Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 150.05km
Average speed / 平均速度: 17.3km/h
Time on bike / 走行時間: 8h 39m
Total distance to date / 今日までの積算距離: 2423.2km (plus 4200km)
Ascent / 上り: +1095m
Descent / 下り: -1180m
Today was officially the longest day (both time and distance wise) of the journey so far. 150km, in 8 hours and 39 minutes. It certainly wasn’t the flattest day of the journey, with over 1,000m climbed on the many ups and downs of the day, so it was a very satisfying day.
The day began with a hard frost that retreated quickly as the sun stretched its arms across the hills.
From my campspot down by the river, I didn’t notice that the wind was already blowing strong. For once the wind was blowing in the direction that I was going. I’ve never felt so strong. Powering up the hills, and flying down the other side. Only stopping to eat or to drink, or take the (very) occasional photograph.
When I think back over the day, which covered almost two times my usual distance for one day, it is hard to recall every thing I saw. I passed through countless towns, one of which had the most brick firing kilns I have ever seen in my life. Tashova town must be famous for bricks, or something, because the main road going into town was lined with bricks drying in the sun. The main type of bricks here in Turkey are quite different to those in NZ. They are as you see in the photo below. ‘Hollow’.
At a roadside cafe where I stopped for tea and a quick warm up, was this contraption.
It is a thermostat controlled heat blower that gets its heat from a small furnace under the big jet like top piece. The heat from the firebox heats the pipes in the center of the jet, and a fan at the other end of the jet blows air through the hot tubes. The fan is connected to a thermostat, so that the unit shuts off when it gets too cold. I thought my Dad might be interested in this for his new workshop in NZ…
I’m not sure what I ate, or what kept me going, but I cycled well into the night. It was not until 5:30pm (about 45 mins after dark) when I ordered myself to stop, and find a spot to sleep. That is 10 hours on the road. 7:30am till 5:30pm. Epic day for me.
All around me were orchards. I found a convenient pagoda on someone’s land, and crashed there exhausted.
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