In Istanbul, the end of the road

Here is a follow up to my last cryptic post, sorry for the delay. There is just so must to do in this city!

Wow, I can't believe it has already been a week since we arrived in Istanbul. Our last ride day was as all last days should be, epic, intense and amazing.

We left camp early on the morning of August 23rd for our ride into Istanbul. There was a sense of excitement and impatient anticipation from the group as we had breakfast in the parking lot of a nearby gas station (we had to leave camp early before the boss of our site arrived as his employees hadn't asked permission for us to stay). The ride into the outskirts of Istanbul was fast, fun and uneventful as we rode through the final villages before merging onto the main highway into the booming metropolis of Istanbul and the urban sprawl leading up to the city. We left the small highway for the huge 6 lane highway and that is where the fun/chaos started.

As we approached the mega highway, we caught our first glimpses of the sea. Although there was lots of traffic and it was the busiest road we had ridden on yet, we had a nice shoulder and the cars and trucks gave us plenty of room. As we got closer and closer to the city, the chaos increased. On one stretch of the highway we hit an amazing downhill at the same time as we reached a stretch with multiple merging and exit lanes. This was the type of riding we sometimes referred to as video game mode and required full attention as well as some quick maneuvering. Despite the craziness, it was a blast!

At this point, due to speed and traffic, pods got split up and re-grouped. All was well until (we were NOT involved) a car accident occurred just to the left of us. This was the last straw (not everyone was loving the highway) for a couple of the riders and we decided to pick an alternate route. With the help of an amazing local on a motorcycle, we found an alternate route to our destination through small neighbourhoods along the sea. Omer, the man on the motorcycle, escorted us to the meeting spot with our host and then took us out for fish sandwiches.

Once at our Istanbul accommodation, a camp for disabled children and their families, we waited for the others to arrive. Within an hour we were all reunited and after exchanging stories, the celebrations commenced.

We spent the next two days wrapping up our tour with workshops and activities and then said our goodbyes. Happily, many of us are still in the city for a while longer and we have been exploring the city together. Many are couch surfing and I am sharing a hostel room with fellow riders, Jake and Charles.

So far exploring has included markets, Mosques, walking streets, lots of eating and just generally taking in the sites of this vibrant city.

Istanbul!!! We made it!

We made it safe and sound! (more later when internet available)

Into Turkey, via Greece!

Greetings from Vize, Turkey, a small town 150 kilometres from Istanbul. In less than 48 hours, we will be riding into Istanbul, our final destination. It is hard to grasp that in two more riding days our tour is finished. I can't quite wrap my head around the fact that I have cycled across Europe, crazy!

We arrived in Turkey yesterday afternoon, which was definitely an amazing experience in itself. On our way to Turkey from Bulgaria, we decided to take a detour, through Greece! As Greece was never on our itinerary, it was an especially amazing ride. My pod (riding group for the day) and I entered Greece on a high, excited with our day's adventures which included not one, but two border crossings. Highlights while in Greece included, an amazing lunch, getting lost and getting directions from a cafe full of little old Greek men, none of whom spoke English.

After crossing the Greek/Turkish border, we immediately noticed the difference of the sights and sounds of the land. Colourful, a bit hectic and very obviously Muslim, with the sounds of the call to prayer and Mosques in even the smallest villages. Highlights of yesterday's ride in Turkey included riding in traffic in a busy city (practice for Istanbul) and the amazingly friendly people waving at us, feeding us and helping us find somewhere to sleep.

Today's ride, though beautiful, was a hard one. We fought strong headwinds all day and even riding downhill was hard work. It felt as if an invisible hand was pushing against us all day, whew! Here's hoping for a easier day tomorrow.

Two more sleeps till Istanbul!

The Plague! (okay, it's not that bad!)

With only 5 ride days to Istanbul, (What! Five! Crazy!) we riders seem to have picked now to get sick. One by one, we've passed the illness around. For the last week, not a day has gone by without a rider in the car due to illness. The day before yesterday, it was my turn.

I woke up in the morning dizzy with a fever and decided it was a good day to hang out with Phil in the car again. After a four hour nap I felt a bit better and yesterday morning decided to get back on the bike. As luck would have it, the day I rode in the car was 80 km of mostly downhills and some flats. One group did the ride in three hours and everyone agreed it was an easy day. Yesterday morning, I was only a little dizzy, and decided to ride regardless and see how far I could get. I rode with the group carrying the emergency phone, just in case.

Thirty kms into the ride, nausea hit, but I decided to keep on going, stopping for breaks as needed. Ironically, I felt better on the bike then when stopped. Then we rode up into an amazing mountain range, climbing up, up, up and still further up. The view was amazing! 40km or so of climbing and then riding along the mountain range followed by an amazing downhill.

All was well until we stopped for a drink break. It was as if in those ten minutes, the day caught up to me. I had hit the wall. I thought of stopping and getting a pick up, but we were less than 30kms from our destination. Those last 30 km, with 3 killer up-hills, were a struggle. I think I rode them on will power alone. Finally, one last downhill into the town Kardzhali, our final destination for the day.

Happily, today is a day off. One more day to put the dizzy behind me and prepare for the last five days of riding. Turkey, here we come!

On the way to Sofia

The Bulgarian "Alps"

Greetings from Svog, a small town 40 north of Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. Yesterday was a beautiful ride through the mountains with plenty of stops for photos and even a little cave exploration. At the end of the day when we reached town, we arrived to find we had another mountain to climb to our accommodation. After riding the 6 kilometres up the steepest hill yet we arrived only to find we had more climbing! This time, through muddy trails on the side of the mountain. What a way to end the day! After much struggling and sweating, we made it to our beautiful mountain side accommodation. Now, on to Sofia!
















Bike portaging!

Life in a small mountain town

Spent the day off in the small town of Belogradchik today. It was a relaxing day of sleeping in, coffee in the local cafe, general laziness and exploring the local (amazing!!!) red rock formations.

Tomorrow we head for the hills and I expect the next 10 days in Bulgaria will be a lot of climbing. So far Bulgaria is beautiful. The only down side so far are the CRAZY flies that swarmed us will riding. Those suckers can fly up to 20 kms per hour! This basically means will you are riding up hill, you have the company of 20 - 100 flies. This is crazy making!

Wish me luck with the mountains, more later.


















Our beautiful camping spot

Bulgaria (country number 10!)

I am in Bulgaria in a small town called Belogradchik. It is our second night in Bulgaria and it has already been a memorable stay.

Yesterday afternoon, after crossing the border, we were meet by the police who escorted us to our accomodation. Imagine 20 cyclists riding into town following a police car, with our support vehicle taking up the rear. I felt like we were either criminals, or rockstars. We arrived at our accomodation, a puplic park on the Danube, next to a castle and just inside the old city walls. Our friendly Vidin police officers extended the escort and spent the night. We woke up to police tape surrounding our campsite (no, I'm not kidding), and felt rather like animals on display. All very amusing.

After a tour of the castle, we left Vidin for Belogradchik. It was a beautiful ride UP into the mountains, a taste of what is to come for our ride through Bulgaria, lots of climbing and then more climbing.

We in Belogradchik for two nights and then it is off to the Bulgarian "Alps". Thirteen days till Istanbul!