spilog

I can has bucket?

Originally uploaded by spi516

Thor can has bucket

Saturday August 9th Near Gole Turkey

1:45:54 22.62/124.62 Av 12.8 Mx 22.4 Odo 1564.2
My cycle computer got reset again today. I am pretty sure it happened when I stopped in a town to buy ice cream. Unfortunately I had left my money in my pants in my day bag. As I explained that to the shop owner my bike was surrounded by locals. They were looking at my bike and either I reset my computer of one of them did. Today I also got hit in the back with a rock by a local kid. The group was asking for money and since the road was under construction there were all kinds of rocks. I guess they decided it would be fun to throw them since I wasn’t giving them any money. Earlier some kids had thrown rocks but none of them hit me. The road was really rough today. There was a ton of construction so the road was really bumpy gravel at times. There were also times where it was almost washed out and the Turks were demolishing rock. We passed by some very poor houses. There was even a group of houses. We are bush camping again. The place is actually okay. It will be interesting if we actually get into Georgia. The Georgians and Russians are starting to fight over South Ossetia. We might have to detour around Georgia and if that happens I will be heading to Amsterdam early. So it looks like the situation in Georgia is rapidly detoriating. Tomorrow we are biking to Kars where we will stay for two nights before taking a bus to Ankara. Nobody would be allowed into Georgia even if they tried. Tomorrow we will be able to find out exactly what the situation in Georgia is. It sounds like the van would not be allowed in Georgia if they tried to enter. Most likely I will get a flight from Ankara to Amsterdam. Definitely interesting times. I am really glad we were not in Georgia when all of this happened.

Sunday August 10th Kars Turkey

4:41:42 83.2km Av 17.7 Mx 53.6 Odo 1647.4
Today we changed our route and biked from our bushcamp to Kars. The first 40km was over rolling hills with a stiff headwind. We stopped for pictures of these hovels. After fighting the headwind I had time to take pictures of the others. Then we got to the top of the hill and had 20km down which was very nice. After lunch we had a few hills but nothing like the morning. It was a fairly easy ride into Kars. We passed some very primitive stone houses in the morning. They were clustered right around the road but didn’t have anyone in them when we passed by. Now I have to contact my insurance company and NWA to see what I can do about my ticket.

Monday/Tuesday August 11th and 12th. Kars Turkey/On a bus

We spend monday in Kars. During the morning I tired to find out more information about Tbilisi. The civilian airport had been bombed. I thought maybe that would have made it easier to change my ticket but I had no luck when calling NWA later in the day. I was left with having to contact Georgian Airways to arrange a different flight. I had no luck contacting them. I plan on talking to Turkish or American Airlines to arrange a one way ticket home. In the afternoon yesterday we went to the city of Ani on the Turkish-Armenian border. The ruins are very cool. They city used to have 100,000 citizens at its height back before any other city in Europe was even close to that number. Some of the churches had outlines of the frescos in them. It was interesting to see the difference in how different frescos have weathered. Today we are taking a minibus charter from Kars to Ankara. The ride will take about 17 hours. It is going to be a long day.
Looking towards Armenia.
The border between Turkey and Armenia
Inside a church ruins looking out.
We even found a “store” and were able to buy soda.

Wednesday August 14th Istanbul Turkey

I did not expect to be back in Istanbul even if it is just a quick stop in my way back to the states. Yesterday morning I went to downtown Ankara to find a ticket office so I could buy a ticket back home. I walked into what I thought might be a THY office but it also had a sign for Delta who I was really looking for. Either way they got me a ticket to JFK for about $1800 US. She was going to add a Boston leg but I didn’t have her do it because it was 200 euro. In hindsight since I am travelling with my bike I won’t save that much money. I then went and got a Jetblue flight from JKF to Boston. So either way I should be getting home baring any other suprises. Jess will be at the airport to meat me whilch will be really cool. I can’t wait to see her. It has been a busy three weeks but I will be glad to get home. Now I am going to my gate. Also yesterday I walked from our hotel into the old town of Ankara and saw the citidel and some statues. I didn’t feel like going to a museum though in hindsight I should have went to the Ataturk moseleum. It looked like it would have some good views from it. Also last night I had a good sendoff from everyone else who was continuing the tour. It was a great time riding with them.

