Saying goodbye to the Black Sea and heading into the hills of Georgia…

Once again, it took us quite a while to get going in the morning. After saying goodbye to Shayenne and Lukas—who weren’t quite sure what they would do that day—we set off at 11:15. But shortly after leaving, we somehow lost each other in the narrow streets of Batumi. I couldn’t see Shaun anywhere, so I first went to exchange some money and thought I might have to go back to the hotel. But after exchanging money, we suddenly found each other again and were finally able to properly set off.

Unfortunately, Shaun had a fall yesterday, so his shoulder and hip were hurting, and he could only ride relatively slowly at first. We initially rode north along the Black Sea, where two steep climbs were already waiting. The first one in particular was tough—on very small roads, it was extremely steep in places, just barely rideable—but with a great view back toward Batumi.

The second climb wasn’t as steep, and after that we said goodbye to the Black Sea and headed inland. It continued with rolling ups and downs. We rode alongside snow-covered mountains and then crossed a small pass. After the pass, there was a beautiful small river surrounded by lush green forests. Spring seems to have just begun here, but the colors were wonderful. Then there was another small climb before descending to a larger plain. About one kilometer before the highest point, the good road suddenly ended and turned into a gravel track all the way down to the plain—what a pity, those hard-earned elevation gains would have made for a great descent.

In Georgia, there are many more dogs on and along the roads than in Turkey. Cows also regularly made themselves comfortable right on the road, and we even saw pigs roaming freely by the roadside. The country gives a slightly less developed impression, but the people are just as friendly as in Turkey.

About 12 km before our planned destination, we saw a group of Georgians on the road who signaled us to stop and wanted to talk to us. Earlier, a Georgian boy had even raced me—it was neck and neck until his chain fell off the chainring. One man really wanted to invite us for a beer—just one, just a quick one, come on—but it was already 7:30 p.m., and we wanted to arrive before dark, so we declined. We did manage to take a photo, though most of the group were too shy to join, and only two agreed.

In the end, we arrived at our guesthouse run by a private family at 8:15 p.m., just with the last bit of daylight. As soon as we had settled into our room, it was already dark outside. That was close—but it worked out. Maybe tomorrow we’ll manage to start earlier and arrive earlier as well.