急ではなかったが、午後3時ごろに着いた真剣な坂道はトルコらしく、非常に急でした。トルトム村まではまだ後30kmの距離で、標高400mほどを上らないといけませんでした。絶対に暗くならないうちにトルトム村に着かないと思って、気が落ちました。峠の頂上あたりにキャンプするしかない。
と思ったら午後4時に頂上に着きました。ここからは下り坂だけだ!やってみよう!
1、400mを上るには5時間以上がかかりました。1、200mを降るのにわずか30分かかりました。
トルトム村に見事に4時半に着きました。トルトム村にホテルがなくて、教師住宅謙旅行者宿泊の施設に泊まっています。一泊700円です。
permalink 2通のコメントありMmmmmm. Downhill riding. I can’t remember the last time I did 70km before lunch. I dropped from an altitude of 2,200m to 1,000m, and then only had a 250m climb back up to 1,250m (with a few ups and downs in between of course).
It was cold again as I pulled out of Gole. A balmy -20 to be exact. It was only when I started dropping in altitude that I was able to see the surrounding landscape.
Thıs photo shows the beginning of the downhill from Gole to a small town called Asker. About 35kms of downhill in total, before climbing up through red dirt hills that look like miniature mountains…
One thing that I have really appreciated about Turkey so far is the abundance of running water at the roadside. There is often running drinking water every 20km or so. Certainly saves having to carry so much water at any one time.
I rolled into Oltu, a town of 21,200 inhabitants at 12:20pm. Great feeling to have done 75km before lunch. As much as I wanted to push on to make it a 100km day, I decided to stay the night here in Oltu. Rest while I’m feeling good, I figured…
Oltu unfortunately isn’t living up to the expectations that I have developed for Turkish people however. It is a busy town. Gone are the locals who take you under their wing, feed you tea till you overdose, and then find you a hotel. But I guess that is to be expected of a big town. Give me the backcountry towns any day…
Oh and I have found a cure for any lack of energy woes. OralGas. One puff a day keeps the doctor away!
