Waking up here in Edirne after two amazing restitution days. We’ve spent them just as you should. We’re trying to motivate us for the longest distance for my mother. Our goal is 100Km to Kirklareli.

We’re eating breakfast. It’s nothing special for us, since we really miss the darker bread and basically our norwegian food. We’re eating the healthy  version of the breakfast now. You know, we’re not healthy enough, so we have to prepare our body for the beach in Bulgaria.

It’s about time to start cycling. We have checked out of the hotel, put some oil on the chain and prepared ourself. When you look at the hotel window, you can see the receptionist, the security and the piccolo looking at us and smiling. At the same time there are coming 3 small kids over to us, they ask us where we are going and where we are from.

On the road. My mother follows me through the traffic in Edirne without any big problems.

The first part is on a big road, but there’s a good road shoulder to cycle on, so we feel safe even if it’s quite big traffic.

Finally finished with the big road. We know that most of the day will be on smaller roads, but in what condition? That’s a good question.

Cycling through a small village. You can see the market, it’s crowded of people, crowded. We had a plan about eating here if we found a suitable place, but it doesn’t look good. You have the cafées where people are playing games, drinking coffee and turkish tea. Some are waiving at us, some are just looking and some are saying hello. We’re continuing through the streets, it’s no place which gives us a good feeling, and it’s definately not the time to get a bad stumach. We have enough banana, chocolate and drinks to continue to the end, or at least for a while.

The road quality is mixing between ok and bad. The area is open. There’s lots of fields filled with stones and some trees.

We’re cycling and cycling. I don’t feel that we’re getting any kilometers today. I won’t complain, but I have to try to motivate my mother. You can see that she’s strong, but that she’s having one of the though days. Falling a bit behind in the climbs and keeps the same speed in the downhill. I’m not mentioning this to her, but I’m wathing the time and knows that there are no places to spend the night before we reach Kirklareli, 100Km away.

42Km is cycled. We’re standing on a top to have some water, red bull, chocolate and biscuits. It’s extremely important to stay on top with energy when you’re cycling distances like this. Especially when the terrain is a bit rough and hilly. Military cars are passing us while we are having a the small break. You can see two wild dogs 10 meters from us and a turtle. The military cars are waiving to us when they are passing, and a truck stops to speak with us as well.

I’m not sure if my mother realizes that it takes some energy to think about all the impressions that you’re getting. She’s done things on this trip that she have never done before. She’s strong. She’s crossed boarders with military control, crossed a flooded road with a strong current from the river. Cycling on roads filled with dangerous and protective big dogs, she put on clothes to cover her body to be allowed into the biggest mosque in Edirne. You can just imagine what it takes from a person, what it takes from my mother to experience all this. I know that she had motivated herself for rough traffic, rough terrain and cycling, but not for this!

She’s strong, I’m impressed and she’s allowed to have a tougher day, a sentimental day. This is what she have. Her mind have been thinking about everything she’s gone through, everything that she’s experienced. She’s not alone here, but she’s alone to experience things like this for the first time.

We’re continuing and are quickly entering a gravel road. No traffic. We’re all alone in this beautiful hilly and empty area. The sun is shining, but the temperature is perfect, perfect for cycling.

Another village. People are looking at us. What are they doing in this area? How are they able to find this place? Where are they going?

There are several military checkpoints along the boarder to Bulgaria. They seem friendly and are waiving with a smile.

Suddenly we can see two guys and a dog walking on a field. I ask my mother if it’s a rifle they are holding? We can see that they have seen us. One of the guys turn around and are walking towards us when we are cycling closer. It’s definately a rifle.

What are they? Hunters? Military? What? How should we react? Should we stop, should we leave? Should we be afraid?

We stop. He ask us where we are going and we reply Kirklareli. He points in the direction while he holds his aggressive dog back. The rifle is hanging around his shoulder while he’s talking to us. He asks if we are tourist, we confirm this. He says have a good trip and we start cycling again.

The road is really bad, we have to stop at one point to walk. It’s full of holes and the gravel is so loose that it’s impossible to keep control.

