Entrance to Istanbul - will therefore play in the traffic

After Bulgaria and Greece, my brother will soon end his cycling trip with me. It only remains for us to calmly reach Istanbul and enjoy the city. That was without counting our mechanical and traffic problems.

Having said that, let's start from the beginning. Shortly after Turkish customs, we officially left Europe and entered Edirne, a town of 150 people near the Greek border. What an immediate change! The traffic is chaotic, we see huge minarets all over the horizon, and the majority of women are veiled and wear large, loose dresses.

After a quick crossing of the city, we embark on the shoulder of the D100 motorway, which we will literally follow to Istanbul. We put headphones in our ears, and we try to forget the noise of the trucks which pass us repeatedly a few feet from the head.

Punctures

In the almost 4000 kilometers that I crossed between England and Turkey, I only had two punctures. But find out why, in the few days it took us to reach Istanbul from the Turkish border, my brother and I jointly did five, including a completely exploded tire.

Explanation for the bicycle neophyte. A bicycle tire is not like a car tire. The tire is the outer casing only. Inside, there is a rubber tube that can be repaired with patches (patches). At worst, you change the tube which costs only a few dollars. But when your whole tire tears, it gets worse, you have to find yourself another one somewhere.

Resumption of history. Ten kilometers after the town of Luleburgaz, it is therefore a tire explosion that happens to Sacha. His fast bike, not designed for this kind of trip, could not support the weight of the luggage for long, and its tire died on the side of the highway. A makeshift repair is attempted, but it is only temporary. Not knowing where we could find the next bike shop, we decide to retrace our steps, sleep in Luleburgaz and visit the shop that I saw while crossing the city earlier.

Kerim, and his wife Özlem, in Luleburgaz.

The next day, we go to the store in question. I make my sympathy and I put myself chummy boy with the owner, Kerim, and his wife Özlem. When he leaves, he gives us a special price and even gives us gifts for our bikes bearing the image of his store.

Then we return to our friend the D100 for the whole day. All around, it's just fields and it's getting more populated. Not much place to hide a tent. We go in front of a hotel that looks not bad and I suggest it to Sacha.

But in order not to break my reputation for picking the worst places, the hotel is probably in my top 3 disgusting lifetime, which says a lot. You don't even want to see the photos. We realize that there are only three clients in the huge hotel, and there is so much mold that Sach suggests that they maybe use the other floors to grow illicit plants ... We sleep in our bags of sleeping.

The hotel that redeems all my bad choices

We hit the road ... on the D100 which no longer even has a shoulder. We are not bad in car traffic. It gets dangerous and even the asphalt is rougher and uneven. After about forty kilometers, we start to walk along the Sea of ​​Marmara and stop at a beach for a few minutes of rest ... which turn into an hour. I am starting to look at our hotel options on the internet because it is obvious that we will not find a campsite in this huge concrete suburb.

I spotted one a few kilometers down the road. Plus, it's only a third of the regular price. As Sacha has reserved our place for Istanbul and that we will be there the next day, this is my last chance to buy back all the places where I made him sleep. I do not understand why but my brother still puts his night in my hands.

But this time it's the right one! We arrive there and we feel like Estéban when he discovers the cities of gold.

We are greeted by several employees, including a porter for our bags ... and a valet service for our bikes! The room is huge, there are two pools, a beach, an amazing buffet lunch included, and more. And we can enjoy it all for the rest of the day! I take the following comment from my brother for congratulations.

F * ck Istanbul, we stay here !!
- Sacha B. Roy

Our hotel seen from the pier. We are in the tower on the right.

Our hotel seen from my lounge chair.

So go play in the traffic

But our rest is short-lived. The next morning, we are back on the D100. Istanbul has more than 15 million inhabitants, and due to its geography, there is only one road to enter from the west.

The cars are so close to each other that we can't even go between them with our bikes. We are literally directly on the highway for tens of kilometers. In a country where cycling is more than marginal, our senses are on the alert all day! In fact, it doesn't roll so well that there are bottled water vendors standing in the middle of the highway.

Ultimately, we end up going to Istanbul, to the historic district of Sultanahmet, where I will stay for four days. For my brother, it will only be one too short day. With sadness, I said goodbye to him, and thank you for his presence, his humor and his patience. He was an excellent pedal companion and I hope to have the chance to repeat this experience with him.

Until then, my adventures continue in Turkey. In the next text, I will introduce you to the very old city of Istanbul.