I was hoping to feel refreshed after our rest day in Smolyan and tackle one last day of climbing. Unfortunately today was painful, starting off with some intense stomach cramps, but I was determined to ride regardless. The first 10km were fine, I just winced and grit my teeth when my stomach started turning. It … Continue reading EU Day 31: Riding Smolyan (BUL) to Dospat (BUL)
EU Stage 02: Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Romania and Croatia
EU Day 30: Smolyan, rest day
I woke up this morning with extremely sore abs, it hurt to sit up in bed, so I rolled over and ate the left over chocolate on the bedside table. Leo heard the wrapper crackle, pointed at me and said "chocolate fiend" then went back to sleep. Breakfast was essentially the same, although the waitress … Continue reading EU Day 30: Smolyan, rest day
EU Day 29: Riding Kirkovo (BUL) to Smolyan (BUL)
This was the last ride for stage 4, before our rest day in Smolyan, a town near the Rhodope Mountains. We were amped up and ready rumble, each with our own snacks, frozen water bottles and two designated stop points along the way. Zlatograd was a very pretty town, with plenty of locals out and … Continue reading EU Day 29: Riding Kirkovo (BUL) to Smolyan (BUL)
EU Day 28: Riding Krumovgrad (BUL) to Kirkovo (BUL)
After an excellent night of rest, we were prepared for today's ride, which was half the distance as yesterday's ride. We had some omelettes for breakfast and briefly investigated town before we headed off. It seemed odd that parts of the town were really nice but parts of it were abandoned or really run down. … Continue reading EU Day 28: Riding Krumovgrad (BUL) to Kirkovo (BUL)
EU Day 27: Riding Edirne (TUR) to Krumovgrad (BUL)
Today's ride had some interesting phases, at the start the heat scorched us as we cycled through sunflower fields. But it didn't matter because we were enjoying the slower country pace. At the 44km mark it was lunch time and we were feeling quite content that we were almost half way there and doing relatively … Continue reading EU Day 27: Riding Edirne (TUR) to Krumovgrad (BUL)
EU Day 25-26: Edirne
After yesterday's ride, we were fatigued and hyped up at the same time and didn't sleep until 3am. Both of us found Istanbul uncomfortable and stressful for different reasons. For Leo, he had just returned from volunteering for a year in Tonga (a tiny island in the Pacific) and I've been leisurely cruising and touring … Continue reading EU Day 25-26: Edirne
EU Day 22-23: Flying to Istanbul
I was looking forward to seeing Leo, we had an adventurous 2500km of eastern Europe to cover and so many memories and stories to create along the way. Unfortunately his journey didn't start off very well, none of his luggage arrived and it was impossible to get any clear answers from the airline or luggage … Continue reading EU Day 22-23: Flying to Istanbul
EU Day 24: Riding Istanbul (TUR) to Selimpasa (TUR)
Our first scheduled ride day started off with a lot of pessimism, after three days of waiting and hours at the airport, we didn't think Leo's bags would show up. We went to the airport one last time, which takes at least an hour each way and we were told that one of the couriers … Continue reading EU Day 24: Riding Istanbul (TUR) to Selimpasa (TUR)
Jenny on Wheels 