Veliko Târnovo to Kotel/Sliven (Day 44: Monday 24 August 2015)
The start of our second last “Riding Week” couldn’t have been better weather wise. It was a perfect day to begin with: cool but not cold, sunny with not a cloud in the sky. Our appreciation of the good weather had been heightened by the less than desirable weather of the previous riding days. Which is exactly the strategy of the Good Weather Appreciation Society – give them a few doses of bad weather so that they will appreciate the good stuff more.
5km convoy out of town, led as usual by Gergö, then most of the group stayed together in an informal for the next 3-5km. After we had covered about 15km we started to ride on a really good surface.
For the first part of the day Fergal joined Trond, Liz and myself. I decided to ride in loose affiliation with the others i.e. Going ahead a bit but then they would catch up when I stopped to take photographs. Just before our morning break we merged with Denise.
The terrain was hilly – nice climbs with an immediate reward after most climbs of downhill runs. Couple of longer climbs but nothing punishing.
There was to-ing and fro-ing with Tone, Debbie, Gill and Bill in the lead up to lunch and also in the afternoon. Again, the different groups of people riding together not that far apart overall as shown by there being a fair bit of overlapping at lunch.
In response to a “suggestion” from me, Özgür – on lunch duty – responded with what had become his standard response to me for such with “Next time” i.e. in two years time when the ride was on again. I said it he was lucky that I wouldn’t be on the ride to check up on whether he delivered on such promises. To which he responded “Neither will I {be here}! 😀.
As the day proceded it became more cloudy and it felt warm post lunch. Having stopped and lost the cooling effect of the self-generated breeze whilst riding does cause one to feel (on a warm day) warmer anyway and riding up hills “carrying” lunch in our stomachs raised the perceived effort level for a while.
On one of the longer climbs post lunch, Trond caught up with me when I’d stopped to take a photograph and then proceeded to stay in control for the remainder of the climb. Not long afterwards though he had his 4th and 5th punctures. Draw you own conclusions as to what the cycling gods were thinking in meting out such punishment 😀
With the climbing and the warm weather I was feeling a little tired in the legs for the last 10-15km (of 104km day). Nonetheless I felt good at the end of the ride with just some “satisfied” tiredness in my legs. A legacy of a good solid ride.
Another good hotel – felt as though we were away from it all. Outside our window was a pond/small dam with a spill wall. It was quite pleasant hearing the sound of gurgling water as I went to sleep. Though for brief moments when I woke up during the night there was the momentary concern that it was the sound of rain.
Kotel/Sliven to Sredets (Day 45: Tuesday 25 August 2015)
As the hotel was unable to provide breakfast at the desired hour (7:00am) we got to have Vilma’s special porridge and muesli/granola like mix. Far superior breakfast fare particularly when there is 114km to be ridden.
It was another fine weather day – cool at start then warmed up – bit more than the day before but not too hot. Liz, Trond and myself- again I rode loose – getting ahead a bit, stop for photos and they would catch up and pass me then I would leap frog them at some stage.
An easy start in that it was mostly downhill with the road hugging the side of the mountain valley. Later on the valley widened right out and the gradient flattened as we rode down the centre of the valley more or less.
In the morning we passed through another village with a remarkable (which is what I am doing – remarking on it) number of people out on the street – including a lot of children.
The roads varied from very good to could be better (a lot better) but no stretches of gravel though there was a couple of kms of cobble stone entering and through Sredets. Not sure if the Romans are to blame or not. I have been surprised as to how prevalent cobblestone pavements have been – mainly in town/village centres/pedestrian areas. Sections of mild roller coaster like up and overs but not at speeds likely to induce excitment or pleasurable fear.
After lunch – Liz went on ahead early. Trond and myself rode together for about 30km before catching up with Liz. With the afternoon came a few medium hill climbs and short periods of headwinds. I fueled up at 95km with nuts, dried fruit lollies and Gu. This made a positive difference to how I felt over the remaining 20km. The last of the hill climbs was not as challenging as I expected and Trond and myself rode it together.
