Distance: 139km
Elevation: 984m
Tiblisi: https://maps.app.goo.gl/mMrPuucBxfn8RwKU7?g_st=ic
This was going to be the longest day of the tour so far. Almost 140 kilometers.
I was on the bike by seven-thirty. I stopped at the first shop I could find to get something for breakfast. All the products on the shelf had a visible layer of dust on them. I chose the safe option and only took things that were wrapped in plastic.
I ate my breakfast at a half collapsed bus station. The mason who did this had screwed up badly. However, it also symbolized the state of rural Georgia for me: half ready and half collapsed. It felt like the right place to start a big day.
Meanwhile Jake had messaged me that he had decided to return to UK directly from Iraq because he was running out of cash and flights were much cheaper there. I had looked forward to our road trip.
In the meantime, plans had firmed up to travel to Yerevan on Monday to meet Amalya who was running a community college there. I looked forward to this encounter.
Cycling on the plateau was easy and enjoyable. I covered a lot of ground. The descents and a wonderful tail wind helped. There were frequent encounters with dogs, but none of them posed a real threat.
After about 40km, I bumped into Erich and Ingrid from Austria. They were touring Georgia for three weeks and it was their 19th long cycling journey. They had been cycling in many countries including Russia before. Something I envied them for. They stealth camped most of the time.
We traded some stories from the road and how we experienced Georgia. When I mentioned that I wanted to get to Tiblisi today they were a little doubtful that I would make it. I shrugged it off.
Back on the road, I continued to follow the Mtkvari river and came by an ancient castle ruin in Samtsevrisi from the 8th century.
Another 20km later I met Sergey from Lithuania. He was 34 years old and on a tour from St. Petersburg via Moscow through Russia into Georgia and then onwards through Turkey and Greece back to Bulgaria, Rumania and Poland. All-in-all 10.000km. What a project!
He shared how hard it had been too cycle on Russian roads with zero shoulders and tons to trucks. When he was not touring he would work in Internet cafes until he had enough money put aside for the next trip. He mentioned that he found it very cool that people as old as me would still be touring by bike. I decided to take it as a compliment.
The climbing started about fifty kilometers before Tbilisi. It came sharply. After some beautiful descents the cars got fancier and I knew the capital of Georgia was getting closer. At one point my route turned to gravel and I had to push Rosinante through some muddy patches. I was not happy about that. Some creative cursing helped.
For a short while I had to cycle on a busy highway. One of the signs at the of the road said „Tehran 1.209km; Kuwait 1.549“. Wow, what a perspective to drive their!
I made a final break to prepare for the last push. I was all dirty and sweaty from the mud.
Then came the last ten kilometers into the city. Tbilisi traffic is chaotic. But once you accept that there are no rules, it actually becomes easier to navigate. I made it through without incident. I even enjoyed it, almost.
By six in the evening I was in the city. I went straight into my evening routine. Washing, charging, showering and then out to dinner.
Michael was already there. A great guy. We had met south of Erzurum in Turkey over Chai. He was traveling by motorcycle all the way from Zwickau and back. We had chatted for maybe 30min back then about the necessity to travel alone and loosely agreed to meet in Tbilisi once I arrived. He had spent a couple of days exploring the city and the surrounding area. It was good to see a familiar friendly face.
We exchanged a lot of stories from the road and compared our conclusions and open questions. He had some good ones. So did I.
Then Beate and Erwin arrived. They are good friends from home. They had been on a guided bus tour through the Caucasus and were also ending up in Tbilisi. Three weeks ago they had started in Baku and Beate had tried to organize a train ticket for me from Tiblisi. It didn’t work out back then but I appreciated the practical support. And now we were together. What a coincidence! There were big hugs and a lot of laughter. Maybe one or two beers too many. But it was absolutely worth it. It was a great evening.
Learnings of the day:
Coincidence and luck beat planning every time.
What happens on a trip like this cannot be planned. The more you try to plan it, the more you get in your own way. Over the years I have learned to go with the flow. To wait and see. To let things unfold on their own.
If you plan for something and it does not work out, that is fine. One door closes. Another one opens. I experience this every single day on these tours. And it never stops being magical.