Well if yesterday was chalk then today was pineapple. After a cold night, during which I woke up twice with a dead arm I finally arose to a brisk morning with a body that was raring to go. An earlier wake up of 8:40 was also a good sign compared to the lazy 10 o'clocks I had had previously so all was good apart from the smell. I had experienced it as I was setting up but the wind was blowing the other way and I got in my tent pretty sharpish so I didn't have to breathe it in constantly. I was camped by a river and the water may as well of been stagnant. It was the black liquor flowing water which was kicking out a smell that reminds you of the sewers from a party island on a lads holiday. This morning, the smell was in my tent and it was fighting with my sleeping bag so that gave me all the more reason to get up and start pedalling early.
As I pushed Nigel towards the road I saw the farmer or should I say boy that was herding the cows. He asked me for a cigarette I said no, sorry and that was that. It feels strange being asked for things as I have nothing and look like I have nothing so most people wouldn't bother asking unless they're planning on going on a cycle tour themselves. Ive been asked for money (which ill have to get used to) cigarettes today and amazingly on around 5 occasions in different countries some people have asked me for directions. I'm sorry but if you pick one person out of the crowd to ask for local directions, are you going to ask the hairy dude on the bike with his compass out looking at the sun? No you're not! Well amazingly people did and despite helping the girl in Switzerland with using a map on her phone, I was not much help with the rest surprisingly.
I couldn't believe the difference some food had made and the added reassurance/lack of care with regards to my bowel situation. (As it stood, the only thing running was my nose!) When doing a tour like this you can really feel the effects of food types and how much you eat etc. I don't obviously mean, when you eat a dodgy curry because that's the same back home. I mean, you can appreciate how much energy you can get from one chocolate bar or one apple and it makes you utilise food so much more efficiently then back in the 9-5 world. Instead of eating because its that time to eat, I eat when I'm hungry. In the 9-5 world you have no idea that eating 5 biscuits can make you cycle for 45 minutes longer than eating 3 because you just eat the 5 and carry on watching the movie. (This is not a scientific fact as it depends on your body, your cycling conditions and what type of biscuit you're eating but you get my drift)
So with this in mind and having had a productive yet cold morning I decided to stop at a restaurant to get some decent food and then cycle straight through till the end of the day. The restaurants at petrol stations are like canteens for truckers. I have decided after today that they are cheap if you look at your meal as if you ordered it from a menu in a normal restaurant. They are not cheap if you look at your meal as if you ordered it from a canteen at work or school.
I had some lightly fried kofte with 3 chips, rice and a mushroom soup with bread (which is free) and a fanta (fed up of water) this came to about £8.50. Some restaurants could get away with that but there is no way I would be happy with paying £8.50 for sausage, chips and beans and a drink from any leisure centre canteen! This is why I will not be doing the restaurant thing everyday and its also going to smash my budget if I do. After my meal I had to add some extra layers, the wind was really cold and I could sense rain. I say sense rain like I'm turning into some modern day Crocodile Dundee, I just saw a massive rainstorm ahead that I was riding straight into but technically yes, I still had to use my senses.
It's always a gamble for me after a stop whether my body is going to accept being back on the bike or cry about not having enough rest. Today must've been the right amount of food and rest to continue the momentum of the days cycling. Sure enough it started to rain but I was happy. Happy to be alive and cycling strong in the cold, wind and rain and getting a right face full every time a lorry sprayed past me! The clouds really dropped making visibility pretty poor so the newly acquired hi vis jacket was put on (thanks again Sakarya cycle team) and I carried on through not one but two separate downpours.
Eventually, the land started to open up and I was presented with more of a mainland Turkey that I had imagined. Still much greener than I had thought but a lot more open and flat as if it could host its own cowboy films. At around 5pm I had enough, still damp and with very cold hands, I could see another rain cloud ahead that I didn't want to get involved with. I saw a house literally in the middle of nowhere which I had already decided was going to be where I was staying. As I got closer, the house turned into a hotel/restaurant which was attached to a closed down petrol station. I didn't care, there was a field out back and that's all I needed. I cycled slowly past the closed down petrol station and could see 2 guys sat in the building, shall I stop? I thought. As I was thinking this they both came out and shouted, where you from? When I hear this, I know I've got myself a winner. Selma and Isaac their names and within 5 minutes my spot around the back was established. Selma is trying to learn English but as always, conversation was about as fluent as a car journey through the centre of London.
As I began to make my tent, the wind picked up, rain began and my fingers decided they wanted to be stones. Two women just watched me and said things that i had no idea about. They were easily the worst conditions that I've had to set up in yet and by the end of it, I was even colder, wetter and muddier than anytime during the day/tour. As I went to dive into my nice cosy sleeping bag and zip up for the night, Selma called me over. He showed me around the old petrol station to a nice warm, carpeted prayer room. "Here you sleep" he said "it's ok." Well if there isn't a prime moment for "now you tell me!" I gratefully declined, the tent was already up and it's probably best I stayed in it to stop it flying away, plus my snoring may put the locals off their morning prayers.
I went back to the tent to cocoon myself in my sleeping bag and have a dinner of sesame seed sticks, cheese crackers and the best white chocolate chip cookies in the whole of Turkey.
A massive difference in 24 hours, if a couple of days ago I felt back in the camping game, today I was definitely back in the cycling game. Bring on tomorrow!
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