PANG, PANG. We can hear several shots in the background. I’m looking at my mother to see how she reacts. She’s smiling, but you can see that she’s not 100% comfortable at this place. We’re continuing and at the same time you can hear shots fired in the background. At least they know that we are here…..IF THATS A GOOD THING?

Finally it’s possible to cycle again. I’m keeping control over the time. We still have enough time to reach Kirklareli before dark, but not if the road standard and if something else should hold us back.

I’m trying to play some good music, to keep a smile and to be a motivator. Sometimes that’s my job on a trip like this. I can’t expect that anyone should be able to travel to another country, another culture and into a military zone and not to be affected by it. I HAVE TO MOTIVATE.

We have passed places with sheeps and cows. Each time you can see one guy watching over them. And if it’s sheeps, then it will most likely be 1 or more dogs as well. Most of the times it is no problem, but then you have the few percent where it’s a huge problem.

There’s a huge group of sheeps in front of us. I can see 4-5 big dogs watching over them. I can’t see the man, just the dogs. I tell my mother to keep focus on cycling, try to block them out, keep the foot out of the pedal so that you are ready to give them a kick if needed.

The dogs are extremely aggressive. They have neckles filled with sharp metal arrows. This is definately a dangerous situation. I say again to my mother…KEEP ON CYCLING, DON’T STOP!
At the same time I get a bad feeling. I have two of the aggressive dogs on my side and I can feel the hard stones much harder than they should be. I look down and can see my flay tire… WHY NOW? WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW? I’m staying 100% calm and are getting of my bike, I can’t risk a broken wheel, and if I continue with my full weight, it will guaranteed be broken. The dogs are barking with their huge mouth and teeths, they are just 50cm from me. My mother have done as I said and can’t see that I’m walking. She stops 50 meters ahead and looks back. I thought she understood that I had a flat. I said, what a timing, this is perfect, what do we do now! I’m walking on and the dogs are following me until I’m out of range for the sheeps. The man standing 30 meters away are screaming something to the dogs, but they doesn’t seem to react. My mother asks me if I’ve been bitten since I’m walking. She looks stressed. I reply YES (I believe she asks me if I have a flat). She is saying some words that isn’t worth mentioning here on the blog, but you can imagine the feeling. Thoughts going around. Where is the closest hospital, medisin and so on?

Finally we’re away from the dogs. The pulse is on the way down again. You can hear them just over the hill. I’m fixing my flat tire and are carefully looking over my wheel. Hope it’s not broken because of the weight of the trailer and the stones on the road. I’m able to get a new tire and tube on.

Cycling further. We both have a feeling that this is a area that we want to get away from. Shots fired, aggressive dogs, what next?

We’re passing several sheeps, cows and dogs. I tell my mom to come close to me and to stay on the opposite side of the dogs.

Finally back on a paved road. Here’s a small village again. It’s nice to be back in civilization, if you can call it that. The poor toothless men are sitting there playing games in their filthy clothes. Clothes that looks like they have survived two wars and even more. The wild dogs are walking in the streets, we’re not afraid of them, the wild dogs are the kindest of them all. The dangerous dogs are the ones that have an owner who’s not kind to them, or who are training them to watch their property from gypsies or their farm animals from other wild animals like wolfes, bears, eagles among others.

Today has been full of experiences. The road has been going up and down all the way, the quality have been mixed. I can see that my mother is struggeling, but she puts a smile on her face every time I look back at her. HOW STRONG, I’m sorry to mention it so many times in the post, but she deserves to hear it.

It’s time to cycle into Kirklareli. We know that it’s a big city with about 60 000 citizens. We haven’t made any reservation for today. There’s a lot of people in the streets and it’s filled with traffic. You need to be focused while cycling here. We’re asking around for a hotel and follow their directions. Left, right, straight, straight, straight and left…Thank you for the easy direction. I decide to put up my phone and google maps.

We’re cycling into a roundabout. I’ve told my mother how important it is that she follows closely here. She’s doing fine and are following me into the roundabout. When you are inside, you need to complete your action, there’s no other way out when you have 3 cars on each side of you. I can see that she’s lost, I can see that something happens. I stop at the other side and can see her at a bus stop on the other side. When I get no reaction from her, I cycle one round more and stop on her side. She’s afraid, close to crying, but she puts on a strong smile. I can understand that she’s afraid of this. I give her some easy instructions to stay on my side. We will take the full place of a car by cycling together. Finally we’re on the right side.