P.S. I ended up getting back to Boston on Friday at 11:30am after spending the night in JFK because of thunderstorms.

Biked for 14 days
Rested on 2 days
Traveled 1647.4 km(1023.64 mi)
Maximum speed of 67.7 km/hr(42 mph)
Longest day 158.75km(98.64mi)

Saturday August 2nd Amaysa Turkey

Today was a rest day and it was very good. We had breakfast provided by the hotel. Then I went with Mike and Clive to visit the ruins that are in the hills surrounding Amaysa. Amaysa has been settled since 3500BC the caves where at times tombs and prisions. Then we walked into town and ran into Stuart on a corner so we went and had lunch. We walked into a place and the guy served us a mixed plate of food. Then we popped next door for some baklava. It was very tasty. I showed Mike and Clive the Internet cafe. I tried to call Jess but she wasn’t up. So I went back to the hotel and read and slept for 45 minutes. I made it to the cafe just about 3pm so I called Jess and we talked for 30 minutes. Sounds like she is having a good time. I am looking forward to seeing her in two weeks. After that I read the news for another hour. Then I cam back to the hotel and read until supper. I went out for dinner with the crew and had a minced meat convered in a pasta in a yogurt sauce. It was really good. I took a nice night shot of the river in Amaysa. Tomorrow we will have a long day of biking. I am curious how I will feel after having my rest day. 8:29

Sunday August 3rd Resadiye Turkey

7:02:02 158.75km Av 22.5 Max 53.2 Odo 950.1
Today when started out from the hotel in Amaysa we know it was going to be a long day. Luckily the day was mostly downhill. There were a few kilometer long hills but the grade never got that steep. My regular group stayed together to the 40km mark when we stopped by a petrol station and got a coke. It was Sunday so the owner opened the store just for us. Then we rode at our own pace. I made it into lunch without a hassel. We also had a water/peach break at 120km. I got into camp at 3:30 because I didn’t take many breaks. We are camping next to the Termal Otel so called because of the the thermal springs in the area. There was a good portion today when I was biking alone so I thought of and through many things. I can’t believe I have known Jess for almost 6 months. It will be fun to get back to her in two weeks. Now sleep. 8:38

Monday August 4th Sebinkarahisar Turkey

6:22:39 116.79km Av 18.3 Mx 62.1 Odo 1066.9
I broke 1000km today. The day started out easy. I was late getting out of camp because Al and I took photos. Then I had to stop and use the bathroom at the hotel. There was light rain as I left the hotel. I was able to catch most people before lunch. Lunch was along the river. A gypsie family took Tereasa’s bag which contained her passport, visa, credit cards, and money. Also a team of “police” men showed up and started asking for our passports. I never saw any badge so I don’t know where they were from or if I could have made sense of it if I did. While they were taking our names and countries of origin, was when we noticed that Tereasa’s bag was missing. So that distracted the officials and I never ended up showing them my passport. Unfortunately none of the bikers had photos of the gypsie family’s car so it wasn’t likely that they would find anything. The gypsie family most likely threw everything out of the car farther down the road. After lunch was a killer. The hills were pretty insane. I wasn’t thinking I would be able to make it. Eventually after going up and down a ton of hills I finally made it into town. I even stopped at a good handful of the water troughs along the way to wet down my handkerchief and attempt to cool off. Even the tractors needed a break. It was cool to finally get a photo of a tractor with a rug on it. I finally made it into town and rewarded myself with an ice cream bar. It was a tough day probably the hardest one yet. The heat was a killer it was at least 45C. Quite a change from the morning. I guess a few people also had problems with local kids throwing things and actually hitting us while we were biking past. I guess we are getting to a part of Turkey where that could be more common. Today I was the happiest I have ever been to see the sign marking the edge of town. A brilliant sunset from the hotel. This truck just happened to not have it’s covering on so we could see it’s load. A nice sunset in Sebinkarahisar. 8:15

