Day 62 Malkara - 29.9.05 

Waking early, I looked out the window to check the treetops. Still plenty of wind. We would know if it was our friend or foe once we were on the road. The morning 60km to Tekirgag was on a busy road with trucks and buses most of whom would toot and wave to us even when travelling in the opposite direction. People would come to doorways of shops and houses and children would call out to us. We are a novelty in Turkey.

Lunch ın Tekirgag was so good by the time I thought of taking a photo it was all finished. Sorry. It was the famous beef sausages with salad etc. We were given complimentary Turkish tea and gracious service. When I tipped for the meal, the owner took me out the back to show me his collection of hand carved rifles and guns. By the expressions of the staff, this was an honour.

We rode on along the coast but the roadworks took away any chance to enjoy the view. At times we had to walk through the gravel and dirt. Despite being on the coast, this was a day of climb and descent and during one brief moment, the curve of the road provided a tailwind at the same point as a descent. Daniel let fly with a surge, sensibly aware of his panniers, his leaking rear tube and the terrible roads for the top speed of the tour. We pushed to get as close to Istanbul and rode to dusk.

Another feature of the day was the tour's best accidental pun. At the start of the tour, Daniel had 2 seats and for the first few weeks, swapped between them. We then sent one back home. During the day Daniel commented that in hindsight, the other seat would have been better.

We often tried to ammuse each other with comments and bad jokes to keep the momentum going, but, maybe due to the delerium of the long tour, I had a good laugh at that one.

The day was also spent skirting the constant stream of half length buses that would pull over in front of us and then pull out very quickly. If we overtook them too slowly that would come out at us and often there were three or four buses in a row to pass. Our reflexes were being honed. We rode into Silivri and a lovely hotel and slept well.

Stats Dist 128 Km, Average 18km/hr, Max 75km/hr, Climb 1045m 

  Email John at John@CycleOdyssey.com.au
 

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