Heading back inland through the mountains again

This morning we wanted to start earlier, since we had also arrived early yesterday. So we set off at 09:15. Shortly after, however, we had a short stretching session in a park by the sea.

After that, we headed inland, essentially into the mountains. The weather was somewhat cloudy, but in our direction, the clouds were brighter—a good omen. At first, the terrain consisted of rolling hills, going up and down, until we climbed toward a dam. We had only intended to enjoy the view of the lake, but Devrek, the next town on our route, was also signposted in that direction.

Shortly afterward, the main climb of the day began. It was my first longer climb since crossing the pass in Bulgaria, and Shaun hadn’t climbed a pass in a long time either. After just a few meters of elevation, a police car came toward us, made a U-turn behind us, overtook us again, and stopped ahead. Three officers got out and wanted to take a photo with us. They were enthusiastic about our journey and said goodbye warmly.

Shortly afterward, the main climb of the day began. It was my first longer climb since crossing the pass in Bulgaria, and Shaun hadn’t climbed a pass in a long time either. After just a few meters of elevation, a police car came toward us, made a U-turn behind us, overtook us again, and stopped ahead. Three officers got out and wanted to take a photo with us. They were enthusiastic about our journey and said goodbye warmly.

The climb stretched for about 14 km and reached 720 meters above sea level, according to the road sign—not bad considering we had started at sea level. It took quite a while to reach the top. Along the way, we noticed that we were riding on a brand-new road that wasn’t shown on my bike computer, Komoot, or Google Maps. It was amusing that such a large road had been built despite the very little traffic—only a car every few minutes. But of course, we enjoyed the smooth surface.

The descent that followed was also on a very good road, but we started to feel cold. The weather here had become much cooler, with temperatures in the single digits. As it began to rain near the end of the descent, we decided to stop in Devrek at a café and warm up with Turkish tea. We each drank several glasses, and the owner even allowed us to eat our own food, bringing us cutlery as well. When we paid, we gave him 200 Turkish lira, not realizing it wasn’t enough. The owner showed us on his calculator that the price was 220 lira. We wanted to give him a tip, especially since he had to wash the cutlery, but the kind man firmly refused to take more money. Even when we insisted, he wouldn’t accept it. He showed us a translated message on his phone saying he simply wanted to do something good for us. So we gratefully accepted his gesture.

Warm again and in good spirits, we continued down the valley, sometimes having the entire road to ourselves. The newly built road was not yet open to cars, but the construction workers directed us to use it. And we even had a tailwind—what more could a cyclist ask for?

During our late lunch, we decided to ride about 42 more kilometers to a small town where Google Maps showed a hotel. The last 30 km went uphill through another valley, but with the tailwind, progress was easy. Shortly before 6 p.m., we arrived at the place where we thought there was a hotel. However, the locals told us it was actually a student dormitory and weren’t even sure if anyone still lived there. In any case, it wasn’t a hotel, so we couldn’t stay there.

The locals told us that the only hotel in town was “Ihlamur Teras,” located on a rock overlooking the city. The next hotel was about 37 km away. One man even offered to drive us up, as it was a long and steep climb. Shaun and I looked at each other—the temptation was definitely there, as we already had around 107 km and 1400 meters of climbing in our legs. But we decided to ride up ourselves—after all, we were on a cycling tour, and it wouldn’t feel right to suddenly get into a car.

The climb was indeed very steep, but we tried to take it as easy as possible. In the end, we reached the top around 6:15 p.m., happy about the amazing view and the fact that we had made it up on our own. We did feel a bit crazy, but I was even happier that we had done it as a team—and that I wasn’t the only “crazy” one. I think Shaun felt the same way.