Tuesday August 5th Kelkit Turkey

5:59:22 119.1km Av 19.8 Mx 53.9 Odo 1186.0
Today was alot easier then yesterday. We had a few good hills in the morning but I was able to get over them just fine. One of the hills in particular was so steep that even in my granny gear I almost couldn’t keep the pedal going round. I saw a red fox in the ditch today. I also got hit by 5 or 6 bugs today. I haven’t had much contact with insect before today. After lunch we had a period of almost 30km down hill. That was a good break.
I also had to stop twice for cattle to cross the road. A farmer offered me the services of the back of his wagon but I declined.

Wednesday August 6th Near Pazaryolu Turkey

5:40:09 116.36km Av 20.5 Mx 55.0 Odo 1302.3
Today was a pretty good ride. In general it was fairly easy.
We had a few hills at the end of the day and we are camped on the top of a hill near a cattle trough/water well. While biking today I saw a boy and his sister carrying a wheelbarrow full of rope down the road. I didn’t stop quick enough to take a picture and I was down the road before I though of it. About 15km out of camp there was a small town where I stopped to get an ice cream and a pepsi. We were the sight of the town with the kids. This was the first store I had biked past that day. We are definitely getting out the poorer areas of the country. The view from the hill above our camp

Thursday August 7th Yusufeli Turkey

3:10:40 54.04km Av 17 Mx 41.2 Odo 1439.6 137.3km total
Only a part of the day was recorded by my spedometer. I reset it halfway through the day.
I am writing this on the 8th. Yesterday was a very tough day biking. I think we biked for just about 10 hours total. It wasn’t straight through biking we stopped a good number of times. Once we stopped in a village and the whole group of men outside drinking tea drank with us. The roads were pretty horrible later in the day but the scenary was amazing. We were biking down the river valley all afternoon. We started the day right around 7am and biked until shortly after 5pm. Right outside of Yusufeli was a bunch of ruins. The campground in Yusufeli was a pretty good ground. At least the showers were warm. After that Al and I went into town to grab a bite to eat and then we sat around and bullshit for a good hour or so.

Friday August 8th Yusufeli Turkey

Today was our second rest day. I spent the morning doing laundry, eating breakfast, and working on my bike. At breakfast I was able to get on the internet for the first time this week and check my email. Jess had sent me a couple of emails which was really cool. She saw Holly Brewer in the grocery store but didn’t say hello. I did the same thing when I saw her a few months ago. Then with Ben’s help we tightened the rear brake cable on my bike. Later today I will clean the chain. I walked into town to find an envelope to mail a letter to Jess. It took me a while but eventually I found a stationary store on a side street. Then after writing Jess a short note I went to the post office and mailed it. The town doesn’t have much tourism so there are not really any postcards available in town. I also stopped and bought cherry juice and peaches from once store and ice cream from another. The man in the store with ice cream stopped and asked me where I was from. He wanted to know the city and the state when I said America he said “America has 51 states which one are you from?” He then asked what I did and I told him I was a computer engineer for IBM. He seemed pretty impressed. I am back at camp and plan to spend the afternoon relaxing and maybe watching the opening Olympic ceremonies. Yesterday I stopped on the side of the road where a local family was drying fruit on the side of the road. After I took pictures of the fruit the lady came out and offered me some dried mulberries. So I took them and ate them and they were delicious dried fruit!

