The Start: Leaving Istanbul.
9. kesäkuuta 2019, Turkki ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Two great days touring one of the great cities of the world. Now, time to get on the bikes.
Decided to skip Bulgaria and follow tip of Aegean east to Greece. 50 miles of riding freeway shoulder inLue lisää
Leaving Silivri: Birthplace of Herodicus
10. kesäkuuta 2019, Turkki ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Silivri us a thriving resort and fishing town on the Sea of Marma, dating back to Thracian times, with a history of conflict. The Byzanantines built a castle here. The stone bridge was built on theLue lisää
Through Tekirdag and Into Kesan
11. kesäkuuta 2019, Turkki ⋅ 🌧 26 °C
Stayed in Tekirdag last night, a city of 175,000 with a modern university and an attractive waterfront on the Marman Sea. Took a hotel because we are both fatigued from 50 mile days in heat. Today,Lue lisää
From Kesan TR to Alexandroupoli GR
12. kesäkuuta 2019, Kreikka ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
One would think that we've learned our lesson about over packing, but no. Shipping home costs more than the stuff, so we are leaving a trail of personal belongings. Kind of like pioneers goingLue lisää
Rest Day: Train to Thessaloniki
13. kesäkuuta 2019, Kreikka ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C
We've changed our plans to include Athens. Because of the added distance we have to cover ground by train, so we caught a train to Thessaloniki (180 miles), the second largest city in Greece (1Lue lisää
Left Thessaloniki for Lamia
14. kesäkuuta 2019, Kreikka ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
We left Thessaloniki with the idea of cycling out of town until Susan could not take another day of riding in traffic on a freeway! So we took a much more relaxing train to Lamia. Lamia is a charmingLue lisää
Day trip to Athens
15. kesäkuuta 2019, Kreikka ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Took the train into Athens to see the Acropolis, the reason for our detour, and glad we did. Back in Lamia for the night. We're off to Delphi on our bikes tomorrow and it looks like there is aLue lisää
On the Road to Delphi
16. kesäkuuta 2019, Kreikka ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Big day in the mountains on country roads. We climbed two mountain passes: 48 miles, 4300 total elevation gain. Still hot but we are both feeling good and Susan's bike fits. Staying in AmfissaLue lisää
Made It To The Center Of The Universe
17. kesäkuuta 2019, Kreikka ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Big climb up to Delphi, which had a 360 degree curve thrown in with switchbacks that can be seen in one of the photos. Delphi, according to the ancient Greeks, is the center of the universe, the exactLue lisää
70 Miles In Hot Weather
18. kesäkuuta 2019, Kreikka ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Susan was getting readings of 100 degrees off the pavement on her bike computer. Fortunately, we found another good place at a reasonable rate in Mesolongi to lay up - we're beat. We will look st theLue lisää
Days Are Getting Easier
19. kesäkuuta 2019, Kreikka ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Turns out Lord Byron is a Greek national war hero; he died in 1824 at the age of 36 in Mesolongi campaigning in the Greek's first war of independence against the Turks. The town was important in thatLue lisää
Hill Hell
20. kesäkuuta 2019, Kreikka ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Quick miles early in the day then got walloped in the mountains. Big run down switchbacks out of the mountains into a wonderful village with a great hotel.
Pics show the farmland that we rode throughLue lisää
Welcome to Albania
21. kesäkuuta 2019, Albania ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Slogged into Albania on a hot day. We are going to try to hug the coastline to stay out of the mountains, which are gruelling, but so far, Albanian secondary roads are one-laned and potholed. We'llLue lisää
Going With Animals Today
22. kesäkuuta 2019, Albania ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C
We need some rest so we stopped midday at a really nice hotel with an ocean view. We are hanging out at the pool. The Albanian coast caters to toursts; we regularly see tour buses and saw four otherLue lisää
It Was All About The Hill
23. kesäkuuta 2019, Albania ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
58 miles for the day: 6,900 feet of climbing in 41 miles, then 17 miles of down. Most of the up came on one really humongous hill. Check the photos out and look for the switchbacks. We met a SwissLue lisää
Today It's Architecture
24. kesäkuuta 2019, Albania ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
We dropped over yesterday's Mother of Hills away from the stunning Albanian Riviera into a congested flat coastal region with real cities. Vlore was held by the Nazis in WWII; they had a sub baseLue lisää
"It's Your Passport We Want"
25. kesäkuuta 2019, Albania ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
The full quote from our waitress last night was "All Albanians love America ... It's your passport we want." We've heard this a lot in Albania, but the waitress put it most bluntly. Despite what theyLue lisää
We're In Montenegro
26. kesäkuuta 2019, Montenegro ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
Albania is behind us. We only scratched the surface of a complicated country. Before we left we visited the tomb of Skanderbeg, who in 1444 lead the Northern Albanian nobility to fight the OttomansLue lisää
The Downhill Run Of Our Lives
27. kesäkuuta 2019, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
The day started easy riding the flats out of Podgorica, but we got into serious climbing following country roads over the mountains to Kotor. We visited Kotor on cruise in 2018 so we knew theLue lisää
Into The Land of Susan's Ancestors
28. kesäkuuta 2019, Kroatia ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C
We both needed an easy day so we rode 33 miles up the coast into Croatia and found a nice little apartment a few miles before Dubrovnik. We are fully in the tourist zone now. At times the road is likeLue lisää
A Day With A Great Ending
29. kesäkuuta 2019, Kroatia ⋅ 🌙 26 °C
Our plan was to tour the walled city of Dubrovnik and stay for the night. Dubrovnik is beautiful but it was like Disneyland on steroids. We looked at the throngs of people, talked to a lovely coupleLue lisää
Off Of Korcular, On The Island Of Brac
30. kesäkuuta 2019, Kroatia ⋅ 🌙 25 °C
The medieval walled city of Kortula was really a special place for us. It's touristy, but up a couple of notches. Last night on our walk we met a woman from Manhattan who has made the city her secondLue lisää
Lozisca
1. heinäkuuta 2019, Kroatia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Lozisca is the village on Brac that is where Susan's paternal grandparents came from. The present day population of the village is about 140. Susan went to the home of a distant relative but she wasLue lisää
Moving Up The Dalmation Coast
2. heinäkuuta 2019, Kroatia ⋅ 🌙 31 °C
In the morning we went north from Split through unbroken coastal development, then moved inland to get away from the congestion. The terrain is getting less mountainous but it's still very hilly.Lue lisää
City Of Zadar & A Room With A View
3. heinäkuuta 2019, Kroatia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
We worked our way up the coast to the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia: Zadar. Getting into and out of these cities to visit the historic centers has proved to be a chore and burns up theLue lisää







































































































































































Linda BeirneLooking good! Safe travels 🙏❣️
Kim Schwab
Agree Istanbul is an exotic city worth the trip.
MatkaajaLikewise, stay safe Roger and Susan