21 September, Ilyasbey
to Cide, 58km
Otel Yali 80TL (breakfast included)
A long, exhausting, stunning day, dry and
hotter than the last couple of days. I think the first 10km or so were
relatively easy, but thereafter we walked long, steep inclines, pushing bikes
grown impossibly heavy, arms aching, legs leaden. The road so narrow that a
truck and car meeting on it have to slow almost to a stop to pass one another. The
corners so sharp and unprotected that a loss of concentration or brakes would
send one flying into space. The bush a dense, intense green; the sea intense
blues to the horizon and back. By the time we reached Sakalli 17km from Cide I
was ready to call it quits. We tried to arrange a lift, without success and, in
the end, I was glad we managed to cycle those last tough kms. From the top of
our last climb of the day we looked down on a small city its 7800 residents
living in a valley on the coast. Dropping into town we met yet another lone
cyclist, a Frenchman en route Georgia, and almost immediately the road
flattened out we found ourselves opposite the charming Otel Yali where we were
not only given a bed for the night, but dinner too.
Between Ilyasbey and Cide
Between Ilyasbey and Cide
Between Ilyasbey and Cide
Between Ilyasbey and Cide
Between Ilyasbey and Cide