Friday July 25th 1:55pm Haram Hotel Istanbul

After a 10 hour flight and a one hour cab ride I arrived at the hotel in Istanbul. I was immediately brought up to a room where I hung out for a little bit. From the hotel room I could see the hotel pool and looking out across the Bosphorous I could see the old city of Istanbul. I stopped and took some photos of the pool and the skyline.
I then went down to the lobby and Al was waiting for me. We assembled my bike and brought my bag up to fellow TDA riders Frank’s room. After locking up my bike we jumped a ferry to Old Istanbul. We caught a tram over to the blue mosque. We wandered around and eventually got directions to the hostel district. After not finding any cheap double rooms we went with a dorm room. Took a shower and had a kebab on the rooftop patio. Saturday morning we got up and came back to the Harem Hotel for a briefing. I then got my bike back together so I can ride tomorrow. It should be an interesting ride. Getting to the correct place could be an adventure. We will have to see how the first day goes. The tour is mostly older people so the dynamic will be interesting. It doesn’t sound like there has been that much drama so far. I didn’t bring my birks so that is kind of annoying. I am not sure exactly sure why I left them at home. The rest of the day will be preparing for the trip and sightseeing. 2:10

Saturday July 26th 9:42 Şile Turkey

4′20″44 91.07km Avg 20.9 Odo 91.07
Yesterday I ended up going downtown, bought some postcards, cashed travelers checks. I then checked out the palace and the blue mosque. The palace garden had a ton of couples making out most were sitting on the grass enjoying time with each other. As I walked outside the mosque a lady in a burka got a bottle of water it was an interesting process watching her drink out of it.
I took a handful of self portraits of myself with the mosque. As I walked to the grand bazaar a fellow came up and started talking to me. We made small chat all through the bazaar. Then when exiting he tried to get me to play the lotto. He wanted me to choose the numbers and then he would pay for the ticket. I told him I had to get going back to my hotel. He asked to come back to the hotel. I refused and said I needed to catch the tram. At that point he gave me a sob story and asked for money. He also tried to get me to give him my things. I got on the tram and left. On Saturday we biked in a convoy for the first 15km. I got a piece of glass in my tire and got a flat. Ben stopped and helped me put in my spare tube. I ended up catching up to the rest of the crew and was 4th into lunch. After lunch at 50km we biked the last 40km into camp and made it in at 2pm. We cleaned up and then went and walked the beach. There were all kinds of people, girls in bikinis to full clothing covering their whole body, people fat and thin. Not that much different from the US. We got back for dinner and I washed my clothes. Now it is raining so they may not get dry. I need to get my pack and go to sleep. 9:57

Sunday July 27th 5:35 Kayacik Turkey

5′20″33 105.22km Avg 19.6km Max 60km Odo 196.29
Ahmet is the kid I met today in Kayacik(I have his signature in my physical journal). We started the day in Sile. Luckily it didn’t rain that much last night. Though my clothes were still wet so I had to dry them when we stopped. The day was very hilly no crazy long hills but many up and down. I didn’t eat alot of breakfast so by lunch time I was very hungry. Lunch was great but by that time I was starting to feel it in my legs. We had some local kids who were very curious about us. The younger ones eventually got adventurous enough to sit in our chairs.
The older kids were busy selling roadside fruits. After lunch I hung back with the same crew as yesterday Nicole, Dan, Graham, Mike, Clive, Manon, and Stuart. We ended up stopping for ice cream in Kayachra. A doctor and his wife stopped as they drove past. She was from Massachusetts. She had grown up there and really missed the autumn weather. By the time I got to camp I was really hurting. We are camping in a “soccer field” which is really a family’s back yard. The kids came running up to everyone and asked “what is your name?” They did this to everyone who entered the camp. Then a wedding party arrived and the whole “honking” party got out of their cars and danced while a drum and clarinet played.
It was pretty crazy. Then the whole crew got back in the cars and continued on. A few minutes later a journalist showed up. Stuart talked with him and they were both able to make themselves understood. It is interesting how much you can get across with a little writing, heand gestures, and pointing at a book of pictures. It looks like dinner will be good and Al wants to go throw frisbee. 6:19

