Day Sixty-Seven

18/07/25 - Day Sixty-Seven

Last night was the first time in a while where I conked out - mid blog writing. I woke shortly after, sweating profusely and had to peel myself off my sleeping mat, then wipe it down. I set up the tent on the terrace instead, as it was a more acceptable temperature outside. I woke to thunder and the pitter patter of rain, so snoozed a while longer. I went into the centre of Eskisehir to do some shopping - on the list was a kitan, some bike bits and to post my roll of film home. It was 12:15 by the time I set off to tackle the real miles of the day. It was flat with a slight tailwind on good roads so I flew along. The definition of crunching miles. I had lunch by a pretty mosque and some inquisitive children came and watched me making my sandwiches. They told me their names and asked me where I was from, but luckily they soon got bored, for I was weary. 

Having said that, I felt good and strong after lunch, crunching more flat (ish) miles. An extended stretch on a lovely gravel road running parallel to a train track had the feeling of really being in the middle of nowhere, and being lit from behind by the late afternoon light, it brought me a lot of joy. I called my good friend Sid for a catch up, delighting in sharing the epic evening light with her! As I filled my bottles to resume cycling, a man approached on a motorbike. He greeted me, and we communicated as best we could. I told him I planned to go to Aksaray. He wasn’t happy with my route when I showed him. He told me my maps were deceiving me and it was a long road. After confirming with him there were no closures or roadworks, I heard him out. He wanted me to go along main roads via some bigger cities, I kept my skepticisms to myself - it was no use arguing with old Birol, especially given the language barrier. After exchanging phone numbers, and promising him that I’d turn around and take his route, I let him drive off before continuing along MY route. 

I’m glad I did. I headed towards some dark clouds, which combined biblically with the setting sun to paint the best skies I’ve witnessed to date. As I began climbing into the hills, I saw lightening in the distance, only adding to the atmosphere. I was riding a real high and felt good, so decided to press on into the night. I passed through hill side villages, waving at men outside a mosque and being chased stealthily by a friendly dog. I heard him close behind me, turned and shouted, before feeling bad, as I saw his wagging tail. I only climbed a bit past the village before setting camp set back from the road, taking time to carefully stake the tent incase the storm passed my way. I ate watching the distant lightning and gazing at the stars, content with a beautiful 70 mile day.

 

Nuttin’ like the open road in the mornin’

 

Perfect gravel, mmmm

 

 

 

Ms Knight’s cameo!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you tell I thought the sky looked pretty?

 

 

 

 


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