Distance: 139km
Elevation: 1.612m
Erzincan: https://maps.app.goo.gl/t3QqsEqGo1DMaR5M8?g_st=ic
The plan for the day was clear from the start: two mountain passes, both around 2,200 meters, and then all the way down into Erzincan. That was 140 kilometers. I got up early to have a chance.
After my morning routine, I said goodbye to my host family. They had treated me well. As I was leaving, I noticed the beehives by the road that the crew had been working on during the cold of the night. Probably because the bees were less active then.
The climbing started immediately. The road went up from the first pedal stroke mostly with a gentle incline. I needed to push Rosinante only for a few steeper parts.
I reached the first summit at around ten in the morning.
These mountains were something else. I am not sure I have the right words. Raw. Wild. Unpolished. No trees, no grass. Just rocks in different colors. You could still see the shapes left by the forces that once formed all of it. Like looking at something from a different planet. I had to stop several times. Not because I needed the rest. Just to look. I did not want to forget it.
The descent after the first pass was chilly. A few kilometers lower, where it got warmer, I stopped for a chai and a toast. A toast here is bread filled with melted cheese. It was exactly what I needed. My back, which I had pulled a few days earlier, appreciated the warm sun.
I cycled on to Refahiye, where John and I had agreed to meet for lunch. He arrived about thirty minutes after me. We ate and talked surrounded by cats and chicken expecting to be fed.
He had had a bad morning. A Kangal shepherd dog had charged at him and he had been genuinely scared. A car driver had intervened and put the car between John and the dog. That had saved him. The rest of his day had been colored by that experience. He was not ready to continue. He decided to stay in Refahiye.
After a long break, I got back on the bike and headed for the second pass. It was a thirty-five kilometers climb, 70km in total. Steady in the beginning, a bit harder near the top. I was able to cycle all of it without pushing.
Just before the actual summit, there was a small valley sitting on top of the mountain. The road dropped down sharply into it and then climbed back up. That was the toughest bit. I was super relieved when I had made it.
But from the top, the downhill was the best I have ever done on this trip. The scenery was jaw-dropping and somehow not from this world. Forty kilometers. Not a single pedal stroke needed. The tarmac was smooth and the gradient was perfect.
The only thing that interrupted the joy were the trucks. Some drivers overtook very closely and the draft they created pulled at me. That is always dangerous. I went carefully and kept my speed under control.
The sky had been building clouds all afternoon. Somewhere along the descent I asked whoever might be listening to keep the thunderstorm away while I was still in the mountains.
The request was granted. I made it all the way down to Erzincan. Then it started raining. I could not help but smile. I had not specified that I wanted to stay dry all the way. I had only asked for no thunderstorm in the mountains. I could sense a wicked kind of humor there.
I arrived in Erzincan just before seven. I was exhausted.
The hotel I had booked was twenty-eight euros a night. So there had to be a catch. The building appeared to be some kind of former office block that had not quite finished becoming a hotel. The man at reception was not particularly friendly and first tried to put me on the fourth floor into a room with an unfinished kitchen and no shower. Also, there was no elevator and my legs were on fire. We eventually sorted it out. I got a room on the ground floor. It was fully functional. There was space for Rosinante. There was a cooker, a shower with warm water. There was everything I needed. The energy of the place was not great but I declared it a paradise for me.
Erzincan is a name you may have heard before. The city was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1992. The effects of that disaster are still visible. The old city center was gone. What was rebuilt is functional but not beautiful.
I did my washing, prepared for the next day, showered, and was in bed by nine. I felt good about having tried for the two passes in one go. It had worked.
I slept through the entire night like a baby.
Learnings of the day:
At breakfast at the mosque, the owner brought me a cucumber and a tomato. He did not ask anything in return. He simply placed them in front of me. There was no big smile just the gesture and a kind sparkle in his eyes. Small acts of kindness like that are perhaps the best thing we have to offer each other. There is no calculation in it. It is just one human taking care of another.