We had too much food at the hotel buffet breakfast and got dazed and lazy and didn’t start to cycle until after 10 AM.
Last November the two Turkish cyclists Burak Yalciner and Gökhan Kutluer did a cycle tour between Oslo and Copenhagen and stayed at our home for two nights. When we arrived Istanbul we were invited to stay with Burak’s family and we immediately became good friends with all of them. Burak studies in Istanbul while his parents split their time between the family’s home in Zonguldak and an apartment in Istanbul.
When we stayed with the family in Istanbul they gave us many advices regarding the route and they insisted we should try to pass their hometown Zonguldak which we promised to do.
Today’s mission was to reach Zonguldak and stay with our friends there and enjoy their company and a few days of rest. The only thing that was between us and them was a climb of 500 vertical meters across a mountain.
The hill to climb before arriving to Zonguldak and our friends
It was a nice sunshine when we left Alapli but only 6-7 km along the way towards Eregli we cycled into a dense fog and when we arrived in Eregli it was even a bit cold. At the outskirts of that city we passed some big shipyards but the work seemed to have ceased at two container ships. Nobody was working on them and we later got the explanation why – the financial crisis and problems with the banks.
Turkey may have avoided much of the financial crisis, but not the owner of these two ships that no work is done on any longer.
Wej had not completely recovered from her sore throat and a few times I got a stinging feeling in the central part of my right calf which I had injured severely last year. The chilly weather and our physical conditions made us move forward with great caution.
The climb started right after we passed the city of Eregli. It was not steep, only 5 % on average, but it was almost 10 km long. We rode up very slowly and didn’t stop a single time until we reached the pass. Climbing 500 meters in one long go is much more fun and challenging than doing five climbs of 100 meters that once you have passed the pass immediately takes you down to where you started. Those small climbs are both physically and mentally de-motivating.
Trying the famous strawberries from Ereglie
Eregli is famous for having Turkey’s best strawberries and we passed numerous small stalls where the local’s sell these red delights. Even if we really wanted to buy some we kept going since we didn’t want to break the momentum we finally had gained, but we stopped at the first stall after the top. The strawberries were more expensive than we expected but they tasted great.
When we got up on the hill we suddenly had the fog below us. It was sunshine and a nice temperature as we cycled up and down the small hills on top of the mountain. The descent from the mountain was a bit difficult since the surface was not in the best condition and there was a lot of traffic. Road constructions was going on at several places and it was sometimes very dusty.
Road blocked by truck
When we came racing down a slope we saw a truck parked across the road. It looked strange and when we got closer a police man walked up to us and raised his hand to show us to stop. Yesterday the police escorted us, so we wondered why they stopped us now.
Once we had stopped they put up cones across the road and a sign telling ”traffic control”. We couldn’t understand why they would want to include us in their traffic control, but we had to stop. Nothing happened and soon more cars stopped behind us and a short while later we got the explanation by a police officer who could speak good English. He told us that the construction workers were going to blow up a big rock and that we had to wait about 20 minutes.
Talking to the police officer while waiting
We chatted with the police officer when a loud ”booom” echoed between the mountains and a huge dust cloud raised from the valley in front of us. We were first in the line but we decided to let all cars pass before we started to cycle again. I had parked my bike at the side of the road and when it was time for us to roll I saw that my front tyre had got flat 🙁 🙁 🙁
I had probably parked on something sharp and there was nothing to do than change to a new innertube. If I had seen what had happened I could have done it while waiting for that explosion.
All other cars in the que is gone and we are left alone to fix my second flat tyre 🙁
Finally we could continue our descent down from the sunny mountain and into the foggy coastline. We had agreed with Özlem that we would send her a message when we approached town. Soon we got contact and she and her husband Volkan came to meet us by car.
Volkan told us to put bikes and panniers into the car. I asked how far away they lived and I think I heard him say 200 meters but I thought he meant 2000 meters. We loaded everything into the car and drove up some very very steep hills and I think their house is 200 meters above where we met so Volkan was right after all.
Raki in the left glass and cold water in the right one
We were warmly welcomed and given a bedroom and a bathroom and showed around. The view of the Black Sea from their cosy balcony is stunning…..if it wasn’t for all the fog.
Özlem and Volkan prepared a very nice dinner to have on that balcony while the sun was setting in the Black Sea and finally I got to try the national drink of Turkey – the famous Raki.
Cheers my friend…