There’s the hotel. We stop there and they confirm that they have a room available. It’s no luxury, not even hot water in the shower. It’s another shock shower. I decide to skip it.

We’re heading out for something to eat. We find a restaurant that seems ok, just a few people, but we have decided that we just have to stop somewhere. The waiter is really friendly and serves us a beer, a salat and the beef that we ordered. It tastes really good, even the salat is nice, but spicy…OH YES, WE’RE BURNING….CHILI!!! He’s just looking at us with a smile when we order two main dishes each and a french fries in addition. I almost forgot that we ate two whole bread as well… HUNGRY.

Back at the hotel. My mom is writing the blog and at the same time I am on skype with Lillian.

We’re preparing ourself for another 75Km tomorrow and are planning to enter Bulgaria again. I thought it was many dogs there, but no…. I look forward to come back.

Mammas litla sentimentala og tøffa hjørna

Eg veit ikkje heilt kor eg skal begynne i dag, dagen starta fint med god frukost og opplading av gps og mobiler. Utafor hotellet får me jo eindel opmerksomhet som vanlig når me gjer klar syklene våras. Tre små gutar kommer forvetne bort til oss og lurer på kor me kommer fra og kor me skal. Dei seier hade og kysser det norske flagget som me har bak på hengeren. Grua meg ein del til å sykle ut av Edirne pga av trafikken, men det gjekk faktisk strålande.

Sykla ein del i trafikken i dag, det var gode veiskuldrer å sykle på så eg slappa ganske godt av, men ein og anna gangen vart det glidlåskjøring og det gjekk og som oftes bra. ein gong måtte eg stoppe midt i, viste ikkje heilt ka eg skulle gjer, men den lastebilen som kom på min høgre side stoppa og såg meg vel og trygt igjennom det krysset. Eg klarte og ta opp tommelen som takk og han fløyta tilbake til meg 🙂 Slik sykla me vel og lenge før me tok av hovedveien for å sykle innom ein liten tettstad for å å få oss litt mat, men må vær så ærlig å sei at det va vel ikkje så mange plasser som frista oss. Me hadde handla ein del bananer, kjeks og andre ting som me skulle ha til energi i dag. Og slik blei det, det vart det me levde av i dag.

Mange små tettsteder med yrande liv og masse roping til oss fra forvetne folk. Også så små steder at me måtte sykle sikksaks mellom høner, hunder, geiter og andre dyr. Tannlause menn som satt og skravla og løyste værdensproblem utafor små butikker eller det som ein gong hadde vert ein kafe. Ein kan bli sentimental av forskjelligt, men i dag har dagen for meg vert meget så spesiell og veldig så sentimental. Slike ting som å sjå kvardagslige ting fekk meg til å grine ein skvett i dag. Trur ikkje eg lyger om eg seie eg har sykla med blanke auger ein god del av turen i dag.  Tildels av at eg synest til tider at det va ganske så tungt og kanskje  for at det går opp for meg ka eg egentilig er med på. Me har sykla nær grensa mange mange mil og da vil sei at me har det militæret rundt oss. Etter ca fire mil og ein del stigning måtte me stoppe og få i oss litt energi og tisselisse. Litt lettere for gutane veit jo alle, og eg må jo sei at eg synest det va litt skumelt å gå ut i skogen å finne seg ein passande plass. Da me stoppa der såg me to laushunder luske inn i skogen, ei skilpadde såg me, må sei eg såg  meg godt rundt før eg våga å sette meg  på huk. Eg viste vel og at oppå toppen der satt dei militæret og kikka på oss, men må man så må man.

