Date: March 6th, 2016
Distance: 139 km
Song of the Day: Running Down a Dream - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Today was so much better than yesterday. When I woke up the sun was shining. I said goodbye to the people of Eldivan, and picked up my bicycle from the police station. Of course I couldn't leave without a cup of tea. If you come to Turkey be prepared for the people to be very hospitable and to drink lots of tea. To all the people of Eldivan, thank you for a wonderful time, I am sorry I had to leave.

The road out of Eldivan led through a dry and rocky canyon before leveling out. The landscape here really reminds me of eastern Washington or Oregon, which is funny because I have been talking with some friends who are heading out to The Dalles next weekend for a bike ride. I went on the ride last year and had a great time. I think you could be forgiven for thinking the pictures I took today were from that trip last year. I found it shockingly similar.

It was that way the rest of the afternoon, just nice rolling farmlands. A few hills here and there, but nothing too terrible. What a day to ride. Some days are tough, but days like today make me feel good to be alive. I have to feel that I am lucky to be able to be here doing what I love.



-Dravis

Date: March 5th, 2016
Distance: 86 km
Song of the Day: Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones

What the hell happened to me today? I am reminded of Robert Frost "I took the road less traveled and that made all the difference..." It could not be more true than it was today. The choices I made resulted in some of the most miserable experiences of the trip and some of the best. I am not always sure how to sort it out when they come back to back like they did today.

The first part of the day was just miserable. When I headed out in the morning it was raining. It didn't matter that much at the time because today was the day that I finally left the D_100. No more noisy trucks going by all the time! I could be out in the quiet part of the country and really enjoy the peaceful rural life out in the back roads of Turkey. If only that were true. Yes, there were fewer trucks, but not zero. In fact, it was worse than I expected because of road construction, which also meant the road was worse. I had also lost my nice wide shoulder so I ended up being buzzed by trucks and getting splattered with the muddy water they kicked up. Fun.

Conditions weren't improving as the day went on. The road was leading up and up. It wasn't the hills that I minded so much since the grade wasn't that steep. As the elevation rose, though, the temperature began to drop. Already soaked with rain, it was hard to keep warm enough. I thought things were getting better as I felt the rain letting up and I was almost right. It did stop raining, but the rain was turning to snow. Even better. By the time I got to the top, snow was beginning to stick to the ground all around me. Coming down out of the first pass was misery. In truth I wasn't worried so much about freezing to death, but my hands were going numb. That isn't good at all since I need them for steering and braking.

I got to the town of Orta and almost bagged the whole day right then and there. I stopped in a place that looked like I could get lunch, but nope. I have seen these establishments in a few places. They serve mostly tea to men (always men) who are smoking and playing cards. No food, but they did have a warm stove and hot tea to keep me going. I think everyone there looked at me and knew immediately that I needed to get warm. They were more than happy to accommodate, giving me a place by the stove. That was really nice. After the second cup of tea I had to leave, since I was starving and wanted something more filling. It was another mile to a place where I could get food. I spent too long eating, but I wasn't excited about going back out into the snow. I was hoping it would let up, but that wasn't my luck.

After leaving Orta I had another snowy mountain pass ahead of me. This time there was quite a bit of snow on the ground everywhere and slush on the roads. At least my gloves were almost dry from sitting by the stove during lunch, so my hands were feeling much better this time around. Still, the snow on the road had me a bit nervous. The last thing I wanted to do was crash on a patch of ice and break something either on the bike or myself. I am sure the road would have been amazing to ride if it were warm and dry. Instead, it was a nerve-wracking descent. Eventually I got down far enough that the snow disappeared and the rain had come back. It wasn't making me feel any warmer. I almost stopped again in Sobanozu, but I had another two hours of daylight and I was going to make the most of them.

I thought I was going to do pretty well as the snow had turned to rain again and that was finally starting to let up. I had just come to the top of another small pass when I noticed one of the clips holding my front rack on had broken. If it had been flat I might have waited to fix it, but staring down another steep and winding road, I couldn't feel confident riding with it that way. The best way to put your face into the pavement is to mess with your front wheel. So I had to spend about 20 minutes of precious daylight fixing the problem. At least I had the parts to do it.

