17 May, Çanakkale to Levfikiye, 30km @ 9.5kph
Varon Pansiyon 70TL (breakfast included) (negotiated down from 200TL)

Today was a day for regaining our confidence on the bikes – our first day in the saddle since Charl’s fall. It began in anxiety, mine manifesting itself as a faux need to pee! But shortly morphed into delight, which lasted until day’s end on this short ride to the outskirts of legendary Troy. We cycled, and walked, with hills to the south and east of us, and the Dardanelles to the west. With wind turbines standing guard along the ridge to our left and the Gallipoli peninsula visible across the straits to our right. We climbed long slow hills, which rewarded us with magnificent views back the way we had come of the narrow waterway that links the Aegean and Mediterranean seas with the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. In the late-morning, a storm developed over the peninsula. We watched it march across the Dardanelles toward us, the first fat rain drops catching us at the top of a long incline. And then the skies opened as we dashed laughing to an obviously popular restaurant conveniently located where we were rewarded with thick tomato soup and cheesy flat bread fresh from the oven.

Between Çanakkale and Levfikiye

Between Çanakkale and Levfikiye - entrance to Dardanelles

Between Çanakkale and Levfikiye - storm approaching

Levfikiye

Levfikiye