Day 44
Sleeping location: Beyhan Hotel, Istanbul
Distance (km today/total): 120 / 4425
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1000 / 36500
Distance from start of Istanbul to the centre: 70km
Day in three words: Istanbul is big
I knew from the off that today was going to be another 100 odd km of the same dual carriageway, with the same headwind, with even more traffic, but that there was a kebab and a healthy bag of achievement waiting for me at the other end: the end of Europe. The morning was indeed a dull grind, apart from the nicest Turkish petrol station bathroom yet* which had a robotic toilet, woodland decor and loads of fancy smells. After 40km I reached the sea and basically the start of Istanbul.
After this everything got extremely hectic and mostly unpleasant. The traffic was relentless and the Turkish way of driving involves filling up available space as quickly as possible, with the existence of a cyclist in that space only of mild interest. I can see why Lachlan Morton on Outskirts 2* was willing to hike across the Albanian Alps in heavy rain, and race up a massive Greek mountain, but chose to skip the ride into Istanbul because it was too mental. This does make me more hardcore (in one respect) than a pretty hardcore professional cyclist though. Slightly less hardcore is the fact that I got very stressed out and was a ball of nerves by the time I stopped for food and water with 40km left.
Happily, after this break I entered a sort of zen rage, where I was still annoyed at Istanbul but managed to channel this into getting to my destination as quickly as possible. I stuck on some techno and rode the wave, zipping in between traffic and even enjoying it, sometimes, a bit. This made the last leg fly by and soon I’d made it to the centre. I made a bit of a detour, which turned into a lot of a detour, to try and get a picture of Maggie with Asia in the background, then headed to the hotel to wait for my dad to arrive from the airport. He’s flown out to Turkey with his bike and we’re going to cycle to my parents’ house in the south over the next week or so. Upon arrival there will be some SERIOUS relaxing (and bike maintenance).
So this is Europe, done. I have really enjoyed this leg and will definitely come back to the Balkans again, hopefully on a bike, as the mountains, friendly people and cheap tasty food all make for a wonderful cycling experience. Tomorrow, a rest day and a chance to see Istanbul in a way that doesn’t make me hate it.
*The petrol station bathrooms in Turkey have all been unexpectedly lovely so far
**LM is a professional cyclist who has done a few excellent “adventure cycling” videos for Rapha. Outskirts 2 was from Albania to Istanbul, and partially informed my route for this part of the trip.
Distance (km today/total): 120 / 4425
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1000 / 36500
Distance from start of Istanbul to the centre: 70km
Day in three words: Istanbul is big
I knew from the off that today was going to be another 100 odd km of the same dual carriageway, with the same headwind, with even more traffic, but that there was a kebab and a healthy bag of achievement waiting for me at the other end: the end of Europe. The morning was indeed a dull grind, apart from the nicest Turkish petrol station bathroom yet* which had a robotic toilet, woodland decor and loads of fancy smells. After 40km I reached the sea and basically the start of Istanbul.
After this everything got extremely hectic and mostly unpleasant. The traffic was relentless and the Turkish way of driving involves filling up available space as quickly as possible, with the existence of a cyclist in that space only of mild interest. I can see why Lachlan Morton on Outskirts 2* was willing to hike across the Albanian Alps in heavy rain, and race up a massive Greek mountain, but chose to skip the ride into Istanbul because it was too mental. This does make me more hardcore (in one respect) than a pretty hardcore professional cyclist though. Slightly less hardcore is the fact that I got very stressed out and was a ball of nerves by the time I stopped for food and water with 40km left.
Happily, after this break I entered a sort of zen rage, where I was still annoyed at Istanbul but managed to channel this into getting to my destination as quickly as possible. I stuck on some techno and rode the wave, zipping in between traffic and even enjoying it, sometimes, a bit. This made the last leg fly by and soon I’d made it to the centre. I made a bit of a detour, which turned into a lot of a detour, to try and get a picture of Maggie with Asia in the background, then headed to the hotel to wait for my dad to arrive from the airport. He’s flown out to Turkey with his bike and we’re going to cycle to my parents’ house in the south over the next week or so. Upon arrival there will be some SERIOUS relaxing (and bike maintenance).
So this is Europe, done. I have really enjoyed this leg and will definitely come back to the Balkans again, hopefully on a bike, as the mountains, friendly people and cheap tasty food all make for a wonderful cycling experience. Tomorrow, a rest day and a chance to see Istanbul in a way that doesn’t make me hate it.
*The petrol station bathrooms in Turkey have all been unexpectedly lovely so far
**LM is a professional cyclist who has done a few excellent “adventure cycling” videos for Rapha. Outskirts 2 was from Albania to Istanbul, and partially informed my route for this part of the trip.
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