Stayed at another good hotel/ holiday resort – a few kilometres out of Sredets. Bill and myself had a bungalow. There were families playing/swimming in a good sized and clean pool. The main improvement could have been a better musical selection than the particular variety of pop music that blared across the pool until about 10:00pm.
Some orchids for Mick and Mum
Sredets to Malko Târnovo (Day 46: Wednesday 26 August 2015)
A delayed hotel breakfast plain yogurt drink and a layered pasta quiche’y kind of thing with egg/cheese. Not bad taste wise or nutritionally but for many it was too different to their preferred morning fare. When the coffee came at the end and some missed out as they had already left to get on their bikes.
Trond and myself rode together and largely by ourselves for the day – just at a steady pace – in the morning because that’s all the road surface and terrain allowed and in the afternoon perhaps because we wanted to soak up and enjoy the good road. Weather was good – no sign of rain and just the occasional gust of wind.
First 8km of road had a good surface but when we turned off the main road onto a minor road – the next 40km was narrow and rough. This did keep you focussed on the riding as you constantly were picking the best line between the potholes, through large puddles etc.. There were occasional patches of “teaser” road sponsored by the Smooth Tarmac Appreciation Society – sometimes just 5 – 10 metres in length, other times a it longer – just enough to remind you what you were missing out on. As Trond pointed out these smooth patches seemed to be spaced so that just when you had got used to the rough road and were thinking this is okay you’d hit a smooth stretch which provided an unhelpful comparison as to how rough the road really was. Though quite bad, once you accepted the road for what it was, it was fun in a way.
From the start of the day we had company: flies. Smaller and quieter than Australian flies but flies nonetheless (and therefore annoying).
Trond and myself were discussing the critical riding speed at which the flies could not keep up and you could leave them behind. This seemed to be at around 16km/hr – manageable most of the time even with the poor condition of the road. “Except” as Trond pointed out after a few moments of insightful contemplation, “if there is a tail wind.”😀
The morning terrain started with a short and sharp uphill exit from the hotel and then a nice downhill run. When we turned onto the minor road after about 8km we had a few kms of steady up hill before a downhill run and then a long climb – about 10km long – with some short relief stretches flat/downhill. The rough conditions were easier to handle going up than on the downhill sections.
On the credit side of the ledger for the morning section of the ride was that it mostly was shaded by trees either side so pleasant in that respect (though generally couldn’t see beyond the trees). Sometimes following a ridge line and at other times had the side of the mountain on one side and trees on the other. Also there was, understandably, very little traffic. There was one car with low suspension that kept having to stop, let the two passengers out and then scrap its way through the larger potholes and washouts. There was a nice little role reversal when for a few minutes I had to wait for an appropriate gap to be able to pass this car. One of the few times where it was faster by bike. Others reported being stuck behind a logging truck for a few kilometres.
At lunch flies swarmed you but after a few minutes went away. Photo of Vilma and Özgür.
After lunch we were rewarded with a great road – smooth and wide with plenty of space for passing vehicles of which there were surprisingly few. First up was a downhill run and then a climb of about the same distance up again. Followed by a few more ups and downs of decreasing length and fluctuations in altitude. Quite manageable in terms of effort required. Trond demonstrated his superiority on the good roads zooming ahead on the downhill sections and then cruising until I caught up on the uphill sections.
Overall it was another good days ride – not easy but still interesting/fun/enjoyable – demonstrated that you don’t need to have all the conditions right – e.g you can cope with a rough road if the weather is fine – no rain and not too hot and the distance is not too long.
Apparently accommodation hard to find due so we were sharing 3 to a room and one bathroom between two such rooms.
