29 August, Tirebolu to Giresun, 45km
Otel Ormancilar 80TL (breakfast included) (down from 120TL)

It poured with rain in the night, cooling our room to a point where we could sleep, and is bucketing down again now, but we are dry and happy in our Giresun hotel. We had a super ride here, with the Black Sea still immediately to our right, and green, lush hills immediately to our left. There are almost no unpopulated stretches along this coastline. From one village or town, you can see the next creeping up the slopes and spilling to the edge of the sea in the next bay. Between are a scatterling of houses and apartments, with small, hidden coves below the road and seaside restaurants and fishing boats. The road itself runs almost flat for most of the distance, tunnels making light of the occasional spur. Since hitching the Zigana Pass tunnel and seeing just how narrow is a tunnel road and how manic the driving despite this, we have become anxious about cycling tunnels. On occasion since then we have walked the tunnels; today we cycled only one short tunnel, using the old coast road to circumvent the others. The Giresun Öğretmenevi was fully booked, but called the Ormancilar, negotiated a reduced rate for us, and suggested they send someone to show us the way, which they did. How’s that for service?

Between Tirebolu and Giresun

Between Tirebolu and Giresun