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Published: September 20th 2023
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We found a great place for dinner last night which meant we ate way too much, I also found somewhere that sells halva on the way back to the hotel so we all enjoyed some with a coffee back at the Hotel.
Breakfast was a bit meagre this morning but considering we didin't realise it was included I guess we can't complain. We did manage to get on the road by 8:45am which was good considering the distance we have to do today. As soon as we left town the undulations began, up and down, up and down. Eventually this takes quite a toll on your legs. The scenery today was much more interesting. Up and down means lots of spurs and gullys. We are in an area that is mostly forested which provides for a lot of shade on the D020 in it's "narrow version". There still a fair bit of traffic but it doesn't seem as bad as yesterday. Also leaving early means it's considerably cooler when we start and I almost enjoy the coldness in my fngers, something I haven't felt for a long time.
With the road undulating it is very hard to ride in
formation. Everyone climbs at their own pace, it's hard to try and slow down or speed up to match others so inevitably gaps form. We join up again and then another hill separates us and this is the pattern of the day
Our morning break is at about 10:15am and we've made excellent time covering over 30kms and climbing 560m. We had 4 significant climbs for the day that were punctuated by the dozens of undulations.
Just before lunch we crested a hill and we caught our first glimpse of the sky scrapers of Instanbul, it was quite unexpected and quite a buzz. We caught another few glimpses over the rest of the ride. By lunchtime we only had 12kms left for the day. We had done exceptionally well, no doubt helped by the distinct lack of a head wind today. The last 12kms contained our biggest climb for the day, just over 2kms long and climbing about 160m. We were on the "wider version" of the D020 now so we had a wide lane to ride in. The excitement came when we got to the top and the Black Sea spread out before us to provide another
unexpected buzz.
We reached our accommodation at about 1:30pm, covered 81kms and climbed 1042m. What a difference the lack of a head wind makes to how you feel at the end of the day. We are staying at the Isntanbul Airport Durusu Park Club Hotel. It's quite isolated and has a great view of a lake and the national park all around. There'll be no "town walk" today and we'll have dinner here at the hotel.
Tomorrow we're heading to a town called Kumkoy, on the Black Sea. It's only about 50kms from here making for a short day so we can enjoy the beach for the afternoon. That will leave about 50kms for Friday's victory ride into Istanbul. I don't want to get ahead of myself, there's still just over 100kms to ride over two days but we can almost taste the end now.
Distance travelled today: 81kms
Distance travelled so far: 4,474kms
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