I enjoyed waking up this morning at 7.20, realising I wasn't going anywhere and turning over several times. Breakfast finished at 9.30 and I only just made it. It was Turkish breakfast, buffet style which meant four cups of tea and lots of jam butties with the odd olive and slab of cheese. All the boiled eggs had gone. Serves me right.
I went for a wander this morning and changed some money, had a haircut with all the works, and bought a few nick-nacks. I had a chicken doner and a beer for lunch and have been replying to emails and sorting out paperwork this afternoon. I also looked at a few flights home which was a really weird feeling.
I actually had a sleep this afternoon for a couple of hours which surprised me. I felt OK but I must have needed it. I had my tea and a couple of beers quite late over the road. I couldn't be bothered walking any further. Walking isn't for me anymore. I need wheels. Ominous.
I will be leaving at around 10.00 tomorrow and heading for Ortaca. Just after the village of Ula, I will hopefully be meeting up with Phil and Pete who contacted me through comments on the blog. There is a long downhill section then with apparently astounding views. At Ortaca I will be meeting friends who will be accommodating me for the night. I am really looking forward to meeting up with them again. Thursday will see me make my way to Ciftlik where I will stay with more friends at a secret location before meeting up with the entourage for the ride in to Fethiye on Friday which will be a fantastic experience for me and one I'm looking forward to very much, and not just because it's the end of the ride.
I have just been informed that there has been a change to the riding in schedule on Friday. We will all be convening at Ciftlik at about 3 pm and leaving for Fethiye at about 3.30 to arrive at about 4.00 which is an hour later than originally planned.
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Monday, 21 May 2012
21 May Stage 39 Cine - Mugla
Dep 9.15 Arr 3.00 Dist 63.8 km Total 3871.3 km
After taking advantage of the limited blogging opportunity in the noisy internet cafe Christoph and I went hunting for some food. I had sort of had my way with chicken shish at dinnertime so he was understandably insistent on his favourite, corba, which is soup, and we wandered around for a while trying to find an appropriate place. I was a bit knackered and I let the old guy have his way but we just couldn't find a soup kitchen. We actually ended up in a fast food pizza express next door but one to the hotel after a full lap of the town centre (about 400m) I ordered chicken shish with chips and ended up with pide which is a pizaa on bread, and no chips Christoph had the most enormous pizza which he wolfed down. I fancied a beer, surprise, surprise, but there were no obvious outlets so we went to our respective rooms for the night.
It's worth describing our arrival at the hotel at this point. I had my plan sorted. Separate rooms. Chris must have some Yorkshire blood and he actually considered sharing and kicked of good style about there being no breakfast. I've got some stuff on my bike but he's got twice as much, for obvious reasons. Either of us would have filled a double room with the contents of our bags. Anyway, 70ytl for a double, 40ytl each for a single - no contest We just assumed there would be wifi and we took our stuff up three floors only to find there wasn't any. I actually considered loading the bike up again but the proximity of an internet cafe took that out of the equation.
I was sat in the room and it wasn't very late. I still fancied a beer so I nipped down to the shop downstairs and snaffled a couple of cold ones. I enjoyed them immensely while watching Turkish TV.
I didn't sleep well at all. What's more I found in the morning that my phone hadn't charged properly and Terry was going to text me the address of the hotel in Mugla which he had arranged for me. Tension on it! Chris and I convened at nine at another of the tiny cafes around the tiny hotel and had some pastry with cay and it was a decent start to the day especially since I had already had a packet of biscuits in the room.
The first half hour was a doddle, flat or down with no wind. The rest wasn't. It was a tough uphill grind with an occasional short downhill bit. It started with a steep climb for 5km after Eskicine, then just gradual uphill until another big steep one just after halfway and then another gradual climb up again to Mugla I knew what to expect because I had seen the profile when I made the first plan and had then frantically looked at other routes but there weren't any. So it was head down push one, push the other, blow the sweat off the nose, you know the drill etc. We stopped for lunch at a posh petrol station place after we had got past half way and Christoph's dream nearly came true. It looked like soup but it was actually a lovely chicken stew, which we had with rice and tons of bread and not too expensive either. We knuckled down and made it to Mugla itself. We found a place to have a coffee and had a last drink and chat and made our farewells. I checked my phone and the hotel details were there. There was only about 10% power left on my phone so it was a close one. Chris had to make progress to get to Antalya for a ferry to Cyprus and then on to Israel for a ferry to Morocco, overland in Africa to Ghana and then a boat to Brazil. We will keep in touch and I hope all goes well for the lad.
