We weren't looking forward to today.  A few hours on the E60 wasn't my idea of fun.  Especially since it would include a climb of about seven hundred meters most of which was squeezed into a ten kilometer section of dreadful roadworks. 

The lady at the guesthouse had a small baby so she didn't have time to provide breakfast (nor supper last night).  So we had to make do with a breakfast of oats porridge that I cooked up in the kitchen.   Oats never lasts more than a few hours for us so we knew we would have to find something else along the road.  The first opportunity was just before the climb got serious, a very cheesy kharapuri that had sufficient starch and fat to keep us satisfied until the end of the day.

After about ten kilometers traffic was being redirected onto a section of the newly built highway that was now open.  We tried to stick to the old road which we thought would be quieter but the man directing the traffic wouldn't allow us through.   So we reluctantly joined the traffic on the new road.  It turned out to be pretty good.  Two lanes in each direction with a wide shoulder meant less congestion and no chance of someone passing into oncoming traffic which was a constant danger on the old road.  It also meant we passsed over lots of bridges and through lots of tunnels, all of which were well lit and ventilated.  It ended up cutting a few kilometers off the distance for the day and avoided lots of undulations. 

Soon after our second breakfast and just after the open section of new road came to an end a cycle tourist came speeding down the hill.  We pulled off to our side of the road hoping he would stop but he sped on by.  A few seconds later three more came down the hill.  They joined us and we had a good natter.  They are all Turks, one who has lived in Australia for 33 years.  The guy who shot past lives in Austria.   Clearly the northern European habit of aloofness has got to him already ;-).  The Turks had started in Tbilisi but had planned to cycle eastwards to Azerbaijan.   Like us they had been unaware that the land border was closed.  So they changed their plans and are cycling back to Turkey. 

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The last few kays of slog up the hill was hard work but once through the one thousand seven hundred meter long tunnel atthe  top it was an easy run down to Khushari.  Tomorrow we head for Gori, the birthplace of Josef Stalin and home to a museum dedicated to him.  More about that tomorrow.