UPDATE FROM VARNA
Bulgaria, a country that I really did not know much about before this tour. But I have been really impressed. We have been here for three days now and each day we have had good pavement, courteous drivers and beautiful countryside.We left Bucharest at a ridiculously early hour before the traffic got nuts. But the cyclists did a great job at traveling as a cohesive unit and blocking traffic for each other as we meandered through the downtown core. The remainder of the day was nothing special but we did cross the border into Bulgaria and the town of Ruse. And all of the sudden a whole new world, the world of Cyrillic. It's one thing to struggle with a foreign language but it’s a whole other game when they change the alphabet. Most of the words look like a chemical formula or like they’ve been spelt by a dyslexic. This is a whole new challenge for me and the riders in terms of reading road signs for navigation.
Our second destination was Veliko Tarnovo. It was a beautiful ride through the hills and the town had a hilltop castle surrounded on almost all sides by the sinuosity of the same river. It was a really hot day but our campsite had the most divine swimming pool where the cyclists chilled out for the remainder of the day. Our third stop was Sumen, an industrial town. We were camped directly across the street from one of the biggest breweries I’ve ever seen. We camped in a public park and it's one of the first times on this trip where I actually felt like I’ve been sleeping out in the wilderness. With the heat these days I haven’t even been pitching my tent -  just sleeping on the roof of the van and enjoying the starry nights. And then we came here. Varna.  Wow! This places rocks. Perhaps my favorite rest day on the tour. It’s a beachside resort town on the Black Sea. Nobody is camping and we are all in the same hotel which is right in the middle of all the action. Most people just spent the day kick’in it on the beach, but some ventured out to the museums, galleries and Turkish baths. The beach is beautiful lined with umbrellas, lounges, restaurants and bars. I went out with a few of the fellas last night and I’m not sure if there’s any rum left in this town now. We had a lot of fun visiting a number of seaside hotspots. I even managed to play some music with some of the local talents. This is a relatively small town, but the center is filled with people, venders and street entertainers, really a great atmosphere.
I managed to get back in the saddle last week and slowly I’m going to ride more each day as we approach Istanbul. The body is mending, but the bike still needs some work. The heat wave continues. This week the forecast is for temps in the 40’s. But luckily the long days and mountain ranges are behind. Only six riding stages and one rest day left. It’s strange how the concept of time is lost or somehow distorted when you’re on the road for so long. But in one week this group who has been through so much together will all part and head their separate ways. The conclusion of these tours is always an emotional and bitter-sweet moment.
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Posted July 23, 2007 by Randy Pielsticker
Bulgaria |
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