Saturday 19 May 2012

20 May Stage 38 Selcuk - Cine

Dep  945     Arr  3.45     Dist  89.8 km      Total  3807.5 km

The link with the FIG event didn't materialise after all. Terry contacted me later and we had a chat. The connection here in the Artemis was intermittent but I still can't understand what happened.

I didn't realise but Selcuk is the modern name for Ephesus. There is a castle - the castle - up above me as I type this in the garden over breakfast. So that's why there are so many hotels in this relatively small town.

Last night I had my fish, with chips, rice and salad. It was huge, and delicious and then went for a nap and emerged later to watch the big game. Unbelievable drama - well done Chelsea.

I'm heading towards Mugla today and hope to get as far as I can to make tomorrow's ride as short as possible. The climb up to Mugla is one of the toughest climbs of the whole journey and I want to make it in one piece. I'll have a day off in Mugla and then finish the job.

The early climb was quite tough and I was 500m from the top when I was joined by Christoph, who is a 63 year old German chap who is on his way around the world. Someone even older than me going further, a lot further than me. It's just not on. We decided to ride together for a while and were careering down the other side when another heavily laden cyclist appeared coming the other way. This chap was quite young and was from South Korea, of all places, and had been away for about a year. He was camping every night and living on fruit from the trees. He actually had no money but didn't seem bothered at all. Humbling if you ask me.

After the initial uphill slog the ride was mainly flat or downhill on decent roads and with little or no wind. There were only a couple of little humps near the end and we made good ground working together like a well-oiled machine. We decided to settle on Cine as a place to stop, mainly because there are no decent sized towns between here and Mugla and, therefore little chance of a hotel further on. There is no wireless in the hotel but we have found an internet cafe and I'm blogging here now. Tough, tough day tomorrow, 700m or so uphill to Mugla. Can't wait.

Today's track

 http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/ODg1MTc%3D

2 comments:

  1. Hi Tom
    Have you decided which way you will go tomorrow, the view from the Mugla pass is spectacular, and downhill all the way.

    Phil

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  2. Phil

    Sorry but I'm not leaving Mugla till Wednesday. I'm having a day off on Tuesday. I will be leaving at about 10 on Wednesday and will be going through Ula and Karabogurtlen. I don't know how long it takes but would like to meet you on the way. Maybe at Ula at 1045 and Karabogurtlen at 11.30. Let me know where you'll be and I'll look out for you.

    Cheers

    Tom

    ReplyDelete