May 25, 2025
25May2025
I love my disc brakes. They fill me with a sense of confidence and oneness with my bike, like no other component does. My brakes respond at the lightest touch of my fingers, and that response is a direct extension of my sentiment at that very instant. There is no time that this confidence is tested more than on a steep mountain descent. Today started off as exactly that. All the hard work put in yesterday to climb to my campsite, was rewarded this morning with a steep 35km descent on a long tarmac road leading to Kokand in eastern Uzbekistan. The thrill of the descent was intense, as always, and I had my brakes to keep me safe :-) I could smell the burning of lorries' brake pads as I passed them as they crawled down the mountain slopes. Slowly, but surely, the sights of the he snow capped distant peaks disappeared under the apparent rising horizon. Most of today's ride was the descent, which then evolved into the usual flatlands that I was used to, all the way into Kokand. Ed and I rode together today and it was lovely to be able to take turns crateing a slipstream for each other. Kokand is a lovely town and it's main attraction is the 13th century palace of Kudayar Khan, which we visited in the evening, set amongst a lovely green tree filled park. After dinner at a very nice Turkish restaurant, it was time for some much needed rest in preparation for another long day ahead tomorrow.
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Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles)
Total: 1,948 km (1,210 miles)
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