The sky is clear in the morning and I decide to head off to make the most of the fine weather. It is predicted to stay for the next few days.
I am slow to leave, as usual when leaving a town and by the time I am on the highway there is a stonking head wind. The cycling isn't the most interesting, a little hilly and lots of traffic. I find a spot to camp amongst some trees and bushes not far from the highway.
My camping routine is all out of whack and I am slow to get on the road. The riding is fairly easy but a little boring. I am
aiming for a town called Köycegiz. There is a large lake next to the town.
About 20 kilometres from the town my drivetrain starts playing up. Every time I freewheel the cassette keeps spinning and the chain looks like it might get caught in the spokes. I pretend I am on a fixie for the rest of the way into town.
I find the bike shop to see if they know what the problem is. They quickly figure out that my freewheel is stuffed and I need a new hub. This involves removing all the spokes, getting a new hub and having my wheel rebuilt. Not something that I know how to do.
I hand over my beloved bike to the mechanic and try not to look anxious. I hope they know what they are doing because I don't want to have to deal with broken spokes - something I haven't had any issues with yet.
They seem to know what they are doing and I spend the afternoon hanging out at the bike shop, using their wifi and drinking çay. One of the guys at the bike shop organised somewhere for me to sleep tonight - a member of the bike shop that is an English teacher.
Saniye meets me at the bike shop and after a quick shower we head out for dinner. Whilst at her house I discover she owns a lion pretending to be a cat. She rescued her from the street earlier in the year.
Saniye treats me to Pide (Turkish pizza) that had some short of chopped meat and cheese. After dinner we hunt around for desert. I don't know what the name of this dish is but it is excellent. A small metal bowl is packed with thin, short rice noodles (maybe?), a layer of cheese and then more noodles. This is slowly heated up over a gas stove until the noodles are crispy and the cheese stringy. Then a sweet honey syrup is poured over it with a garnish of crushed pistachios. So tasty.
After another delicious Turkish breakfast I head back to the bike shop to pick up stuff that I left there the day before. I manage to talk to my parents and grandma (it is Christmas Eve back home) and luckily I do because after yesterdays delay and this mornings late start there is no way I will be in Bodrum for Christmas.
I cycle out of town along the lake and then some back streets through fields of citrus trees and small villages. Before too long I am back on the highway.
It's easy riding and I decide to turn off and take some back roads to Bodrum that the bicycle shop people recommended to me. The first section of it is spectacular riding along the ocean, narrow, winding road, through the trees with light traffic.
I set up my tent in a field above the road. I have a nice view of the ocean through the trees. I am a little sad I won't be having a Christmas or spend the festive season with anyone.
I wake up to a pretty nice sunrise from my campsite and head off early. Rain is forecast tomorrow and I want to get as close to Bodrum and possible. The first hour is cycling is easy. Santa even delivered a tail wind.
The road turns inland and I head up and up and up. More steep roads. People in the villages are busy harvesting olives. Usually one person is up in the tree with a stick, bashing the branches to make the olives fall onto big sheets on the ground.
I cycle along an undulating road, very rarely flat. I drop back to sea level and I am gifted with another bonus flat 10 kilometres with a tail wind. I eat my Christmas lunch (bread and Nutella) on a little platform jutting over the beach.
Before too long I am back inland again, steep hills typical of Southern Turkey. By now I am tired and resort to pushing my bike. Yep. Pushing my bike on pavement, it doesn't happen often. I finally get the downhill run I have been waiting for. Wonderful.
In the next town I am offered tea and happily accept. I am only about 30 km from Bodrum and it can wait until tomorrow. I cycle a little further out of town and set up camp amongst some trees next to an olive tree orchard. Christmas dinner is my usual vege soup with rice thrown in.
If you had asked me 6 months ago what I wanted to do for Christmas I would have mentioned something about a white Christmas. I didn't plan on spending all day cycling up and down steep hills but that's ok. I had a tail wind occasionally, great views, little traffic and I was well fed, even if the food wasn't fancy. Not a bad Christmas, just not really Christmas at all.
With tired legs I slowly finish the remaining kilometres to Bodrum. It's a nice ride but alas, that headwind is back. I find the hostel in town, no one is there and it's very dirty. But it's half the price of the other guesthouses and pensions that I looked at.
I treat myself to fish and beer for lunch. The fish is called hamsi and is an anchovy that is caught in the bosphorous. It is served fried and you are meant to eat the fish whole. I think it's pretty tasty.
In the early evening I finally meet the owner of the hostel and two other people staying there. Bec (Irish) and Sam (Aussie) are English teachers in Aydin and came to Bodrum for Christmas. We are taken to a Christmas party put on by the mayor of Bodrum for the expat community. Free food and alcohol. Suits me fine. We head to the bar next to the hostel and by midnight I am done. Off to bed for me.
22/12 Fethiye - Göcek: rode 33km, ODO 5410km
23/12 Göcek - Koycegiz: rode 37km, ODO 5496km
24/12 Koycegiz - before Akbük: rode 58km, ODO 5554km
25/12 Before Akbük - Mumcalar: rode 69km, ODO 5623km
26/12 Mumcalar - Bodrum: rode 26km, ODO 5650km
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