Malko Târnovo to Vize (Day 47: Thursday 27 August 2015)
The down side of dormitory style accommodation was demonstrated when I was woken up somewhat earlier than expected/desired. For a moment I thought that the clocks must have been brought forward an hour overnight and only some of the group informed😀.
As the hotel wasn’t providing food we got to have Vilma’s breakfast again- which put everyone in a good frame of mind.
As we waited to start riding a small group of us were discussing the extreme wear on Trond’s rear tyre – to the extent that it had had to be replaced a day or two earlier- and some of us were querying was he had had that problem – having started in Paris with brand new tyres – whilst others with similar tyres had not had the same amount of wear and tear. Trond, who is of a large build: “Well I haven’t weighed any of us lately but …. “
Started off with just Trond. There was a good long climb of a few kilometres up to the border crossing – a bit too early in the day for such as the breakfast porridge still weighed heavy in the stomach. Road surface okay given we were just steadily making our way.
After the border crossing great road: multi-lane, good shoulder and smooth surface. To top it all off we almost had it all to ourselves – hardly any traffic – this made down hill runs more fun and safer.
First half of the riding day consisted of a lot of climbing- with quite healthy gradients e.g 5%-8% (sometimes greater). But for every up there was a down i.e. some great downhill runs. My top speed (without pedalling) was 70km/hr. The Norwegians and the English took out the podium places: Tone & Gill 77km/hr and Trond 84 Km/hr.
I struggled a bit in the morning as feeling tired (not enough sleep from the night before). However we had a delicious morning refueling stop (47km) when Trond and myself met up with Bill, Gill, Debbie, and Tone at a baclava/cake/ice cream shop and followed the locals lead and had two out of the three (baclava with ice cream). Such a sugar hit plus a rare Coke and a cup of Turkish tea woke me up and got me through to lunch.
Along with our morning tea compatriots we followed the route onto a different road – in good condition but narrower and with a coarse road aggregate so harder/slower to ride on. Also more traffic- large trucks- tankers.
Continued on the same road after lunch. The addition of a strong headwind along with warmer temperature made it comparatively hard going. So we took a Coke break after just 20km (with 20km more to go).
Gill zooms past me on a downhill saying “It’s the only way to get past you” but poor timing as soon thereafter the hill bottomed out and changed into a moderate incline which was in my favour “What did you say?” I said (perhaps a little too smugly) as I passed her a few seconds later😀
The hotel in Vize is family run. A young boy was enthusiastically directing the bike storage and other things – taking his responsibilies very seriously.
No self-service laundromat available but we were directed to somewhere that would wash our clothes and have them ready by the next day – which they did.
At dinner, Bill ordered a can of Coke up at the counter but it was delivered to table before he got back to it. When he arrived back Trond had already started to consume it. When Bill indicated in fact that he had ordered it Trond stated the obvious (to him – based on comparative volume of consumption) “If they put Coke on the table it {must be} mine”
Total distance ridden to-date: 3,535km spread over 37 riding days (48 days overall)
At breakfast we were discussing the pros and cons of wearing bike cleats. All were in agreement re the added benefit of using on a road bike however Graham was questioning their value in mountain biking given the potential need to disconnect from them quickly in tricky riding situations. He was arguing his case quite strongly but when I asked how much mountain biking he actually did he said, with a grin on his face, “Not much!”😀
I was glad of a rest day- had good nights sleep but still an accumulated mild weariness after 4 solid days riding.
Peter and Vilma (staff) had suggested getting a chartered bus to go to the Black Sea which was nearby where we were staying. Gill and Debbie arranged this through Özgür and put out the invitation to all – which 16 took up.
It was great to have a break from the usual rest day routine. There is something about a bus ride to the beach – people were very much in “We’re off to the beach” mode – it was like a mini holiday within a holiday and evocative of childhood summer holidays. We were very pleased that we weren’t riding as it was quite hilly.
Back in town I sought a local cure.
Only two riding days to go
I’m going to miss this blog.
Start your own 😀