Çanakkale to Gelibolu -- end of tour!

Getting the semi, tour busses and gravel truck onto the ferry

It started raining overnight and was still raining this morning when we left the hotel on our bikes. Due to the rain and headwind, our tour leader changed which ferry we were getting on in order to cut off 8 km (5 miles) from our route. Instead of crossing to Kilitbahir, we took a different ferry to Eceabat. It was very interesting to watch the ferry workers guide in a semi, tour busses and a gravel truck on the ferry before we left. It was so cold and windy, that I didn't stay outside for long once we started moving.

Leaving Eceabat

From Eceabat, there was nothing to do but cycle. Some used to cool, rainy weather (e.g. Scotland), were in shorts with a rain jacket. I had on all cool weather gear (shorts, leg warmers, arm warmers, shirt, vest, jacket) plus my rain pants and raincoat. On our 40 km (25 mike) ride, we encountered several chasing dogs. I lost my group a couple of times either from getting off my bike for a dog or struggling to keep up going uphill or braking downhill. One of the strong cyclists would wait for me and tell me to hold onto his tire and help me catch up. He, Diane, Claudia and I ended up cycling most of the way together. In desperation, I clung tightly to the wheel of the cyclist of front of me, hoping not to slow them down while at the same time knowing that I didn't have it in me to face the headwind and rain alone.

1915 Çanakkale bridge

We stopped to take a photo of the 1915 Çanakkale bridge. With all the rain, it's difficult to see in the photo. However, it's quite impressive as currently the longest suspension bridge in the world. Our route took us under the cables suspended to the shore.

We made it to the finish!

Finally we made it to our destination, a fish restaurant. Our day packs were waiting inside with our changes of dry clothes. Three tour busses dropped off tourists while we were there; and, we had a couple curious tourists ask about our cycling trip. For lunch, I ate shakshuka, which was unfortunately cold, and hot halwa. Both were delicious! While we were eating, we saw dolphins! They went by our in the water behind a ship.

If only we could have ended our trip yesterday after Troy, our bikes would be relatively clean. However, now they will go to the bike packer covered in mud. It has taken over four hours to drive to our hotel in Istanbul. We could see the top of the Blue Mosque as we drove in. At the hotel, the employees served us a delicious drink called Ottoman sherbet while we waited to check in. Our tour officially ends in the morning.