116km, 5h47, 971hm
We had breakfast in the same place where we had dinner yesterday. After all, these guys got us the perfect camp spot. It was our way of saying thanks. The breakfast was totally worth it btw, so tasty!
After that tasty breakfast we headed out. Today's mission was to go as far on D20 as we could.
The D20 was still a hilly road. Nearly 1000 meters of climbing are a good evidence for that claim
It still had to sink in that we were cycling in Turkey and no longer in the European Union
Historically this area is European territory, but the Turkish crossed the Bosphorus and never lost hold of it. It could have been part of Bulgaria or even Greece as well.
The road signs made sense, D020 was divided in several sections and within every section the total mileage.
This is why there is a big shoulder on the roads in Turkey, so that slow traffic such as horse carriages can stay out of the way. As cyclists we also made grateful use of this feature
We passed the town of Kirklarelli but we had no reason to stop. We just continued...
Only 170 km to Istanbul. That should be possible by tomorrow night.
This area of Turkey is part of the Balkan
Vize, a bigger township on today's route.
We had a lovely lunch break here, we relaxed and studied the map
Already more than 150 km in Turkey. Our goal became to sleep in a small place today and reach Istanbul tomorrow evening.
A typical Turkish town with a mosque and the matching chants
After that lunch, we moved to the town of Saray
The road quality was not always excellent
Saray...
The last section of the ride was a very hilly part. We had about 20 of these hills. What a workout
The evening atmosphere was unique. The freedom of just seeing where we would end up, having a nice meal and camping somewhere.
100 km to Istambul! That means we will def. make it to there tomorrow. That means we are ahead of schedule
D020... I do not know what the other D100 looks like but I am sure we were riding on the best of two options
As we entered the small town of Ataturk, we noticed these cows just acting as if they owned the place, lol
We had dinner in a place here and then asked the owners if we could camp on their big lawn behind the restaurant. They agreed and another camp spot was secured. After two days of cycling in Turkey, I had to admit, the people were very friendly and helpful. I liked the contact with the locals.
Ataturk on the D020, less than 100km from Istanbul. Good night folks!.
Our extremely comfy camp spot in Ataturk
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