It’s a week into the tour and we thought it important to focus in on our 4 ‘racers’. Of course, we are all here for fun and how long we take certainly definitely doesn’t matter but we always try to run some sort of race on these tours, along with Stage Wins! Time Trials!! And Team Time Trials!!
So we have four ‘racers’: Trine, Fred, Al and Stewart.
If nothing else they will know, to the minute, exactly how long it does indeed take to cycle from Istanbul to Beijing. Just to clarify, your time starts when you cross the start line and stops when you finish so you don’t all have to start together if you don’t want. Drinks breaks are included, however, so it’s up to you how long you take (ditto for lunch, and ice cream). Prizes will be awarded in Beijing in several categories (watch this space).
Stage 7 brought us into the picturesque town of Amasya. This is definitely a Turkish town and the Muezzin (prayer caller) cries out Azan (call to prayer) loud and clear 5 times a day, but there is also an almost Tuscan/Mediterranean feel. The city is bisected by the River Yesilirmak (Iris) and centres around a beautiful Seljuk mosque. The real treat is up above though, in the cliff faces. First is the Kale (citadel) a significant Ottoman fortress, and then come some incredible rock tombs dating from the ancient Greek era.
Our hotel is amazing, old school houses made of timber and wattle with innumerable niches and alcoves, all with A1 views of the river, city or tombs depending on your room.
We’ve been cycling 7 days straight now and the collective legs are tired but that’s what rest days are for and boy are we going to enjoy ours! See you in a couple of days!
‘Direction? Where the tires press.’
Well, that’s our first and probably last contribution to the poetic side of this tour but cycling through this part of the world, it’s hard not to wax lyrical.
Day 6 started with a bang. The bang of the door slamming shut. Unfortunately, Trine was still inside the said door (which was now locked) and everyone else (including the hotel owner) was outside. The keys were inside but no matter how loud the Turkish, Trine couldn’t understand in which desk drawer they were to be found and ended up climbing out of a window!
The morning flew by and lunch brought us to the banks of every cyclist’s favourite friend – a river. Whether you are with or against the current, odds are that when you have a river beside you the gradient will never be too demanding. We were reliably informed this was the river Devez and its green waters slunk all the way down to Osmancik, a great little town with a huge dome of a rocky outcrop in the middle.
The trucks are still giving us grief but the countryside and its people are incredibly accommodating. The irrigation system is remarkable in its simplicity and the results are stunning. Graham likened it to driving through Chinese paddy fields yet at the same time being surrounded by a spaghetti western set.
Just when we were congratulating ourselves on avoiding any serious bike troubles so far, stages 4 and 5 came back to haunt us. Both were big stages, stage 4 had two big climbs over 1000m and stage 5 kept on going and going and going for 135km. Those who suffered the most were Mike (minus 3 spokes and 4 gears) and James (minus two spokes and another flat). It has been hot too, but our major nemeses are the trucks.
We are stuck on highway D100 for a few days and it seems eastern Turkey is not the usual place to find a bike convoy. Most cars, buses and trucks are excited to see us and honk away as they pass, and all the locals wave and say hello, but about one in ten of the trucks seem to have decided that their role is to rid Anatolia of all two-wheeled transport. Don’t worry, though, the hard shoulder is usually enough for us to dive off onto for safety!
We are now in Turkey’s tea and tobacco growing region yet would you believe it we are staying in one of Turkey’s premier ski resorts!! You wouldn’t think it to look at it but skiing has really taken off here so the temperatures must dip below 30* at least for a couple of months!!!
Two more days to the rest day but everyone seems to have found their cycling legs by now and the pace is, if anything, quickening. We now feel like a real group and eagerly gather round to sample Miles and Hatice’s culinary delights! Joan is up and running too with a few aches and pains to ‘doctor’ and we are enjoying our mix of camping and teacher dormitories.
We have 12 ‘riders’ and 4 ‘racers’ so pictures of all will follow. Today’s stage caused a big shock, however, as a ‘rider’ (Dan) beat all the ‘racers’ – but he modestly attributed all his success to The Duck to whom he gave the honour of crossing the finish line first!
Punctures: 4 today, total 12
Days to go: 105
Today’s stage took us from Fred’s Wedding Party to Duzce – a small town inland from the Black Sea. This meant a night in a hotel, soft beds and hot showers which for some (after two nights under canvas) were a welcome relief. For everyone it meant the special bonus of Miles and Hatice having access to a full kitchen and the result was a Kebab extravaganza.
We are now well away from Istanbul which after the bombings is probably no bad thing. The only scrape we have had so far has been on Steven’s chin – quite a nasty one after a slide off the bike but nothing a few butterfly stitches couldn’t fix.
There were a couple of hills again today but the highlight of the 116km had to be the lunchtime swim. We won’t be seeing the beach again for a few days as we are cutting across the base of the small hump on the coast that is home to Sinop, so quite a few riders took advantage (although Joust was the only one to go ‘Dutch/Au Natural’).
Dan now has the Duck after paying $5 dollars for a razor when he had been asked for only 5 cents but he says it’s worth its weight in gold!
Punctures: 3 today, total 8
Days to go: 107
Part 1: Riders On The Storm
What a difference an hour makes. No sooner had we said our good nights but the clouds began to gather and it wasn’t long before the rain drops started to fall – long enough for Max to have crashed into the land of nod though, and soon he was getting rather wet – like a few others he had set up tent without a fly as at 4pm the chances of rain were 1000-1. There may never have been a Saint Graham but Saint Manon has a certain ring to it and they came to the rescue just in time (may be we need another Race Award?) – When Max woke up he was rather surprised: 1 How did his fly sheet miraculously jump out of his pack and over his fly? 2 If his fly was on how come he was still lying in a pool of water? Lame Duck – No contest!
Part 2 : Fred’s Wedding
No TDA convoy to lead us out today but we were soon accompanied by a rather different set of vehicles – A Wedding Party! They passed up and down the highway several times during the day and finally Fred’s curiosity got the better of him. He stopped to chat to the lead vehicle, asked them for the low-down and let them know who we were and where, after several tough climbs today, we would be staying for the night. Hey presto, as the last of the tents were being erected in the SoccAr Field (Ben needs a crash course in spelling it seems), who should arrive but the Bride and Groom accompanied by a clarinetist, a drummer and half of the local populace! An impromptu dance floor was quickly erected and soon everyone was at it, dancing the first dance – I don’t think the bride envisaged her dream wedding taking place ‘al fresco’ but there you go!
Despite last night’s storm - the weather is getting warmer and this area is very green so maybe we should expect a few more soakings! Either way we should be glad of all the wonderful hazelnuts, plums, apples and peaches this climate is offering up - delicious!
Days to go: 108
Punctures 3 today, total 5
Napoleon said that ‘if the world was one country, Istanbul would be its capital.’ This city still never fails to impress, and gathered on the banks of the Bosphorus this morning at 7am there was a massive feeling of excitement and anticipation.
Some riders (6) had been here since Sunday, having arrived on the Orient Express 2008 tour, and spent the week seeing the sights. The majority arrived with the new crew on Thursday but others cut it a bit finer – 1st prize to Knut who arrived with less than 12 hours to build his bike, pack his bags, sleep and roll down to the start.
The weather is perfect, clear but not too hot (top of 32 degrees), and as the 16 riders and support staff gathered on the concourse the sun was streaming down, bouncing off Sultanahmet’s city walls and radiating across the Golden Horn.
Theresa gathered us all together for some team ‘glamour’ shots and the old hands from OE 08 let the new guys know what they should expect ahead on the road. ‘Don’t worry, there are no hills in Turkey’ seemed to be the general consensus. We should be so lucky! – 6 hours later as Max and James rode in on the last 2 bikes, they were sure they had found more than their fair share – it also seemed they had taken in enough detours to boost this (official) 95 km stage into 3 figures. Fastest was Al (3.14 hours) - is this man a machine?!
Camping by the coastal resort of Sile is a real treat – especially as we can walk to the beach and soak our weary limbs. The camp site is great and the beer tastes sweet. New riders are starting to get to grips with the tour’s little idiosyncrasies: The Lame Duck Award is proving particularly popular and Graham took great delight in bestowing it on Fred for buying two country maps of Turkey without realizing they were in fact one map printed on the reverse of each other!
That’s it for today, 109 days to go – can’t wait!
Puncture count: 2 (one before we had even started!)
