- ODO 4185km
- Location Burdur
- Weather 14-25 narrowly avoided showers in the afternoon
After a restless night, woken by nearby explosions from marble mining and grunts of frolicking wild boar I begrudgingly crawled from my damp tent. I had no real appetite and a banging headache. Regardless I packed up my kit and wheeled my bike back up to the road. Continuing the climb where I left off. 300m up to a pass I freewheeled into the nearby town sapped of energy. For the first time I wore my fleece jacket all morning. The temperature starting at 14 and barely getting above 18 until nearly midday.
As I rolled through the town I was met by a gift. My route turned from undulating climbs to flat, smooth highway. I was overjoyed. I love the beauty of the winding mountain roads. Turkey has tested me though. Daily repeated climbs. A fractal of hills within hills. Even when the map looks flat, the ground climbs 20m here, descends 10m next. But this was a true flat highway. Rolling kms of smooth tarmac.
The road continued, apart from some sections of narrow roadworks, for the rest of the day and I was able to break 120km for the first time in Turkey. As the sun began to set I came into Burdur and I was able to stop and top up my Turkish SIM card at last.
As I flicked my watch up to see 120km’s for the first time I smiled. The whole afternoon after several friendly encounters and some chai I was feeling back in my rhythm once again. I turned off the highway for a short sharp climb away from the busy lake bed and setup camp overlooking the lights of the towns below. The fading pastel sunset soaking the water with its rays. Bring on tomorrow.