Turkiye Black Sea Coast

Down the Black Sea coast the nature of the ride has changed markedly. The only route is the highway squeezed between Black Sea Coast and the Pontic mountains rearing immediately up from the coast. Towns are also squashed into the mountain slopes and isolated from the sea by the highway barriers. No chance here for Mediterranean style villages on the sea shore. The only access is steep steel stairways across the highway or dark overgrown underpasses. Options for camping have been limited, so cheap Otels have been the base for the last few days. Fortunately the summer season has all but ended so room rates are typically halved.

Having said that the highway is not too busy and verges are a full lane for cycling, every town has good cycleway around the seafront so cycling has been comfortable and safe. That is apart from the many tunnels where the noise level is intense. Fortunately many have service road by passes around the seaward side, so I have managed to avoid the longer tunnels. With almost constant tail wind and flat surfaces the rides have been a cruise, with interruptions only caused by great looking cafes.

Riding the coast is a little unnerving knowing that across on the northern shore the Ukraine war is raging. This coast is an escape for many Russian tourists on late summer vacations. I was heartened to meet a Russian immigrant from the Far East Kamchatka Peninsular (home of the Siberian tiger). He had left Russia in response to the war - despite being as far away the trouble as it is possible to get in Russia.  We met a couple of times on the road as he headed back to his new home in Batumi.

The coast has been fascinatingly busy. Fleets of trawlers line the horizon. A large number of fish farms also dot the coast.  Surprisingly many produce trout, I discovered that the sea has relatively low saline levels allowing trout to thrive. Seafront villages constantly line the route, houses perched high up the sides of the steep slopes. Narrow streets and colourful bazaars clammer for attention. Findik (hazelnuts) dry in great areas of every car park, a huge export market for Turkey.

Highway riding and hotel accomodation has limited interaction along the way. I have become a bicycle tourist, not enough Turkish for decent conversation so I am looking forward to my route ahead on smaller roads with a chance to choose a campsite in some beautiful spot and people more disconnected from their phones

Thousands of trucks line the route waiting to cross the Georgia border

Beautiful mosques are a feature of every town

Heading into Gorele

Classical modern architecture - complemented by the not-so-modern

Cycleways through every town