Monday July 28th Düzce Turkey

5′46″51 115.98km Avg 20km Max 67.7km Odo 312.27
Started out today the 2nd to last to leave camp. I had to go bathroom and was late getting out. That contributed to a mindset where I tried to hurry up and catch the rest of the crew. While going around a sharp downhill corner I was going 10-15km too fast and couldn’t make the corner. As I passed the dividing line I leaned to far to the right to try and make the corner at some point I knew I wasn’t going to make it so I bailed. I think it was a similar motion to sliding feet first into a plate in baseball. I ended up with a pretty good cut on my chin and bruised left thigh, both elbows, and right leg. Luckily it wasn’t very serious and my bike didn’t get damage beyond riding condition. Clive, Louise, and Joan stopped to help me. The local family who lived on the corner brought out napkins and antiseptic. The father was asking if we wanted to call an ambulance but I told him we didn’t need on. Joan had a bandage which she put on my face. I continued down the hill and the rest of the group was having a break so I stopped. This led to a big production of buying a razor. Max payed 5 YTL for a .5YTL razor. They then were able to communicate the need for a mirror and Joan shaved the area around my wound while Stuart tipped me back in a chair. Joan ended up putting butterfly bandages on my chin which held through lunch. It is a requirement to take a picture of your bike against a rail. Lunch was at a beach near the Black Sea and they had bought very delicious peaches which were amazingly juicy. The hills today were torture. It was very hot and my left hand is acting up. It is numb from being on the handlebars so long. At the top of one really tall hill there was this nice overlook into the valley. We made it to Düzce without any more incident. Luckily we were staying in a teacher’s hostel so I was able to take a real shower and clean up from my accident earlier in the day. We had dinner and Joan patched me up. After that I walked into town to find an Internet cafe. I found one and was able to send an email to Jess. She was worried about me because of the bombing that had happened in Istanbul on Sunday. Seventeen people were killed and at least a hundred were injured. We will see how I feel in the morning I hope it isn’t to bad. It would be fun to get EFI(Every Final Inch) status for my section. Time to go read and then go to sleep. 8:54

Tuesday July 29th Gerede Turkey

6′05″53 101.2km Av 16.5 Max 48.6 Odo 413.47
I didn’t wake up that sore from my fall yesterday that was good because it was back on a bike to tackle a 960m pass. That was scary shit, the truckers would haul pass without giving any room. It was an 11km hill. Ben, the tour’s mechanic, got struck by a truck he is pretty sure that the guy hit him on purpose. Luckily he didn’t break anything. The hill was a challenge but once over it, it was an easy ride to lunch. After lunch we had another 11km hill this one was easier as it really wasn’t a pass like the one before lunch. We stopped in a village for ice cream and had an old guy run up and greet us all with kisses. They had peaches and now I don’t know why I didn’t grab one. We are camped on top of a hill overlooking Gerede at about 1600m. While camping there a local girl from Gerede came up to visit. She is a student in Ankara who is home for the summer. She wanted to practice her English. She also spoke French with Max. She had heard about us from her mother. Hopefully tomorrow isn’t as steep. 8:27

