The hills are very much alive here in Bulgaria

Just in case anyone thought we were just riding through the flat European countries, let me assure you, Bulgaria is not flat. Many of our last few days have included stretches where we have done at least 30km of linked hills and we have even traversed a couple mountains. By now most of us are in very good cycling shape, but no one likes to finish their day with a mountain 6km straight up.

Bulgaria has also been interesting in that no one really had any idea what to expect. For some reason it was just a cultural black spot in most of our minds. I can happily report however that it has been beautiful here – when you get to the top of the mountains – and the people have been extremely welcoming and nice. Even the capital Sofia, which we were told to avoid because it is ugly and horrible to cycle through, had its own charm and the roads weren’t any worse there than we have experienced elsewhere.

We also had one of our first and only real tests of group unity the other night. After climbing the previously mentioned mountain we had to wait at the top for directions about where to go next. What we didn’t know was that the lead group that was supposed to return with directions had been put to work hauling wood and various other camp tasks: this was part of our deal for getting to stay at the accommodation for the night. The group at the top of the hill was starting to get worried however as it was getting dark and then some strangers appeared to give us directions to the camp. Unfortunately, the directions were about as clear as mud and the group got lost on the side of the hill with the sun quickly setting. Feeling exhausted from the climb and with tummies grumbling we phoned the car for help. The only problem was that the car hadn’t found camp either and was in fact stuck in the mud on the far side of the valley. Naturally tempers then began to flare as people began to worry about where we were going to sleep for the night and about our stuck friends. We began to think of a few plans, and a search party managed to find the camp down one of the other paths and the crises was averted. The car also managed to get unstuck and in the end we were treated to a lovely meteor shower in the middle of a field on the side of a mountain in Bulgaria. On a whole I think most people in the trip will chalk this up to one of their fondest memories. We had all expected this sort of craziness, it just took us until now to find it.

On a whole it seems crazy to think that the ride is almost over. To only have a week of actual ride days left seems absurd as it really feels like we just started. Even today we saw our first sign counting down the kilometers to Istanbul (492). There was a huge cheer that went through the group as we saw it followed by small pang of regret that this journey will soon be over. All we can hope for at the moment is to continue to try and get the most out of every kilometer we ride and savor the last few daze. It will all be over far too fast.