By the time it was fixed the rain really had stopped. I dropped down out of the pass into a pleasant little valley and of course there was another hill to climb on the other side. I spent the last of my daylight climbing up the third 5,000 foot pass of the day. At least it wasn't raining or snowing anymore. I wish I had crested the pass before twilight, though. The views over the valley below were outstanding even in the dim light. I wish I had some pictures to show you. I almost ended camping out along one of the turnouts but I decided it was worth it to get in to the next town and eat a hot meal. It is amazing what those little choices can mean.

I rode down into Eldivan, and it was a nice little town. The sun had fully set so it was dark and everything was quiet. It looked like most of the shops were closed. I was thinking that it might just be my luck that the gambit to get a hot meal would backfire. I did find a place for food, though. The owner made me a sausage wrap which was more like a corn dog wrapped in a tortilla with lettuce and tomato. It didn't take long before I was the talk of the little cafe. There were about half a dozen young men all asking me questions about where I was from and what I was doing, and everybody wanted a picture. Suddenly I was blowing up on social media from this place. Instagram. Whatsapp. Facebook. Twitter. Pictures of me with some guys from the town were getting posted all over. It feels a bit odd to be an instant celebrity like that.

I asked about a place to stay, but they didn't have a hotel in town. I was told to go talk with the police, but I wasn't sure that I wanted to do that. Where I am from spending the night at the police station happens because you have done something wrong. In the end, I did go over and talk with the police. It turns out there was a "guest house" that I could stay at. "No problem" is a popular phrase around here, and I heard it a lot. I had a place to stay and it wasn't in the police lockup, but first the guys I was hanging out with wanted to take me over to a "house party" for music and dancing. I left my bike at the police station since I figured it would be safe there.

The party wasn't at all what I expected. We went to a building and took off our shoes. Then we went upstairs and I was told to open the door and announce myself with "Salaam Alaikum". What kind of a party was this? I was intrigued, so I opened the door and announced myself. Inside the room there were two levels of seating platforms around most of the outside walls. On these there were carpets and men sitting around. Opposite from the door at what I assumed was the head of the hall were two elders of the town. I don't think they were the oldest men in the room, but they seemed to have some official position to conduct the party. When I said "Salaam Alaikum" they responded with "Alaikum Salaam". I was then instructed to sit in one corner along with one of the guys. He seemed to speak the best English in the town, so I think that is why I was told to go and sit there. And of course there was tea. It is hard to sit anywhere in Turkey without being offered a cup of tea and this place was no exception.

What unfolded from there really was a great party. In one corner were two men playing local Turkish music. The people from Eldivan called it "Ankara music". Aside from the elders there seemed to be two other more or less official positions. I thought of these guys as enforcers. They had a short piece of thick rope and would smack someone with it, usually on the arm or the leg. By doing so you were compelled to get up and participate in what was going on, which was mostly dancing to the music being played. Some of the men were really good at it. Everyone wanted to see "the American" dance so I did what I could not to embarrass my country (sorry, folks). When the musicians went on break people started playing various games. These usually involved memory, skill, and getting smacked. One example was repeating a poem while hitting the person to your left. My favorite game was "Hide the Sugar". They put a dozen rags on the floor. A person from one side of the room would hide a silver ring under one of the rags and the other side would then have to guess where it was. At the end of several rounds the game was over and one side of the room was branded "criminals". For this, each member of that side had to come down and get smacked on the butt with a small shovel. From the oldest man to the youngest, everyone got a little licking. Once that was over it was back to dancing, more games, and of course more tea.

The young men were always moving about getting tea and removing the empty cups. I don't know how each man was selected for this job, or what hierarchy they used. I should also point out that it was just men. Or males at least, there were some boys who could not have been much more than about 7 or 8. I never did work out how people were picked for their jobs. I was told that this wasn't special for me, it was just what happened every Saturday night. This goes well with my first theory on people: people are bored. There isn't a whole lot going on in town, especially in winter, and this was something fun to do. There were no complaints from me, I was having a great time. It was after midnight when the games and the dancing wound down.

I was about ready to go to bed, but my hosts told me there would be some "meat" coming out. I keep telling you that I am always hungry, so I was excited to hear about a meal coming out. I have no idea where it came from, either. I guess some other part of the building must be a large kitchen? There was a big hustle and bustle as people started setting out low tables and getting things ready for a meal. Each table seemed to have about six people to it and there were about a dozen tables. The food came out on a large round tray filled with rice. In the center of the rice was another round dish like a cake pan. In that was a stew of meat and tomatoes. It couldn't be a complete meal without some bread. I was also told to clear a little round hole in the rice near me for a cup of ayran. For those of you who haven't had it, ayran is kind of like a cross between yogurt and sour cream which is drunk like a glass of milk. Since I love milk so much it hasn't been hard to get used to. I also love eating, but wow Turkish people are very hospitable. They kept asking me to eat more food and faster. I'm only human, I ate as much as I could. Then they brought out "turkish delight": fried pastries in a honey sauce. It turns out I found room in my stomach for a few of those. I had to stop when I thought I was about to explode, though. Man the food was good. If I wasn't so tired by that point I would have sat there eating all night.

The meal was just about the end of the party. There was a kind of prayer and then people started moving to the exits. I stopped to thank the elders for their wonderful hospitality and for a great evening.

After that I was taken over to the "guest house". It turns out that it was actually in an apartment building on the main square. Even walking there, just two blocks, I was invited to have more tea and play cards. (I have no idea what game they were playing, so how I would do well at it was anyone's guess.) I said it was too late to have tea so they gave me a soda instead. Seriously, the people in Eldivan have been so hospitable it was a little overwhelming at times.

I got to my room and said goodnight to everyone. I closed the door and it was the first time I had been alone since arriving in town. At that point I couldn't help but think, "What the hell has happened to me today?" Seriously. Earlier I was in the middle of a white out storm high in the mountains, wet and freezing. I almost camped outside of town, cold and hungry. Instead I was taken in as an honored guest, treated to music, dancing, spectacle, great food, and of course warm tea. Sure, some parts of the day were awful. Then the end was better than I could have ever planned. I felt like I was adopted by the town and invited in to their party. This wasn't something that I could have even paid to see. I took the road less traveled and it has made all the difference.



-Dravis

Date: March 4th, 2016
Distance: 123 km
Song of the Day: Middle - Cumulus

Not much exciting today again, and I am sorry to say that. The old D_100 highway just isn't that thrilling. Things are better than yesterday, though. There is less rain and the landscape is just a little bit more interesting. Still, not picture worthy.



-Dravis

Date: March 3rd, 2016
Distance: 160 km
Song of the Day: Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan

Today wasn't that interesting. I was still going on the D_100, but I had passed the Sea of Marmara. Rain on and off throughout the day, mostly flat and industrial landscape.

After sunset I figured I might as well push on. There wasn't anything worth looking at anyway, right? Wrong. If it had still been light out I might have noticed the huge mountain range I was approaching. That made it a slow finish to the day.



-Dravis

Date: March 2nd, 2016
Distance: 107 km
Song of the Day: Off He Goes - Pearl Jam

After crossing the bridge yesterday, I really didn't go far. I just stayed on the Asian side of Istanbul. I had left most of my stuff with a friend on the European side of the city. Not having the extra 20 kilos of gear would not only make me faster crossing the bridge, it also would have been less to explain or deal with if I did end up getting arrested. The crossing was easy enough that I almost felt foolish for taking the precaution. So this morning I ended up delaying my start for a bit so I could collect my bags from George. He is an awesome guy from Britain who is hitchhiking across the world. It's funny, I only met the guy a few days ago and already I had given him basically everything I had. It might sound crazy to trust a guy you just met, but that is how the world works. Hell, I trust people I have never met to not run me over every day, so I wasn't worried about my stuff getting stolen. Clearly there are bad people in the world, but most people are just people. They just aren't interested in your stuff. What makes George awesome, though, is the fact that he went out of his way to help me out. Remember, I am also basically a stranger to him as well. He carried my heavy crap across Istanbul and on a ferry to do a favor to me, a guy he barely knows. I couldn't even buy him a beer in return. As he said, "Travelers have to help each other out". I couldn't agree more. Everyone needs a little help when they travel. Journeys are made up of the times when some stranger gives you a hand. The best you can do is help out someone else down the road. George, you rock. I hope the rest of your travels go well.

