34. 05/08/2017: A magical 1250hm summer sunset on our way to Kastamonu

Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2247879580

109km, 5h35, 1398jm

Oh no! Heavy rain in the morning kept us inside for a few hours. We were even thinking of spending a second night in this place, but luckily around 11 it cleared out and we were good to go.

When Roger is ready, we can head further east in the direction of Samsun

We passed the historical site of Safranbolu, an ancient Turkish town that could not easily be conquered because it was built on the top of a hill.

A view over central Turkey

We also entered the town for some sight seeing. Roger told me a local guy wanted to hit me with a stick. His nationalist mind must have been furious upon seeing a German face like myself. Luckily nothing happened

Even in the city it was quite hilly. This was clearly a tourist attraction

Bartman in Safranbolu, Turkey on his Sequoia travel bike

UNESCO World Heritage City, just like Plovdiv and Cesky Krumlov before

Impressions of Safranbolu

OK, enough of sight seeing, it was time to hit the road if we wanted to get somewhere today

On the Turkish roads again...

Roger the brave cyclist from Taiwan

The road ahead is empty...

We were cycling east on Turkey's D50 road.

The road was going uphill every so slightly, we could hardly feel it, but over the course of 20-30 km we climbed 400 meters.

There was a very strange sky above us, we did not know what to expect

We stopped in a small store for some food and drinks and three children were asking us for money. Roger scared them away by using karate tricks. Annoying little brats!

We kept climbing further to 1000 meters and it still did not finish. We were obviously in for a long one.

going up

A few signs of fatigue yes

1000m of elevation

Meanwhile the sunset in these Turkish mountains was gorgeous. It was a very beautiful summer day

The climb went to 1250 meters, which was our highest point in Turkey

We thought the big descent was here, but that was just an illusion. More climbing to be done later

This is where we reached the summit and descended

This was turning out to be a legendary ride. Downright gorgeous!

The descent from 1250 meters

The decision had unanimously been made to spend the night in the town Kastamonu

We were almost there and it was going downhill. Surely we would arrive before darkness

This photo was taken back at 1000 meters. We eventually descended to 763 meters

We entered the town Kastamonu and met a Turkish guy in a van who worked with cyclists. He was very happy to show us a budget friendly hotel for 100 lira. That was friendly of him

Regardless of the late departure we still rode 109 km with 1400 hm. In that regard, this day had a big parallel with day 25, when we left Plovdiv in Bulgaria.

Kastamonu by night tour

We went outside for a meal and to relax like always

34 days on the road...

33. 04/08/2017: Ditching the Black Sea and visiting history in Safranbolu

Garmin Activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2247879517

108 km, 5h29, 1115hm

Good morning day 33! This is the view from our Zonguldak hotel room.



Upon leaving the city, we were suddenly interviewed by a local Turkish TV station. It was very basic communication as they only spoke Turkish and I only knew very few words

The last few days had shown us that the Black Sea coast of Turkey was very steep. Therefore, we decided to move inland between Zonguldak and Samsun. It was also mountainous, but we would climb to a plateau and basically stay there until a long descent to Samsun.

As we left Zonguldak, we went straight for the mountains. In one go we climbed to nearly 500 m elevation

There were a few tunnels on this section, we would stop to turn on our lights and cycle behind each other.

33 days on the road hooray!

I was also impressed by Roger's physical condition. He told me he was in no shape but keeping up for 33 days showed some character. A true warrior!

On the top of the long climb, we went down all the way to sea level again. That is how we filled our first 40 km of the day.

The thought that I was so close to the Turkish capital Ankara was somehow terrifying for me. Growing up in Belgium, I have always stood close to the Turkish diaspora and they would speak a lot about Ankara. Now I was here, cycling in their country. Bizarre...

rural Turkey

We kept following the D750.

And the large shoulder of the road gave us place to stay out of trouble

Then we had a 10 km surface of newly paved roads. It was basically rocks that had to be crushed further by passing traffic. For two cyclists it meant more resistance and lower speed

The real view of Turkey?

At some point we entered the region of Karabuk

Karabuk was the city we had aimed for originally and this would be some 100 km from Zonguldak

But then Roger told me that there is a very famous UNESCO site in a town called Safranbolu, only a few km further. Obviously we had to go there...

Roger and his Sirrus in Turkey, not very far from the 4000 km mark anymore

We had to climb a little to reach this town Karakuk. The Turkish word RAKIM means elevation.

As we entered the city, we saw one long climb. We climbed to 350 meters and continued climbing

Eventually we climbed until 523 meters. It was a long climb at the end of the day and we felt it well.

Safranbolu, the Turkish UNESCO site

Another one I can tick off my bucket list

And Roger can say the same

The evening came and it was time for relaxing and eating



We found a nice, reasonably priced hotel and we met some nice people there

The cool part of this whole trip is the people you meet. 90% of them are very friendly and it makes me appreciate countries more.

Another good ride today!