August 3rd
159km (2,341m vertical)
In cycling, 100 miles is known as a Century Ride. Its the first brevet distance...kind of cycling's version of a marathon. We were only 1km shy of the mark today, which was the longest distance of the trip so far. (I was tempted to circle around the block a few times just to hit the 160km mark, but there will be other chances.) Including today's ride, I have cycled exactly 5,000km since I started in Le Havre...about 1/3 of the way to Beijing!
For many on the trip, this was the farthest they had ever cycled in one day. Luckily, the conditions were perfect. It was overcast and 75F all afternoon, and the first half of the day was almost entirely downhill. With lunch at 70km and a snack break at 120km, the day flew by.
Nicole and I picked up Max just before Resadiye. He had taken a short path down to a river for a photo, come back to the main road, and thought he was lost. Its impressive that he could get lost while cycling on the same D100 road all day. He also managed to leave one of his bags in the hotel this morning, and so he is again the owner of the Lame Duck award.
I was happy to have my knobby tires on this afternoon, when the road suddenly turned into a muddy construction mess at the 150km mark. A few km on that and I'm dreading the road conditions in Georgia, which are supposed to be pretty bad. The mountain bikers with their front suspension forks have slight smirks on their faces when we talk about it.
Tiny town beside a large mountain:
Scenic view:
The trees were growing right out of the mountain rock!
Posing beside the river (where Max got lost):
My tent, with a nice view of the mountains:
1 comment:
Congratulations on the century ride.
Now what you have left to cycle is the equivalent of crossing Canada twice!
Phew!
LFL
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