After a night of fitful sleep what we really needed was to be greeted by a beautiful morning. What we got was darkness and heavy rain, not an ideal way to restart our cycling tour. Nevertheless we loaded the bikes and headed to the ferry port in good time for the 7am departure.
While booking the tickets we had been told that we should bring the bikes into the main foot passenger terminal and then board from there. On arrival we had the slightly amusing moment of watching the security people walk our bikes through the metal detectors. Unsurprisingly they caused it to beep, strange that, what with them being made of metal! Security didn't seem particularly bothered so we were allowed to proceed.
Boarding was pretty straightforward, apart from upsetting a few people who thought we were taking too long to stow our bikes. Despite the fact that a member of staff was instructing us where to put them and another passenger had decided to sort out all her luggage in front of us. The complaints fell on uncomprehending ears!
The ferry journey passed smoothly, we managed to get some breakfast and caught up on a little bit of sleep.
By the time we docked in Bandirma the rain had stopped, but a biting northerly wind made it feel very cold. My decision to wear shorts based on the last few weeks weather turned out to be a bad one. Especially as I had packed my leggings in my rear inaccessible pannier.
Setting off we were both feeling the effects of a bad night's sleep. Fortunately as we were heading south and then west, the wind wasn't a headwind or we may have been looking for the nearest hotel!
Shortly before we joined the main road towards Cannakale a friendly dog came to say hello. I then made the mistake of stroking her, because as we set off along the road she decided to follow. This was quite entertaining for the first few hundred metres, but after we had done a few kilometres and she was still there we started to get a bit worried. While not especially busy, we were riding along a dual carriageway and the dog kept running into the road. No amount of shouting, shooing or waving of arms would get her to turn back. It was starting to look like we would have to change the blog name to 'on the road with toad and a dog'! A long descent came none too soon, as she soon gave up following when she couldn't keep up with us. We hope she made it back to where she belonged safely.
Slowly getting back into cycling mode we started to make pretty good progress. We were helped along by lots of friendly beeps of the horn, shouted greetings and waves. The hills that we had been expecting although long, weren't particularly steep and they were mainly followed by a substantial descent. We both recorded our fastest speeds so far 32mph for Debs and 56km/h for me.
It was on one of the hills that I heard Debs give a shout. Turning round and heading back down the hill, I found out that she had had her first puncture. As I have had some practice in these matters the inner tube was quickly replaced and we were back on the road.
Escaping from the cold we made a welcome stop at a petrol station and had a warming cup of çay in the restaurant. The owner and staff were very friendly, although I am fairly certain that they thought I was mad to be wearing shorts. But then so did Debs and by now so did I!
Stocking up on water before we left, the plan was to find a free camp spot and stop very early. This didn't prove as easy as we thought it would. Shortly after leaving the restaurant the terrain gave way to open farmland and the strong winds meant that we really needed to find some shelter. With no suitable spot in sight, we stopped for lunch near an advertising board (which offered none of the shelter we had hoped). Pressing on before we froze, we eventually stumbled on a small wooded area near a road junction and decided to make camp. We were a bit concerned we may have to move on when a vehicle drove past where we were, then turned round and parked opposite. But it soon went and the next people who spotted us waved and carried on there way.
Despite the difficult conditions, it is really good to get back on the bikes. Hopefully we will have a good night's sleep and the weather will be a bit warmer tomorrow.
Dinner finally didn't involve a kebab!
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