Reşadiye - The fourteenth step ... Asia Minor - CycleBlaze

October 10, 2023

Reşadiye

It was another lovely day when when we woke up this morning.   Lately the temperatures have been down to one degree but this morning it was a positively balmy seven.  There were a few hazy clouds but the sky was still mostly blue.

This morning's view from our hotel room window.
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After tucking into the hotel breakfast,  we headed back down the steep hill to the D100.  A gentle climb followed by an eight kilometer mineshaft lulled us into thinking that this cycling lark is easier than it is made out to be.

Mountains everywhere.
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Scott AndersonLooks a bit like parts of Spain we’re passing through.
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7 months ago
Jean-Marc StrydomTo Scott AndersonIt is similarly rugged but I think the valleys are narrower here. There's a lot of damage from soil erosion and I don't think that the construction of the highways has helped in that regard. Perversely, some of the most attractive hillsides are as a result of terrible scarring by erosion.
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7 months ago
Down the mineshaft.
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Mike AylingHow fast did you go?
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7 months ago
Jean-Marc StrydomTo Mike AylingOnly fifty odd kays an hour. We were dodging truck tyre debris so we had to take it easy. It looks dramatic in the photo but it was less than five percent on average. However, the first bit, which I think is what you see me approaching in the photo, was about eight percent (if Komoot is to be believed).
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7 months ago
Some interesting hillsides at the bottom of the long descent.
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Unfortunately it couldn't last.  After about thirty kilometers the weather turned stormy and a strong westerly wind came up.  The thought of battling into it for the next fifty kilometers recalibrated our mindsets quickly.   Then Leigh picked up a piece of truck tyre wire in her rear wheel.   I rushed replacing it and didn't seat the tyre's bead fully.  So a bit further on we had to stop so that I could do the job properly. 

We have seen some enormous pumpkins and, a few days back, the biggest cabbages I have ever seen. Strangely, we haven't seen pumpkins in any market or in any restaurant food.
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Just over twenty kilometers from Reşadiye it started to rain lightly and did so until the end of the ride.  It was after four o'clock by the time we pulled up at a very nice new hotel outside the town.  It was barely more expensive than our digs last night but was in a different galaxy when comparing quality and cleanliness.   We immediately started thinking of having a rest day here even though there isn't anything of interest to us in the area.

Today's ride: 81 km (50 miles)
Total: 2,153 km (1,337 miles)

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Rich FrasierSometimes it’s good to rest on a rest day. Even rugged travelers like the two of you need to recuperate once in a while!
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7 months ago