Narman, Oltu, and Olur to Ardanuç: a short bicycle adventure

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Bryan Keith

From Narman we rode the main highway to Oltu where I thought there was a little bit to see. We found the castle,

IMG_20210815_121852 by bryandkeith on flickr

an old medrese,

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On the bicycle again: Kars to Narman

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Bryan Keith

If you look quickly at a road map, you’ll see no direct roads west from Kars to Narman. The reason is, of course, the mountains — Allahuekber Mountains and the eponymous national park. Check more carefully, however, and it’s possible to string together village roads and unpaved mountain tracks. Sounds like a nice bicycle touring route, doesn’t it?

As a warmup, we started with about a day and a half of flat riding on the Kars Ovası (Kars Plains). The elevation (about 1900m) means that the temperature was pleasant even though it was the beginning of August.

IMG_20210807_152134 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Kars and Ani: the start of another bicycle tour

Posted on September 11, 2021 by Bryan Keith

It took Ferda and me 26 hours to get (by bus) from Antalya to Kars. Emek and Görkem drove from Muğla, and Hacer took the bus from Mersin. We were the last of our group of five to arrive. I had been to Kars (the province (il)) twice before, but I had never been to the city of Kars. I was quite looking forward to it. For good reason, it turns out.

IMG_20210805_171334 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Akşehir to Isparta, the end of another short bicycle tour

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Bryan Keith

Akşehir, Sultandağı, Çay — we spent a couple days skirting the north edge of the Sultan Dağları (mountains) on tractor roads. These cities are connected with a busy, fast road, the major highway connecting Konya and Afyonkarahisar. We had to cross it a few times, but except for short stretches before and after Çay, we managed to avoid riding on it.

IMG_20210707_154022 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Yalvaç to Akşehir: now we are four

Posted on August 22, 2021 by Bryan Keith

Ferda and Yasemin came by bus to Yalvaç to join Ahmet and me. The four of us pedaled together for a few days. They were hungry when they arrived, and Ahmet and I had just finished a good lunch at Ahmet Usta Pideci so we got some takeaway from the same place and delivered it to the bus station for the new riders.

IMG_20210705_142216 by bryandkeith on flickr

We started off on rolling farmland south and east from Yalvaç, terrain quite different from the first two weeks of this tour.

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