Cycle complete!
I'd forgotten how sore a saddle could be when you've had a break for 2 weeks. That was one of the first impressions I had after re saddling Melissa once again last week. It felt good to start this final leg after being home the week before for a wedding, getting to meet family once again, it almost felt like a dream for the short time I was home. But as we all have come to know, even the best of dreams must end sometime and so on Monday afternoon I started to pedal westwards once more away from Istanbul.
The terrain was surprisingly hilly or maybe it was just me as I had beforehand had this idea that Europe = Flat. But no not at all. For a day I rode alongside the Marmara sea and not far off the famous battlefields of Gallipoli. Soon it was into Greece and back to the euro for a brief while. Thankfully my stay there wasn't for too long as prices appeared worse than in Ireland even. That meant I would need a camp stove to cool once more and so into Carrefour I went and came out the proud owner of a shiny blue camp stove. Bought a gas canister, matches and some food and I felt like I was ready for anything. But I was wrong on one point, and that was the ferocious heat. I'd actually been rather fortunate the last few months as most of my peddling had taken place above 500/1000m thus lessening the impact of the sun. But now I was back to sea level and at 5pm as I left the port of Alexandropoulis I wasn't 15 minutes up the road when I had to pull in for shade again under a tree. I'll have to admit though that 2 recently devoured donor kebabs may have also have had an influence to pull in as I felt a bit sickish. Some while later I moved on again and was halfway up a hill when a car had pulled in ahead of me with a young couple holding 2 bottles of ice water for me. I can't remember smiling so much as when they invited me to pull over and handed me the two bottles. Considering how I was feeling earlier it was like manna from heaven and I drunk it all down in between some friendly conversation. There was more too to this particular meeting that I don't have time to explain now but look forward to re-telling at a later period. Next was Bulgaria and it wasn't far off albeit a 800m mountain stood in my way to get to the border crossing. Probably the densest forests I've come across on my journey were those in Bulgaria. Oak and ash forests made for pleasant cycling while the abundance of pine forest and the smell of sap made one think you were sitting in a Swedish sauna, albeit the truth could hardly have been further away as I sat on a saddle sweating away! (Although come to think of it you do also sweat a lot in a sauna!) Wild camping is superb here as the population is small and as I mentioned already the plentiful forests made it easy to pitch a tent on the quiet. On one occasion as I made my way up a valley a kind elderly local invited me in for coffee and fruit, which I naturally very much enjoyed and appreciated! Later that day I made it to Sofia, checked into a hostel and today have enjoyed lieing in, eating lots of tasty food and doing the odd spot of exploring for which Sofia is quite surprising. Tomorrow it's on the road again as I make my way to Serbia. Think the only thing I know of the country is that they had a war recently and that Novak Djokovic, the tennis player is a native of the country. Everything else, and I am clueless!!! Just to be on the safe side though I Think when it comes to interaction with the locals it will be Djokovic I will be talking about rather than "the war." May live and make it through to Romania that way!
1 Comment
8/1/2016 11:09:13
Thanks for update Dan, your adventurous and interesting journey continues.
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The AuthorName: Daniel Ross Top Tips:
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October 2016
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