I was then left with the task of finding the hotel from the address that Terry had texted me. My phone was on its last legs, battery-wise but, miraculously the text was there. I then asked a waiter at the coffee place and found I was very close. I found the hotel about five minutes later. I got everything plugged in and charging and listened to England winning the test match and then had a monumental swill and ventured out for food and drink. I have had my usual with a couple of beers and actually later found a street with a few pubs in. I had a mini pub crawl of three places. One was a nice garden type place where there were two policemen talking loudly to the staff until they left with a bottle of Jack Daniels - a gift, the barman told me. The second was was a very dimly lit bar which had a lot of women in but strangely none of them had a drink. The third was an Irish bar with not the slightest bit of Irish-ness about it apart from the odd shamrock.
I made it back to the hotel with some crisps and a couple of cans and will have a proper sleep in tomorrow. I can't believe I'm so close after all this time but then I think about Christoph and his adventure, of which I've been a very small part, and the young Korean Jeonghwan Kim who's been 'out here' for a year or more and will be for a lot longer.
Today's track
http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/ODkzMzI%3D
After taking advantage of the limited blogging opportunity in the noisy internet cafe Christoph and I went hunting for some food. I had sort of had my way with chicken shish at dinnertime so he was understandably insistent on his favourite, corba, which is soup, and we wandered around for a while trying to find an appropriate place. I was a bit knackered and I let the old guy have his way but we just couldn't find a soup kitchen. We actually ended up in a fast food pizza express next door but one to the hotel after a full lap of the town centre (about 400m) I ordered chicken shish with chips and ended up with pide which is a pizaa on bread, and no chips Christoph had the most enormous pizza which he wolfed down. I fancied a beer, surprise, surprise, but there were no obvious outlets so we went to our respective rooms for the night.
It's worth describing our arrival at the hotel at this point. I had my plan sorted. Separate rooms. Chris must have some Yorkshire blood and he actually considered sharing and kicked of good style about there being no breakfast. I've got some stuff on my bike but he's got twice as much, for obvious reasons. Either of us would have filled a double room with the contents of our bags. Anyway, 70ytl for a double, 40ytl each for a single - no contest We just assumed there would be wifi and we took our stuff up three floors only to find there wasn't any. I actually considered loading the bike up again but the proximity of an internet cafe took that out of the equation.
I was sat in the room and it wasn't very late. I still fancied a beer so I nipped down to the shop downstairs and snaffled a couple of cold ones. I enjoyed them immensely while watching Turkish TV.
I didn't sleep well at all. What's more I found in the morning that my phone hadn't charged properly and Terry was going to text me the address of the hotel in Mugla which he had arranged for me. Tension on it! Chris and I convened at nine at another of the tiny cafes around the tiny hotel and had some pastry with cay and it was a decent start to the day especially since I had already had a packet of biscuits in the room.
The first half hour was a doddle, flat or down with no wind. The rest wasn't. It was a tough uphill grind with an occasional short downhill bit. It started with a steep climb for 5km after Eskicine, then just gradual uphill until another big steep one just after halfway and then another gradual climb up again to Mugla I knew what to expect because I had seen the profile when I made the first plan and had then frantically looked at other routes but there weren't any. So it was head down push one, push the other, blow the sweat off the nose, you know the drill etc. We stopped for lunch at a posh petrol station place after we had got past half way and Christoph's dream nearly came true. It looked like soup but it was actually a lovely chicken stew, which we had with rice and tons of bread and not too expensive either. We knuckled down and made it to Mugla itself. We found a place to have a coffee and had a last drink and chat and made our farewells. I checked my phone and the hotel details were there. There was only about 10% power left on my phone so it was a close one. Chris had to make progress to get to Antalya for a ferry to Cyprus and then on to Israel for a ferry to Morocco, overland in Africa to Ghana and then a boat to Brazil. We will keep in touch and I hope all goes well for the lad.
