This is for all the people out there that are curious what Katie does when we have a couple of days off the bike here it is:
Bergama Celebrations
After our random morning at the Bergama Athena Pensiyon it was time for the official celebrations to begin. First stop, a local Cay house where Erdal had organized cyclists from Dikili, Bergama, and Soma to come meet us, ask questions, and hang out. Balloons were hung, Cay was had, and cake was eaten. In Turkish […]
At Athena Pensiyon Again
Katie and I had just cycled into Bergama (where I proposed in 2012) to meet Erdal and the Bergama/Soma cycling community for a small celebration. We decided to arrive a couple of hours earlier so we could reminisce about the places we had eaten at blah blah, but our plans (as usual) quickly changed when […]
Not Lost in Translation
As previously mentioned, cycling Turkey has been more about meeting people and experiencing the culture, than long days on the bike. Canakkale was no exception. Thanks to our new friends Kerem & Sevda whom we met at the Bartin Bike Festival, we had been put in touch with another cyclist Halil who in turn offered […]
The Bartin Biskilet Hostpital Tour
It was the last day of the Bartin bicycle festival. My front tire had been showing visible signs of wear and tear since Trabzon similar to what I had dealt with in Albania 2009, but I made the judgment call that since there was only 40km to ride that day it would make it. Wrong […]
Our 2014 Pamirs Video
Cycling the Pamir Highway 2014 captured in a 5 minute video. View pictures and footage of our 13 days ride from Khorog to Murghab and then back into Kyrgzstan finally finishing in Osd. An epic cycle adventure that everyone should do.
One Last Big Climb in Georgia
After our massive thunderstorm and flash flood, see the video here, we were up and ready to tackle not only our last big climb of the trip but our last dirt road. In like the roads of China and the Pamirs, this dirt road was actually in pretty good shape, at least it was on […]
Nothing Like a Flash Flood
I had the idea of crossing to the other side where I could see some nice trees to pitch our tent under for shade and the river, though running fast, wasn’t much higher my calves, so Katie and I pushed our bikes through. Thunder, lightning, rain and hail went on for more than an hour […]
What is this Licorice Stuff?
OK, so back in 2009 when I first rode to Vardzia with my friends Tibbs and Irish Tom we were given this kind of fruit roll-up licorice tasting goodness. I had been talking about this stuff to Katie for weeks before we got to Georgia and had only ever seen it in a tiny little […]
RIP Crazy Creek
I am sure you have heard Katie and I go on and on about how great our camping chairs are (Crazy Creeks). Every cycle tourist that has camped with us has fallen in love with them too, so it is with sad news I have to say goodbye to mine. We had just stopped in […]
Turkey! Finally!
It has been called our reward country because we know what it has to offer, amazing food and amazing people. We cycled China, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan for the sheer beauty and difficulty of those countries. Turkey, on the other hand, we are cycling because of the food! There will be no more crazy blog posts […]
Biy Ordo Guesthouse in Osh Krygyzstan
If you are travelling in Kyrgyzstan, plan to go to Osh and want to stay somewhere cheap, do yourself a favor and choose Biy Ordo over the Osh Guesthouse. I won’t get into why the Osh Guesthouse should be last on your list. Instead here are a few reasons why Biy Ordo should be first. […]
Sary Tash to Osh. The End of the Road
If we thought the Pamir highway ended as we crossed back into Kyrgyzstan we were wrong. Sary Tash to Osh was less than 200km and we thought we could knock out 150-160km in one day, especially since 80km of it was downhill. This would get us super close to Osh and give us an easy […]
When Things Go Bad in the Pamirs
We were headed for the start of the biggest pass (4665m) with the plan to camp around 4000 meters. We had just resupplied in Murgab, the only real town along the Pamirs so dinner would not consist of 4 day old naan bread. The scenery in this area was literally out of this world with […]
Camping with the Kims
Back in May I was tagged in a post in the Warm Showers Facebook Group. It turned out that a Korean couple had started cycling in Australia and had just made it to the border of China/Kazakhstan. At the time we were only a couple of weeks behind them. Obviously Katie and I took this […]
Fruit Picking in the Stans
One of Katie’s favorite past times these past few months has been “guerilla shopping” or how I like to put it, acting like a giraffe. There have been plenty of mulberry and apricot fruit trees on the roads here in Kyrgyzstan & Tajikistan which have led to Katie doing some off the bike midday stretching. […]
Getting from Dushanbe to Kakaikhum by Jeep
Since we had to wait so long for our GBAO permits, we only had 14 days left on our visas, which meant we had to fast forward a bit of the Pamir. We decided to get a ride with Kieran and Marley to Kalaikhum, a city 390km from Dushanbe (South Road distance). And since we […]
Bishkek to Osk. The People on the Road
There is only one real main road from Bishkek to Osh so it was only a matter of time before we met other cycle tourists along the way. After all the Stans are a bottle neck for travelers and cyclists alike stuck waiting for visas or moving to the next city to wait for yet […]
Radio Silence Over
Hey folks, We are back on the map after a few weeks of solitude in the Pamirs, Tajikistan. Katie and I are furiously editing photos and writing stories before jumping back on the bikes and heading for Bishkek. Stay tuned for more adventures from the road that include yet another random strangers home-stay, frustrations with […]
Video: Tianshan Winter Wonderland
One last “we are freakin cold” video from China