After I left the ferry terminal, getting out of suburb of Kadiköy was a bit of a pain. I complain a lot about biking out of cities, but it is usually harder than you would think. The freeways are well marked, but not the smaller roads. I guess that is understandable. How many people really are biking long distance like I do?

Once out of Kadiköy though, things were pretty good. There is a bike path along the sea shore that leads for almost 20 kilometers. My route headed east along the Sea of Marmara, so I didn't need to navigate, I had no cars to worry about, and the sun was shining down on me. This is good riding. I also met another touring cyclist, an Australian named Adam. He was only the fourth person I had seen riding a touring bike on this trip and it's nice to see some other people around like me. We swapped some advice and he told me that Central Asia was a Mecca for bicycle travelers. That was encouraging.

Shortly after that meeting my nice bike path along the coast died. I was dumped onto the D_100. It is a highway I am afraid I will get to know well over the next few days. It isn't that dangerous or anything, as there is a nice wide shoulder for most of it, but it is just a big noisy road. Not all that fun to ride on. The rest of the day from then on was pretty boring. I spent quite a bit of time staring at the shoulder of the road as big trucks rumbled by.



-Dravis

Date: March 1st, 2016
Distance: 46 km
Song of the Day: Never Go Easy - Lost Lander

Today I got back on the road. Sort of. I left Europe and entered Asia by bicycle. I didn't leave Turkey, or even Istanbul for that matter. I did 46 kilometers, but really all that I cared about was the most important 1.56 kilometer section of the trip so far. Let me explain a few things.

Istanbul is a city that spans two continents, and I've mentioned a few times how large the city is. It has grown from the city that Constantine laid out to now cover not just both sides of the Golden Horn, but also both sides of the Bosphorus. These are connected by multiple ferry lines, a subway tunnel and two (soon to be three) bridges.

This is an expedition to cross three continents just by bicycle. I have committed myself not to taking anything that isn't human powered. No trains, boats, buses, or planes. Since I can't take a ferry or the subway, that leaves the bridges. The problem is, they're freeway bridges and it's illegal to cross them on a bicycle. Well, maybe I should say that people aren't permitted to cross them with a bicycle. There are even police checkpoints on each end of the bridge to keep people from walking or cycling on it. This is something that has worried me for months. How to cross one of the bridges without getting caught by the police? So this is why I was scouting the bridges on Friday afternoon.

My solution was maybe not something you would expect. I decided to cross when the traffic was at its worst. That might sound a bit odd, but if you saw the last video I did, then you can guess that I don't mind cycling around cars, trucks, and buses. Bad traffic also means slow traffic. When everything is bumper to bumper, a bicycle can get around all the stopped cars with ease. Since most of the bridge traffic heads to Asia in the afternoon, I chose a weekday evening rush hour to make my crossing.

I was nervous when I headed out. I wasn't worried about getting run over, but I was afraid of getting arrested, or at least being turned back. It turns out the bridge crossing was much easier than I expected. I thought I might have to dodge police cars and really weave through traffic. Nope. Just a little bit of planning and I was good. Traffic was stuck for miles so I had no problems getting onto the freeway. No one even honked at me when I got on, and people here love to honk. I did hide in the shadow of a transit van as we passed the first police checkpoint. This was the slowest part. I actually had to stop and wait for the van. Once I was past the police checkpoint, though, everything was a breeze. I got over to the right most shoulder more for the view than anything. There isn't much that can beat watching the setting sun over the Bosphorous. The only people going faster than me were the motorcycles, so I got a few honks from them. They didn't seem bothered by my presence, just annoyed that I wasn't going fast enough. I did get a good stare from the police checkpoint on the far side of the bridge but they didn't try to stop me. The police didn't even send anyone over to yell at me. So that was that.

I can't express in words how amazing it feels. All the planning, research, and it comes down to one shot at making it happen. To have everything go right is so amazing. I felt like I was flying. This is the first time I have crossed into a new continent on a bike. I can't think of too many cyclists who can say that.

Bosphorus Bridge from Dravis Bixel on Vimeo.

Disclaimer Don't try this at home. I am a trained professional, and that bridge won't fit into your apartment.



-Dravis

Date: February 29th, 2016
Distance: Rest day

I got up bright and early this Monday morning and went to the Iranian consulate. I must admit, it is a bit of an odd way to start the week, but a good one. My approval to come to Iran had come through. I had to fill out another form and give them a passport photo, though. In the photo I was wearing an orange shirt. The consular official was laughing and said I looked like I was from Guantanamo Bay. That got me laughing. I love that he felt comfortable enough to tease me about it. In the end it took a few hours and €90, but I came away with my visa. Frankly, I don't think I have been to a consulate that has been more friendly or welcoming. If this is what their government officials are like, I can't wait to see the rest of the country.

In the afternoon I went to see the grand bazaar. If you are keeping track, markets are another thing that I really enjoy. I felt bad in that I don't really need anything, I just like to walk around and see all the things being sold. One guy tried to sell me a rug. When I told him I am on a bicycle trip and didn't have a place for a rug, he didn't miss a beat. He pulled out a rug that was about 6 inches by 8 inches. I still didn't have a use for a tiny rug, but the fact that he had it made me smile. Maybe that is what I like so much about markets like this. It's all stripped down, just people there to buy and to sell. If they can't do that, well, there's always time to drink tea.



-Dravis

Date: February 28th, 2016
Distance: Rest day

Today was boring like yesterday. I spent most of the day walking around looking for a new chainring for my bike. I figured a city with 20 million people in it has to have a bike shop with a decent selection of parts. Sadly the answer is "no". I am still spinning with no top chainring.

Oh, and if you are thinking "You are in Istanbul, why aren't you seeing the sights?" then I should tell you that I was just in Istanbul a year ago. It is an amazing city. I was very excited to see places like the Hagia Sofia when I was here before. It feels like I was just here, though. I decided for this trip to focus on seeing the city in a different way, which apparently includes looking at every bike shop I can find.



-Dravis

Date: February 27th, 2016
Distance: Rest day

I didn't do anything interesting today. This really was a rest day. I got to sleep in and catch up on that. I also updated my website with new pictures and posts. Plust an interactive map! I hope you guys enjoy that.



-Dravis

Date: February 26th, 2016
Distance: Rest day (30km)

Today was almost productive. I need to pick up my visa for Iran while I am here, so I spent the morning at the Iranian consulate. I was a bit nervous when I was heading over there, and getting into the embassy didn't help. There were two big security guards checking everyone who went in. Once inside, it looked like the DMV. There were a bunch of windows, each with a counter over it showing which number was currently being served, except everything was written in Persian. For a minute I thought things were going to be hard. I did notice window number 4 had a little sign that said "visa" so I went over to the ticket printer and hit the #4 button. Then I sat down and waited for my number to come up, but I was still nervous. What if they didn't speak English? Would I get yelled at for being American? Would I just be turned away? It turns out I didn't need to worry. The consulate staff spoke wonderful English, and were very helpful. They even spent about half an hour trying to work things out for me. Unfortunately, my approval was stuck in Tehran, and the main office was on holiday. Since it was Friday, I would have to come back on Monday morning. Still, I left the consulate feeling very good. I had been so worried coming in, but I left feeling like they actually wanted me to visit Iran. Even the burly security guard gave me a big smile and said, "See you on Monday".

Since they weren't keen on me taking pictures in the consulate, here is a picture of the spice market I passed through on my way over.

I then left to go to a different part of town to go to the embassy for Azerbaijan. This was much more frustrating. To start with, I had to go to three different places because Google Maps doesn't know where anything is in Istanbul. I understand that a little bit, Istanbul is huge and complex. But I would prefer the program to tell me it doesn't know rather than send me to inconvenient locations. I ended up getting to the embassy just before they closed, so this was a bust too. I knew I wasn't going to be able to get my visa that day, I just wanted to know what their process was. They told me I couldn't get a visa in Turkey unless I was a resident here, which is a new one for me. As I was leaving, though, the guard said if I was going to Georgia then the embassy in Tbilisi was better. Okay, I will get the visa from Georgia then.

After that I did one final thing. It was just about evening rush hour so I went to look at the two Bosphorus bridges, to scout out my crossing over to the Asian side of the city. I will tell you more about that later. It was good to actually get to see the bridges and the traffic for myself. All in all, it was a busy day. I didn't get anything accomplished, but I am in a better place to do so later on.



-Dravis