Adilcevaz

So my stay cannot be extended. 😑

I find a bus company that would transport me and my bike, but it doesn't leave until the day before my residence permit expires. The information they give me is sparse and doesn't give me a good feeling, so I prefer to set off on my own.
I have no time to lose and set off in the afternoon. It's 400km to the next Georgian border point and I have 3 1/2 days left. It's going to be a tight ride if I have to do it all alone. I would probably have to do two stages a day. 😬
On the one hand, I detest such stress (especially here, where you're invited for a çay every hour), but on the other hand I'd like to find out if I'm fit enough for it.
I try 👍 hitchhiking for an hour, without success.
Then I set off, I want to do 60 km today.

I cycle through the night. There is little traffic and my safety vest and warning light are finally being used again.
Good music motivates me and the darkness takes away the visual stimuli so that I can think and reflect more.
A few hours pass and at some point I stop for a snack break.

A moped pulls up next to me and two young men ask me if I'm hungry or if I have dust.
I answer, not entirely honestly, that I don't feel anything like that. 🤥
I would like to stay, but I have to do as many kilometers as possible to leave the country in time.
They speed off. Meanwhile, I try to charge my broken cell phone, which has been stuck in an endless loop all day.
While I'm squatting on the ground eating a pudding, the moped comes back - I've been caught. 😁
We ride down to the bay, to the group's regular café. It turns out to be one of the most pleasant conversations I've had here. 🥰

With renewed energy, I start the last hour of today's stage and finish it at the 72nd kilometer. Tired, I set up my tent next to a small hut at the edge of the field. And then a tent pole breaks 😩. So I sleep under the stars.
It's 9 degrees, a temperature I've never experienced before... the continental climate is making itself felt.
Wrapped up in my winter clothes, I fall into a deep sleep.Læs mere