Preferably Lost

Gerede to Ilgaz
July 30th
138km (1,966m vertical)

After dinner last night, I rushed back to my tent to write my blog, enjoy a Milka chocolate bar, and sleep. It was cold and I was tired. Slept from 8:30pm to 6:00am! Unfortunately, I forgot that I was supposed to be washing the dinner dishes with Mike. He pointed it out at breakfast this morning, so I awarded myself the Lame Duck award for a second day.

Directions for the day could not have been simpler: From camp, go back to the main road. At 2.3km, veer left onto the D100. Continue on D100 for 134km to Ilgaz. Hotel on Left. Despite this, nearly everyone in the group got lost.

I left camp with a large group, and was in the front as we rolled down the first hill. Graeme was right behind me...but no one else was. We waited a few minutes before realizing that we'd sailed right past the 2.3km turn. Back up the hill to get onto the D100.

Graeme wanted a leisurely ride and some time alone, so he sent me ahead to catch the girls. I rode briskly, and past a few other riders, but couldn't find them. After a while, I gave up trying to find them and accepted that I'd ride alone. It was going to be a long day anyways, and my butt would appreciate getting out of my bike shorts a few hours earlier.

I was the first one into lunch, which was strange because Al had left before me, would never stop en route, and I hadn't passed him.

I arrived first at the hotel at 1pm, averaging 27km/h for the day...a tie for my fastest average speed of the trip. When Al got in, he explained that most people had turned sharply left (instead of veering slightly left) at the 2.3km mark, and had ended up in the center of Gerede. In any case, everyone made it to today's hotel eventually. My detour added 4km to the day, making it the longest ride of the trip so far. The other detour added 9km for Al, Nicole, and the others. Seems like I got lost wisely.

The terrain changed this afternoon, and it feels almost like a desert now. We are riding through large, dusty mountains freckled with green trees. We've managed to weave our way between most of the big lumps so far. Not sure how long we can keep that up.

Early morning climb:

Horses and hills:
The road is climbing around the mountain on the left:

Some downhill, with more mountains waiting in the distance:

Small hillside town: