Nothing but headwind until Istanbul

Our last day in Bulgaria was a wonderful experience. Upon arriving in Svilengrad we were met by the mayor of the city and about 20 other cyclists and they rode us out to where we were staying. Along the way we were given some very tasty bread to eat and each given pins as a lasting reminder of our visit. It was a lovely send-off from a country we have very much enjoyed being in and has far surpassed our expectations. I would certainly recommend coming and checking it out if you get the chance.

Yesterday morning we woke up and did something a little different in the morning: we totally changed the route. Instead of going right from Bulgaria into Turkey we thought, hey, why not ride through Greece? Wouldn’t it be cool to say that we rode through three different countries in one day on our bikes? It seemed like a logical enough choice - aside from crossing an extra set borders - it was about the same distance and this way we got to tack another country visited onto our itinerary and passports.

It also graced us with a wonderful stretch of highway and a huge shoulder that made the first 20km of our day a breeze. We then got to visit a very famous and beautiful mosque in Edime, Turkey, and everything was shaping up to be one of the more memorable days on the trip. We then realized however that it was 4pm and we still had 60km to go and unbeknownst to us, all of it was on not very bike friendly chip-sealed road into a very strong headwind. To make matters worse we did not have any accommodation planned.

Luckily, our group is very good at turning obstacles into challenges and overcoming them. Because we did not have accommodation planned in the town that we were supposed to stop in, we were able to simply cut the ride day 20km shorter and add it to the next day. While this meant that pods would still be getting in long after dark it meant it was far safer and everyone would be in a good mood not having to ride as far as they thought.

As it turned out the town we chose to camp in, Ürünlü, was an incredible choice. When we arrived the people from across the street volunteered to cook our pasta for us and even gave us a watermelon to eat. The hospitality continued when I went up to the store to buy some juice and an ice cream bar, and the owner of the store charged me less than he should have and even shoved a couple more bars into my bag as I left. Even as we walked around the town later everyone was inviting us in for tea and refusing to let us pay for anything.

I can honestly barely even begin to describe what a humbling experience it has been, and how grateful we all are for the generosity of everyone we have met. We have truly and genuinely appreciated everything we have been offered so much, and at this point in our trip it really does mean the world to us. What makes it even more special is the people who have been helping us don’t speak English, they haven’t heard why we are riding through their country, they just see that we have been biking in the sun all day and need a little water and a smile and open up their houses and homes to us. It really is just from the goodness of their hearts that they are helping us and it is extremely moving. It will be very interesting to see how we all treat strangers when we return home.