Day 60. Wednesday, September 27. Kaynaklar hazelnut camp to Kaycik pub camp. 134km of riding, with 1,150m of climbing.
I set off this morning with high hopes my tyre problems were fixed once and for all – thanks to a new rear tyre and tube, and third fix of rim tape, this time with the real thing not electrical tape, by Ryan, our mechanic.
But the morning was a struggle from the start. My legs were the most tired yet of the whole tour, so I had very little oomph on the hills. One factor might have been ending yesterday’s ride at the top of a lot of hills so lactic acid was still in my muscles.
But the highlight was finally getting down to the Black Sea coast, which lifted my spirits.
However, that didn’t last long. At the 54km mark of the day, my rear tyre suddenly deflated once again. I was trailing the Dane Train, so I sent text messages to various of them telling them not to wait for me and I’d hope to catch them up at lunchtime.
I already had the rear wheel off and could see the tape had failed again when Sinan stopped by with the support van. So he loaded up me and my bike and took me the 30km to lunch, at a delightful spot on the sea front in a resort town.
Once again over lunch, Malcolm worked on the rear wheel, this time with various adhesive tapes from the local hardware store just down the street. Then I caught up with the Dane Train who had stopped only a few km down the road from lunch for a long coffee stop at, of all places, a Gloria Jeans – an Australian franchised chain we also have in NZ – which charged Australasian prices.
That left only 38km or so to ride to our campsite tonight. Thankfully, I managed to ride myself back into a better place – physically and mentally – and so far, the rear wheel’s doing what it should do trouble free.
And tonight after dinner – our last camping night of the trip – Leonie and Jane, two riders from Australia did a hilarious job giving an award to every rider with their prize coming from items in the two ladies’ kit. My prize was a pen, for “telling the most stories” in my blogging…wrapped in duct tape in case I had further rim trouble. I sincerely hope not!
What a fantastic way to finish off such a challenge- those award night are always brilliant fun!