I was then left with the task of finding the hotel from the address that Terry had texted me. My phone was on its last legs, battery-wise but, miraculously the text was there. I then asked a waiter at the coffee place and found I was very close. I found the hotel about five minutes later. I got everything plugged in and charging and listened to England winning the test match and then had a monumental swill and ventured out for food and drink. I have had my usual with a couple of beers and actually later found a street with a few pubs in. I had a mini pub crawl of three places. One was a nice garden type place where there were two policemen talking loudly to the staff until they left with a bottle of Jack Daniels - a gift, the barman told me. The second was was a very dimly lit bar which had a lot of women in but strangely none of them had a drink. The third was an Irish bar with not the slightest bit of Irish-ness about it apart from the odd shamrock.
I made it back to the hotel with some crisps and a couple of cans and will have a proper sleep in tomorrow. I can't believe I'm so close after all this time but then I think about Christoph and his adventure, of which I've been a very small part, and the young Korean Jeonghwan Kim who's been 'out here' for a year or more and will be for a lot longer.
Today's track
http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/ODkzMzI%3D
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
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
Friday, 18 May 2012
19 May Stage 37 Izmir - Selcuk
Dep 9.45 Arr 3.30 Dist 80.6 km Total 3717.7 km
I opened the blinds to a nice sunny morning with not a cloud in view so the cape was relegated to the bottom of the bag. I had a look at the route and noticed that Kusadasi was actually a bit out of the way and I could save myself a bit of time by finding somewhere on or nearer to the main road. That place was Selcuk which is quite small but the internet showed any number of cheap guest houses there so that became the new plan. I didn't know if breakfast was included but wasn't really bothered. I just wanted to get going. I had had a serious look at the way out of Izmir and it wasn't going to be easy. Ironically, it was much the same as the dolmus ride I had had yesterday which was a stroke of luck in a way but a real nuisance in another way because of the busy nature of the roads.
I stuck to the inside lane and used the footpath whenever I could although it was very uneven and very slow. Safety was all important and I still had a couple of near-ish misses as cars and vans went across me as they turned off the main road. I had read the route quite well though and, after an hour and a half of nervous riding, I made it out of this sprawling and very busy city into the country and a nice smooth wide hard shoulder. Progress was steady. I called at a petrol station and got some of these fantastic Turkish biscuits for breakfast. I ate a packet straight away and placed the other packet opened in the bar bag for my ten minute treat which reduced to every 5 minutes and then less for some unknown reason. The small towns rolled by and I was 20km or so from Selcuk when it clouded over and the wind got up. I got a bit wet and the last hour was slow progress but I arrived in the town and slowed down looking for a place to stay as I neared the centre. As I crawled along a car stopped in front of me and a man stepped out and asked 'Are you looking for a nice place to stay?' I said I was and he proceeded to tell me, in perfect English, about his place which was 600m back and a bit off the road. It sounded right and I followed him there - and I am here now actually, where I am writing this chapter in the sunshine of his garden while waiting for the FIG gang to contact me for my latest guest appearance. I'm having a Turkish tea but will soon be having a beer or two and Falcus will be cooking me a fish with the trimmings as I watch the Championship play-off and then the Champions League final in his bar if I can stay awake long enough. Nothing yet from Terry and the FIG fundraising event.
Today's track
http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/ODc5MTI%3D
I opened the blinds to a nice sunny morning with not a cloud in view so the cape was relegated to the bottom of the bag. I had a look at the route and noticed that Kusadasi was actually a bit out of the way and I could save myself a bit of time by finding somewhere on or nearer to the main road. That place was Selcuk which is quite small but the internet showed any number of cheap guest houses there so that became the new plan. I didn't know if breakfast was included but wasn't really bothered. I just wanted to get going. I had had a serious look at the way out of Izmir and it wasn't going to be easy. Ironically, it was much the same as the dolmus ride I had had yesterday which was a stroke of luck in a way but a real nuisance in another way because of the busy nature of the roads.
I stuck to the inside lane and used the footpath whenever I could although it was very uneven and very slow. Safety was all important and I still had a couple of near-ish misses as cars and vans went across me as they turned off the main road. I had read the route quite well though and, after an hour and a half of nervous riding, I made it out of this sprawling and very busy city into the country and a nice smooth wide hard shoulder. Progress was steady. I called at a petrol station and got some of these fantastic Turkish biscuits for breakfast. I ate a packet straight away and placed the other packet opened in the bar bag for my ten minute treat which reduced to every 5 minutes and then less for some unknown reason. The small towns rolled by and I was 20km or so from Selcuk when it clouded over and the wind got up. I got a bit wet and the last hour was slow progress but I arrived in the town and slowed down looking for a place to stay as I neared the centre. As I crawled along a car stopped in front of me and a man stepped out and asked 'Are you looking for a nice place to stay?' I said I was and he proceeded to tell me, in perfect English, about his place which was 600m back and a bit off the road. It sounded right and I followed him there - and I am here now actually, where I am writing this chapter in the sunshine of his garden while waiting for the FIG gang to contact me for my latest guest appearance. I'm having a Turkish tea but will soon be having a beer or two and Falcus will be cooking me a fish with the trimmings as I watch the Championship play-off and then the Champions League final in his bar if I can stay awake long enough. Nothing yet from Terry and the FIG fundraising event.
