98km, 5h08, 893hm
We left Boyabat after breakfast and our goal for the day was around 100 km to the town of Vezikopru
We were less than 200 km from Samsun, which we would reach tomorrow evening.
Turkish aircraft. This one somehow reminds of the airplane at Taichung's Qingquangang
Roger was around 500 km from his final stop Trabzon
Still cycling on the D30
190 km to Samsun, it was coming closer...
I noticed from the morning that it was a warm day, but this was the unquestionable evidence.
40 degrees! The roads even started melting
The tar of the road was melting and it was sticking to our tires. It made a bizarre noise
Drinking enough was the main objective for today
The black stuff is the road melting, crazy
The problem was most serious for Roger. The tar accumulated against his tires which then filled the space between his tire and mud guard. In only minutes his system blocked and he could not pedal. He first tried removing the tar, but that was just impossible.
I climbed up a hill and waited for Roger on a spot where I had some shadow, only he never showed up. After 15 minutes I was very worried, so I went back downhill. I found Roger with a bike that could not pedal. We stopped a car and asked the driver to take Roger to the next town Vezikorpru. The people were friendly enough to do that for us, but it meant that I had to cycle the rest of today's trip alone and this was still some 50 km.
And maaaaan it was HOT! Luckily my bike was able to cycle through these tar liquid lanes
Roger was gone and I continued alone. I already entered the district of Samsun. The Black Sea was not far anymore now
I passed an area with a reservoir. It involved a lot of climbing and descending. It was so warm all the time and I almost ran out of water. I had to carefully divide the sips.
At some point I saw a small road side cafe. I bought 5 bottles of water and one small bottle of ice tea. That's how thirsty I was. This was around 3 o clock and I stayed there for almost an hour, just relaxing in the shades, chatting with Roger via Line.
The situation of the roads got a little better late in the afternoon
And the views were quite lovely, just way too hot!
I also calculated that I would not make the 4000 km mark today, but tomorrow. Ah well...
In the meantime Roger had arrived in Vezikorpru and he found a motor shop, where they were able to thoroughly wash his bike. He got well serviced and he was able to cycle the next day, crisis averted.
The falling of the evening along the D30
I arrived around 19:00. In the end I still climbed more than 900m.
I was happy to learn that Roger had safely arrived and that he was waiting for me in a hotel. After all, my travel buddy was alone for a few hours in this strange country.
City government of Vezikopru
36 days on the road for a total of 3990 km.
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