From countryside to city: Tbilisi!

It was still quite cool when we set off at 09:42 this morning. We had planned for 09:30, but at least today the delay was within reasonable limits—good.

At first, we followed the main road out of town toward Tbilisi, but soon turned onto a smaller road. We were still following a route suggested by Komoot. Komoot routes are generally good—except when they suggest riding through a riverbed. It might have been possible, but we chose to take the nearby bridge instead.

We continued along a quiet country road through green meadows and passed by Samtsevrisi Castle. Shortly afterward, we came across another, even larger castle or fortress, though I couldn’t find out its name.

A few kilometers later, it wasn’t obvious how to bypass a less-than-ideal section, so we ended up taking a gravel track, parts of which were in terrible condition. After being thoroughly shaken, we were relieved when asphalt returned in the next village. Near the railway tracks, we interestingly saw a train from Stadler pass by. It’s fascinating that Georgians buy Swiss trains, while on the roads there are countless trucks and vehicles still bearing German, French, or Dutch lettering. After being retired in Western Europe, they probably continue operating here for at least as long—and who cares if it still says something like “Landscaping Company XYZ” on the side?

A few kilometers later, we deviated from the planned route again. At a junction that looked a bit odd, I stopped briefly, and a taxi driver immediately rolled down his window: “Tbilisi?” I nodded, and he pointed to the right instead of straight ahead as suggested by the route. This detour was about two kilometers longer but much more pleasant to ride.

With a tailwind and good weather, I really enjoyed pedaling. Soon we reached the only somewhat longer climb of the day, and by then we had already covered more than half the distance to Tbilisi. We stocked up on food at a small shop and took a short break. Even though we didn’t share a common language, I had a lot of fun interacting with the shopkeeper. Somehow, I even managed to get her to bring me a bottle of water from the back that wasn’t ice cold—the weather outside was already cool enough.

After that climb, the route still had some ups and downs, but more downhill overall, and with the tailwind, we made good progress. In the distance, we could see the snow-covered Caucasus Mountains, and I wondered if one of them might be Mount Kazbek, which I had climbed in 2021.

Soon, the settlements became denser, and we inevitably approached Tbilisi—which reminded me of Istanbul. I wondered whether the roads into the city would be as congested as in Istanbul. We took a detour past a power plant and ended up once again on a terrible gravel road full of puddles from the previous days’ rain. At least there was no traffic there. Once we got back onto a better road, it soon merged into a massive five-lane highway—five lanes in each direction, that is. While the traffic wasn’t quite as heavy as in Istanbul, the drivers here were much less considerate, speeding past us from both sides—wherever there was space. So for me, it was actually more uncomfortable riding here than in Istanbul. Fortunately, our route soon led onto a bike path—though we first had to cross that huge road, which wasn’t easy with the heavy traffic.

From there on, the ride became more pleasant again, as traffic slowed down significantly once the bike path ended and we returned to regular roads. At almost exactly 6 p.m., we reached Freedom Square in Tbilisi—I heard the chimes ringing on the hour. There were plenty of accommodations nearby, and after a few detours, we found a cheap but good guesthouse where we checked in. The only issue was that our room wasn’t ready yet, so we went out to eat first. At a nearby vegan café, I enjoyed a wide selection of food—especially desserts, far more than in the past few days—and had a fun bit of small talk with a Russian waitress named Anna.