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Thursday, 13 December 2012

11/12/2012 - Oslo to Israel. Day 79

Distance cycled: 48.8km from some dirt road to 15km south of Balikesir, Turkey
Average speed: 14.3km/h
Moving time: 3h25m
Total distance: 6683km
Border X'ings: 22
Money spent: 14 Lira


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It was a fantastic nights sleep last night, this dirt, well muddy road that i camped beside only catered for very minimal traffic and as such I was able to drift off into the best sleep I have had in days.
This was all good and well but I had a major issue at hand with my bicycle, as I mentioned yesterday the screw holding my back rack into place had snapped off. Yesterday I did a quick fix hoping that today it would hold up; unfortunately it did not and even after removing the rear fender I was unable to have my wheel free spinning without a horrible grinding noise.
I had to walk my bicycle roughly 3 km until I found a roadside mechanic that could not help me at his shop but the small town called Demirkapi had a guy who new a guy that would have the tools needed for the repair - which really was a drill with a small metal bit. The guy was happy to help me and did the repair for free but he did not have the right drill bit meaning I lost the thread on the frame - something I was trying to avoid but the repair worked and I now have a bolt securing my rack.
Although the sun was out it was bloody cold and windy but not of the nice kind where I get helped along the road and up hills, I struggled to keep above 15km/h even when descending the rolling Turkish hills heading south.
People were being so friendly today, smiling, helpful, intrigued by my endeavors, amused by my means of transportation and despite their lack of English, questioned me without understanding my response or anything else I would say.
I've said it before, I like turkey, oh, and the food.
Tonight I will again sleep in my tent beside a major highway, but hey, what else is new. I've become proficient at erecting my tent and securing my tarp to avoid the rain and in no time at all. This $12 tent has lasted me over 100 sleeps in almost 2 years; 12 cents a night or 200 times that for one night in a hotel - ill pick my tent in some random forest or scrub any day of the week.
I cooked up an absolutely delicious dinner tonight, the Israelis call it Shuk-shuka , something I will put in my cookbook for roadside cooking, not surprisingly ill call it roadside Shuk-shuka.

 

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View of the landscape when waking in the morning after a great nights sleep.

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The dirt road that broke my bike.

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The mechanic who apparently does a little more than just fixing machinery.

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Waiting for the calves to be put in the pen before the mechanic could fix my problem

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Roadside Shuk-shuka!

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