August 23, 2023
Derenkuyu
A day of ups and downs saved mostly by the wonderful kindness of Turkish people.
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| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
It was a steep climb out of Belisirma, the kilometer or so about a ten percent gradient on cobblestones.
Then we had some lovely cycling on dead quiet roads through gently rolling hills mostly covered by fallow wheat fields.
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At about twenty five kilometers, just as we were starting a long but gentle climb, my rear tyre punctured. The culprit was the usual one- a small piece of wire reinforcing from a blown truck tyre. This was the first puncture we have suffered for at least a year, if not longer.
At the top of the climb was a Mescid with the usual supply of water so I was able to clean up after repairing the puncture. A group of locals were there busy cleaning up the area and gathering cans, bottles etc for recycling. A few hundred meters further Leigh's rear tyre deflated with a hurried woosh! The hole was close to the rim and it didn't make much sense at the time. We returned to the Mescid where I patched the tube and we carried on, only to stop a few hundred meters later to check the tyre and notice the tube bulging through a hole I'm the tyre's sidewall. Leigh had noticed a clicking sound a day or two ago but we couldn't track it down. It suddenly became clear to us. The tube protruding through the sidewall was clipping the pin that locks the break pad into its holder. Of course the pin eventually punctured the tube.
We managed another fifteen, very tense, kilometers before the tyre went again just short of a clump of trees. There was a minivan parked in the shade of the trees and the young guy behind the wheel came over to see what the problem was. He quickly showed a location in a village about three kilometers away where we might find a bicycle tyre. So off I cycled to see if they had. Alas no, so I cycled back to a desconsolate Leigh who by now had decided we needed to try and hitch a ride to Derenkuyu. I went across the the guy in the minivan to see if he could help but, although our predicament clearly troubled him, he wasn't in a position to help. To cut a long story short, he and his buddy were using the shade as a comfortable spot to get through a few beers out of the prying eyes of the local community. He was sure that the cops would stop him if they drove the twelve kilometers to Derenkuyu. So he called up a friend of his who came and picked us up and drove us to the only hotel in Derenkuyu. We checked in and after a bit of searching I found a tyre that would fit. It's cheap and nasty but it worked and that's all we need right now.
The concern that the young guy felt with respect to our situation was so heartwarming. He was determined to make sure he could help us.
After changing the tyre and repairing the tube (again) I headed out to buy a beer. I asked the first guy who I met in the street and he signaled "follow me". It took a few hundred meters of walking but he led me straight to a beer shop where he explained to the guy behind the counter what I wanted. What made me feel terrible was that within a few seconds of setting off it became clear he had a gammy hip but he wasn't going to let that stand in the way of him wanting to help a stranger.
Tomorrow morning we are going to have a decko at Derenkuyu's underground city before heading to Göreme or Nevşehir.
Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 651 km (404 miles)
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1 year ago