Mange mil i ingenmans land, ja slik føltes det til tider, grusveier som av og til ikkje gjekk an å sykle på, me måtte rett og slett gå av syklene og leie dei videre. Stian som er så sterk klarte godt å komme seg på sykkelen i bratte bakker men der sliter ho mor litt. Det vart nokre meter eg måtte leie sykkelen. Når eg nådde igjen Stian sa han forsiktig at mamma husk at her i Tyrkia blir det mørkt  i sju tia.Eg tenkta då sjerp deg og ta deg krafig i sammen Jorunn 🙂

Ja me fortsatte på grusvei i mange mange mil. Hunder og atter laushunder, eg er så lei og redd. Ein episode i dag, me ser en gjeter med hundrevis av sauer og me senker farten for å ta hensyn, men det viser seg at han har fire svære hunder med piggtrå rundt halsen. Dei virker utrulig hissige, Stian stopper fordi han har punktert, men det får eg ikkje med meg. Eg sykler videre og hundene bjeffer og glefser, men eg får ikkje med meg at Stian kommer leiende på sykkelen. Eg er så sikkker på at han er blitt beten av ein av hundene, men han hadde punktert. Skjelven og nervøs stoppa me etter hundane ga oss fred. Me fekk skifta dekk og alt gjekk heldigvis bra:)

Eg tenkte at no må det ver nok opplevelser og nok spenning, nei det dukka stadig opp noko nytt. Langt oppi åsa såg me to manner med gævær og hunder. Eg såg at dei la merke til oss og snudde retning og kom imot oss. Må trygt sei at eg lurte på ka ditta va, me stoppa for å høyre, han lurte på om me va turister. Snakka litt med han og han ønskte oss god tur.

Me kjempa på vidare og gleda oss veldig til å komme fram i Kirklareli. Her hadde me ikkje bestilt Hotell, så me måtte sykle rundt på måfå og leite. Byen va stor enormt med trafikk, eg senka skuldrene og følgte Stian. Ja det gjekk grett til me kom til ei rundkjøring, me la oss inn i veibanen men me fekk to biler imellom oss. Plutselig fekk eg alarm fra politi og måtte flytte meg og eg mista Stian, eg trur alle rundt meg såg at eg va ganske så redd. Bussa som kjørte forbi meg prøvde å peike til meg kor Stian var, så da va ikkje tårene så langt vekke. Stian kom og geleida meg trygt videre til me fant eit Hotell, det var langt i fra luksus denne gang. Men alt va godt nok for meg i dag, rett og slett veldig sliten. Varm dusj skulle bli godt men det va ikkje varmt vatn i dusjen, så det vart kald dusj.

Ein telefon til Magnar men det va heller ikkje lett i dag, då grein eg igjen. Me fant oss ein plass til å ete og der blei me så godt tatt imot at eg måtte ta til tårene igjen. Kjempe deilig mat og brød, salater. Me va så svultne at me åt hovudrett to ganger, då følte eg meg litt flau så eg måtte forklare han at me hadde sykla 100 km i dag. Etter det va det kun til å sei god natt og lade opp til ein ny lang dag med mange høydemeter 🙂

Etter å ha sykla for det meste i skogen , kom me etterkvart inn i små landsbyer igjen og nærma oss Kirklareli.

Kirklareli er ein ganske stor by med eit yrande folkeliv, me sykla igjenom trange gater med biler folk overalt. Hotell hadde me ikkje booka til i dag, så det var kun til å leite. Plutselig hadde eg to biler mellom meg og Stian i ei ganske så stor rundkjøring . Politiet var bak meg og brukte sirener eg vart så forfjamsa at eg sykla ut av rundkjøringa, mista Stian . Trur alle rundt meg såg fortvilelsen i ansiktet mitt, busser som kjørde forbi meg peika i Stian sin retnig . Stian fant meg og ilag sykla me vidare og fant oss eit Hotell . Ikkje særlig luksus kan du trygt sei, men me va såååå trøtte og svultne. Ein varm dusj skulle bli godt men den gang ei, det va kun kaldt vatn der. Det vart ein sjokkdusj 🙁

Ut på byen får å finne oss mat, var ikkje så kresne på valget. Me blei tatt imot av ein smilande sevitør som viste ikkje ka godt han kunne gjer for oss. Me åt og åt, brød og to hovudretter kvar, han kikka på oss og lurte litt. Viste han bilde av oss og syklene og sa at me hadde sykla 100 km i dag. Bare nokre fine ord fra Stian eller andre så rant tårene på mammo i dag, men enden på viso er at eg er så emosjonell på alt eg har vert med på så langt at denne dagen matte jo komme

Picture album from todays ride:

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GPS Data from todays ride: