Discovering Turkey and Georgia

Over the years I accumulated quite a lot of bicycle stuff. All very useful. But there are a few items which are simply brilliant.👌  Ottolock - an ideal lightweight lock. And long! Bike phone holder bone - it doesn't brake when cycling offroad! Arkel panniers - super light, small and no plastic clips which can brake.  My cycling shirt/blouse - in warm climates I always buy a cheap, airy, cotton blouse with sleeves to protect me from the sun. In this model I cut off the cuffs to make it more airy 😀

The tradition of an 'inventory' at the end of a trip is being continued.  Kilometers cycled : 1350 km Elevation gained : 13.000 m Cycling days : 25 Nights in a tent: 6 Warmshower nights: 4 My favourite food: grilled eggplant with walnuts Bike problems: 0 Number of times I demounted my bike (and packed it in a bike boxes) : 3 Days with rain: 1 Lowest temperature : 3 °C Highest temperature: 30 °C Number of dog 'attacks' : 5 (but 85% of the dogs were very clingy) Number of döner I ate : 1

The last day in Georgia. Earlier than intended I will leave Georgia. My knee doesn't like climbing high mountains at the moment. However, I came for the mountains... As I'm not able to do that, I decided to stop. Instead, I'll fly back to Germany and cycle from there to Antwerp. Finishing a bike trip at your front door just feels the best - even if the trip turned out differently. I stayed at Ray's home for the last night in Georgia, via Warmshowers. He's cycled quite a bit of the world and is now staying in Georgia for a while.  It was great staying with him and made the whole organisation of the flight much easier.  Flying with a bike is always the same hassle: searching for a cardboard bike box, getting tape and air bubble foil and organize a taxi to the airport. Well, bike boxes are very rare here. 'By accident', Ray had a spare box of an earlier Warmshower guest. Lucky me :-) Getting the rest was no problem at the bazaar... Next ...