Turkey can be flat too…

今天早上我们在可以俯瞰相当大的城市萨姆松的地方吃完早餐后，直到10:45才出发。昨晚临近到达时，一辆车擦到了Shaun的自行车（准确来说是他的驮包），结果固定驮包在行李架上的锁定装置坏掉了。一开始我们还比较乐观，觉得可能还能撑住，但骑了没几米，加上路面有些颠簸，Shaun还是不得不想办法把包重新固定好。

So we actually got going after 11, immediately riding along the main road heading east. I would have preferred to stay as close to the sea as possible, but that wasn’t feasible at first. After a few kilometers, we used an overpass to cross the divided main road and the tram tracks to get closer to the sea. However, it was uncertain whether there would actually be a continuous road.

A few kilometers later, we faced railway tracks without an official crossing, but since it was clear others had passed here before, we lifted our bikes over the tracks and continued. Shortly after, we unexpectedly found a bike path, which was still marked as railway tracks on my map. We managed a few more kilometers, but soon the bike path ended, and we had to return to the busy main road.

After riding a bit more than 30 km and starting to think about a break, a man at a gas station gestured for me to come over. He insisted on inviting us for tea and chatting. A younger employee there said the man was a really great guy, and we felt the same. After serving us tea, he even went into the shop and brought us cookies. After we briefly explained our journey, the conversation once again turned to football—Turks really are passionate about it.

The kind man then asked where we planned to stay and added that we could also sleep at his place. Gabriel from Argentina, whom I met earlier in Turkey, once told me he accepts such invitations after just 5 km. My own threshold is higher—higher than the 33 or 34 km we had already ridden. I had already set my sights on an Öğretmenevi (teacher’s house) for the night, but it was still quite far. The man even tried calling to reserve a room for us, but as before, no one answered. So we continued on and hoped things would work out.

The next few kilometers took us slightly inland again, where we faced strong headwinds once more, but we still made steady progress. When I stopped by the roadside to ask Shaun if we should take another break—the next tea invitation appeared immediately. So that question solved itself.

We soon returned to riding along the sea. To stay closer to the coast, we left the busy road for a few kilometers. This made the route slightly longer but allowed us to avoid two or three climbs, so the time difference was probably minimal. The town of Ünye we passed through was also worth seeing. Shortly after, we took another food break. There still seemed to be enough time before dark, and only 20 km remained to the planned Öğretmenevi.

We arrived there around 19:30, and it was already getting dark—we had clearly moved further east, because in Istanbul sunset is after 19:30, and the days are still getting longer, while here it was around 19:10.

When I asked if there were any rooms available, I had to wait several minutes for an answer. In the end, it was no—the rooms were fully booked. I then asked if he knew of any affordable hotels nearby. The receptionist spent quite some time on his phone and seemed about to give us an answer when it rang. He took the call, spoke briefly, and then handed us a form to fill in our names and passport numbers.

We could actually stay—someone had just canceled their reservation by phone. What luck! Because going back out into the dark to search for a hotel, which would likely be more expensive, was something I really didn’t want. It wasn’t as cold as yesterday, but staying here was definitely the best option. Sometimes, you just need a bit of luck in life.