Day 1,470

Sleeping under the stars

‘Ow's t'back lad? Now if I hadn't had a mother who spent my childhood correcting me, sorry, my speech I would have spoken those words. Tom reassured me that though still twinging a bit his back was on the mend. So it's on the bikes, nothing like a 60-mile ride, with several thousand feet of climbing, heat and headwind, plus a night in a tent, to check out if it really was ‘on't mend’.

Our early start meant that the food stores were still closed, no problem, we would pick something up on the way, or maybe stop in a restaurant and sit out the heat of the day. Great plan except if you ride on the quiet roads then there’s not a lot of point in anyone opening a restaurant, or even a shop. You would think after 4 years touring we would have more sense but no, we don't. 

We retraced our route from Refahiye, which I was looking forward to. It was slightly downhill, in a stunning setting, but more importantly we were going the opposite way to normal so we would have a tail wind, yes? No! Pedalling downhill is simply one of  the worst things for cyclists, but we had no option. Our original route had us staying on the E80 but Matt P had suggested we carry on stalking him and take a minor road through a canyon. It was stunning, a slightly shorter route, with less climbing, so we didn't need much persuading. 

We turned off the E80 and left the traffic behind and immediately went uphill. It was steep but doable and I got a 3rd place on Strava, one of  the fastest times for women ever. Yeh! Only three of us have ever ridden it mind! The fierce head wind had for now, disappeared, but don't worry folks it would be back. Then we descended into the canyon, Matt P had snapped a spoke riding downhill here, I could understand, it just went on and on. We took our time, Tom taking pictures along the way of the hills growing larger, higher all around us. 

We were loving the route, virtually traffic free, pretty decent road surface and jaw dropping views. Time and again Tom said he just didn't expect this part of Turkey to be so stunning. We were a few hours in and by now we needed food, but our saying, ‘The road will provide’ wasn't proving true today. We ate our snacks and pushed on and on. Finally we reached the outskirts of the town of Şiran, Google said there were two petrol stations and a couple of restaurants but apart from one closed Shell garage we couldn't find them. Tom had just said we'd need to back track into the town when I spotted a sweet shop with a restaurant attached, heaven. They only had soup, but we had several bowls, and a basket full of bread, then the lovely owner brought us over a plate full of their special Turkish sweets, and we devoured the lot. I looked at my watch, 4pm! We'd been riding since 8am, no wonder we were hungry. Our plan was to either camp, or find a hotel in Şiran if Tom’s back was causing problems, but he felt pretty good so on we went, uphill. Into our nemesis, headwind. 

It was hell, the climb was so gradual it should have been a blast but that wind ensured it was one long struggle. Still we got to the top, took a side road and, though we were battered by that wind, we set up camp. Tom’s back had meant he hadn't been able to take pictures of the evening sky, tonight he would, and despite the glow from several small villages, he was able to capture the milky way in all its glory. 

The night time view

On checking my phone in the morning we discovered @glorypeddaling were actually in Şiran! So near and yet so far! They were taking the day off so we packed up and headed off. By now we had left the canyon behind but we had reached a high plateau. Bleak but stunning, and yes, you guessed it, food free. We did spot a bread shop shortly after we set off, and ate the largest piece of bread we'd ever seen, but other than that, nothing, all day long, although a gang of road workers did call us over for çai and biscuits. Lunch was more sweets from the day before, it was food but not really what we needed. 

As we neared our destination for the night, Bayburt, the roads got busier. Road crews were also repainting the white line in the middle of the road, putting out cones to stop drivers riding on the wet paint. Fine, but that meant they drove into the hard shoulder where us two hardy cyclists were. Throw in two massive vehicles transporting turbine blades, and boy they are huge, and do not even ask us about the guy in a white truck with a tractor, by the time we reached town we were well and truly pissed off. The hotel Matt P had recommended was full, obviously. We even considered carrying on, but a 2,500 foot climb wasn't really what we needed right then. We found a hotel, booked in, and in a town full of restaurants managed to choose a weird one, there was nothing for it but more cake!