Today's track
http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/ODc5MTI%3D
18 May Stage 36 Yenisakran - Izmir
Dep 9.50 Arr 3.20 Dist 71.6 km Total 3637.1
Yesterday evening I had just about achieved an acceptable level of pinkness when the sun went down over my little bungalow. Guldem, the lovely lady responsible for this establishment, had recognised my craving for Turkish tea and had very kindly brought me a couple of cups while I was blogging away in the evening sunshine.
I went and got dressed and found a place to eat by the seaside. It was a bit cloudy and cool but looked like a nice sea front. I had chicken kofte and a Tuborg and returned for my high tech link-up with the FIG gang in Ovacik, not Fethiye as I had earlier reported. I think it went well. I don't think I made too much of a nit of myself and allowed people to see that there was really somebody out there.
I came back and phoned home and also rang Nigel from the Thursday night gang, just as he was sitting down to his first pint in the Anvil, or so I thought. He was at home. It turns out that they hadn't gone out at all. This is unheard of. I will have to get home and fix that!
I awoke in the morning just after six to the unusual sound of rain on the window. The sky was very, very gloomy and I did the only decent thing. I turned over and went back to sleep. An hour and a half later the weather was at least as bad but I got up and started the long, slow process. I was making a coffee when I saw a shape at the door. It was Guldem with a tray of Turkish breakfast. The room was a right mess with my clothes randomly dispersed so I was a bit embarrassed. I thanked her profusely. What a gesture. I knew breakfast wasn't included in the price and was prepared to stop to eat after an hour or so. Now, I wouldn't have to stop so early which was a great bonus. I don't think Guldem realises how important that is. Her kind thought made my day so much easier. When I finished loading the bags onto the bike we had a couple of photos and I set off actually saying 'I hope we can meet again' and meaning it. I had really enjoyed my short time in this little holiday camp.
The ride was quite uneventful, mainly because of the rain which didn't happen. I couldn't believe it. There would be dark heavy clouds ahead and I would the veer to the left and so on, several times. The wind was here and there but never a major problem. I caught a few drops of rain in Aliaga and actually got wet in Menemen but soon dried out. My computer was missing bits so I had to rely on road signs for distances and they were decreasing nicely thank you. Menemen is quite a big place itself and the centre is more than 30km from the centre of Izmir so I was amazed to see the end of Menemen followed about 3km later by the sign indicating the start of Izmir, population 3.5 million or so, and there's the rub. An hour later I was still picking my way carefully through the suburbs of this very big city. Carefully is the operative word. I was no longer a novelty. I was a nuisance and it was as if I wasn't there to other drivers, dolmus drivers especially. I soon got to know my place and that was hugging the kerb and not venturing out past the inside lane.
I found the hotel which was like a University campus. It is owned and run by the Turkish Water Board and is used mainly by their workers. This had been arranged for me by Terry through another FIG member who has connections in that field and what a beautiful place it is. The room is so comfortable and clean and modern so a big thanks to Jill, I think her name is. Apologies if not.
There are no obvious eating place nearby so I jumped on a dolmus with the intention of jumping off when I saw somewhere. There wasn't anywhere nearby. There were plenty of places to get new wheels for your car but eat, no. I found myself 10 minutes later in the middle of a spaghetti junction leading to a highway 3 or 4 miles long with nothing either side. We came to a suburb with a few bars which looked promising but I couldn't get off because I would never find my way back. I stayed on for another 20 mins or so until everybody had gone and the driver stopped and asked me where I was going, in sign language. I explained that I was staying on so I could go back to where I started. He then explained that he was going home for his tea and pointed across the road to a dolmus going the other way. I jumped off and started back and then recognised the 'promising place' so I took a chance. I had a beer and some sausage and chips and the waiters told me which dolmus to get back to the hotel.
I made it back OK but was still hungry and asked at the reception if there was a restaurant. There was indeed in another building and I went and stuffed myself with the old stand by, chicken shish and an Efes of course.
Back in the room now planning tomorrow's ride to Kusadasi which isn't far away. Big check on the weather. I can't be as lucky again, surely?
Today's track
http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/ODc1MTc%3D
Yesterday evening I had just about achieved an acceptable level of pinkness when the sun went down over my little bungalow. Guldem, the lovely lady responsible for this establishment, had recognised my craving for Turkish tea and had very kindly brought me a couple of cups while I was blogging away in the evening sunshine.
I went and got dressed and found a place to eat by the seaside. It was a bit cloudy and cool but looked like a nice sea front. I had chicken kofte and a Tuborg and returned for my high tech link-up with the FIG gang in Ovacik, not Fethiye as I had earlier reported. I think it went well. I don't think I made too much of a nit of myself and allowed people to see that there was really somebody out there.
I came back and phoned home and also rang Nigel from the Thursday night gang, just as he was sitting down to his first pint in the Anvil, or so I thought. He was at home. It turns out that they hadn't gone out at all. This is unheard of. I will have to get home and fix that!
I awoke in the morning just after six to the unusual sound of rain on the window. The sky was very, very gloomy and I did the only decent thing. I turned over and went back to sleep. An hour and a half later the weather was at least as bad but I got up and started the long, slow process. I was making a coffee when I saw a shape at the door. It was Guldem with a tray of Turkish breakfast. The room was a right mess with my clothes randomly dispersed so I was a bit embarrassed. I thanked her profusely. What a gesture. I knew breakfast wasn't included in the price and was prepared to stop to eat after an hour or so. Now, I wouldn't have to stop so early which was a great bonus. I don't think Guldem realises how important that is. Her kind thought made my day so much easier. When I finished loading the bags onto the bike we had a couple of photos and I set off actually saying 'I hope we can meet again' and meaning it. I had really enjoyed my short time in this little holiday camp.
The ride was quite uneventful, mainly because of the rain which didn't happen. I couldn't believe it. There would be dark heavy clouds ahead and I would the veer to the left and so on, several times. The wind was here and there but never a major problem. I caught a few drops of rain in Aliaga and actually got wet in Menemen but soon dried out. My computer was missing bits so I had to rely on road signs for distances and they were decreasing nicely thank you. Menemen is quite a big place itself and the centre is more than 30km from the centre of Izmir so I was amazed to see the end of Menemen followed about 3km later by the sign indicating the start of Izmir, population 3.5 million or so, and there's the rub. An hour later I was still picking my way carefully through the suburbs of this very big city. Carefully is the operative word. I was no longer a novelty. I was a nuisance and it was as if I wasn't there to other drivers, dolmus drivers especially. I soon got to know my place and that was hugging the kerb and not venturing out past the inside lane.
I found the hotel which was like a University campus. It is owned and run by the Turkish Water Board and is used mainly by their workers. This had been arranged for me by Terry through another FIG member who has connections in that field and what a beautiful place it is. The room is so comfortable and clean and modern so a big thanks to Jill, I think her name is. Apologies if not.
There are no obvious eating place nearby so I jumped on a dolmus with the intention of jumping off when I saw somewhere. There wasn't anywhere nearby. There were plenty of places to get new wheels for your car but eat, no. I found myself 10 minutes later in the middle of a spaghetti junction leading to a highway 3 or 4 miles long with nothing either side. We came to a suburb with a few bars which looked promising but I couldn't get off because I would never find my way back. I stayed on for another 20 mins or so until everybody had gone and the driver stopped and asked me where I was going, in sign language. I explained that I was staying on so I could go back to where I started. He then explained that he was going home for his tea and pointed across the road to a dolmus going the other way. I jumped off and started back and then recognised the 'promising place' so I took a chance. I had a beer and some sausage and chips and the waiters told me which dolmus to get back to the hotel.
I made it back OK but was still hungry and asked at the reception if there was a restaurant. There was indeed in another building and I went and stuffed myself with the old stand by, chicken shish and an Efes of course.
Back in the room now planning tomorrow's ride to Kusadasi which isn't far away. Big check on the weather. I can't be as lucky again, surely?
Today's track
http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/ODc1MTc%3D
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