Wednesday July 30th Ilgaz, Turkey

6′39″09 143.26km Av 21.5 Max 61.8 Odo 556.8
I started out today with a 7km detour because the signs to get onto D100 are confusing. While riding out of town on a dirt road Max went up a hill and was chased by a pack of dogs. He was trying to see if he could see D100 from the top of the hill. Eventually we retraced our route and got back on track. Then it was just 135km of rolling hills on a busy road. The trucks and cars were obnoxious. They would pass no matter what I had a few pass with just inches to spare. At one point on the road with a lane each direction two semi trucks passed me and I saw a car passing the semi at the same time around a corner. Also had a time when a line of big trucks and auto buses were approaching me. One of the buses was baring down on me. I lost count of the number of times I jumped to the shoulder. I have to say it was not a boring day. The rule in Turkey is always builds a mosque first. After lunch I booked it into camp and made it in before 4pm. I keep on getting more sun. The hills are pretty good at times. I have been having dreams involving Jess. I think all the conversations I have been having about relationships with fellow riders has been partly to blame. It has also been a week since I last saw her and I definitely miss her. I think I will try and give her a call when we have our rest day. Goodnight. 9:28

Thursday July 31st Osmancik, Turkey

5′18″28 119km Av 22.4 Max 56.7 Odo 675.8
Today we headed out at 7 and made very good time to lunch. We got in around 10:30. It was pretty much all downhill which was a welcome from all the days of up that we have had. The afternoon ride was uneventful a few ups and downs but no hill more then a few kilometers. Now we just have one more day of cycling before we get to a rest day. The landscape is pretty rough but in the valleys rice is growing. For some reason the traffic didn’t seem near as bad as it was yesterday. I for one was glad for that. Went and walked around town. I was able to find a drugs store and get chap stick and cream for my scabs. I really like the Cappy cherry juice that they sell in stores. It is so tasteful too bad you can’t get it in the states. Now reading and bed. 3:30 & 8:08

Friday August 1st Amaysa Turkey

5:11′18″ 115.55km Av 22.2 Max 62.9 Odo 791.35
Today we left right around 7am. There was a good headwind so we were only going about 15km/hr or so. Luckily after the first 30km it got better. There was a huge hill which had a wicked crosswind. I felt a little rocky going down the hill at 55-60km/hr a car insisted on passing me even though it could only go a few kph faster after it had passed me. Trucks weren’t so bad today and we made good time to Amaysa. At one point I was going 40kph on a relatively flat part. The scenery is very badlandish with very little green in the hills. After making it into town we found out we would be staying in a hotel instead of camping. That was a welcome surprise. Al and I went and found some food. We then found an Internet cafe and I called Jess on Skype. She was just arriving at work so I was only able to talk for a few minutes. Hopefully she will get reception in NH as I am going to try and call her tomorrow morning her time. Either way it was good to talk to her. The town of Amaysa is very cool and I will have to take many pictures tomorrow. It is great to finally have a rest day. 9:20
P.S. Yesterday we had a few fighter jets fly over us as we were biking. I would bet they were Turkish. I am curious if there are any airfields near us. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are.

Sometimes xkcd is too close to the truth.

So last.fm have announced they will be offering a streaming service in the near future which will allow users to play any given track whenever they want.

As of today, you can play full-length tracks and entire albums for free on the Last.fm website.

I hope that this ends up being a real step forward in a music subscription service. I want something like Rhapsody but with the ability to play the music on any computer or with just a web browser. Hopefully with DRM going the way of the dodo on music it seems like that has a much larger chance of occurring.

Here is to hoping the music labels allow real innovation to occur.

I’m walking in the desert land
I’m walking without a plan
The sun will rise stars will fall
- Michigan “Valley of Death”

Today was the XKCD Dream Girl meetup in Cambridge.

I went it was fun. All kinds of XKCD geeks in one space. w00t!

The park was transformed:

Raptors were not allowed

Spiders showed up

The jungle gym was popular

Tape measures were used

Randall showed up

The comic was completed

Overall very fun.

Robert Jordan died yesterday. This is sad. I haven’t read the latest book in the series but I was looking forward to him finishing the series and being able to read the final chapter.

Back in the early 90s Jordan’s Wheel of Time series was one of the first large fantasy series that I read. It really got me into the genre and started my long time obsession with WoT and the world created therein.

RIP Robert Jordan.

off to the uk for a week and a half.

check twitter for any updates that might occur.
http://twitter.com/spi