It was another day that felt like a transition day and like yesterday, was a game of three halves. (I won’t get tired of that). At least it was a short day.
I was immediately onto the busy road after only 500m from the hotel. It was pretty ugly but I knew it wouldn’t be long. The whole day was only 50kms and the highlight was riding around the bay on entry to Izmir.
Izmir is a big place, and by the time I was in Cigli in the far outskirts, it felt like I was already in a big city. I missed a turn there, but backtracked to get off the busy road and make my way to a bike path that would take me for 20kms around the bay and into Izmir.
I don’t remember Izmir from forty years ago but now there are certainly quite a few tourists along with the requisite restaurants, bars and Irish pubs that no Mediterranean holiday would be complete without 😁. From that, you can imply that I didn’t like it.
I needed Izmir though.
My data had run out on my Turkish esim even though it had told me that I had plenty left. So I needed to find some wifi in order to buy more. I found a restaurant that obliged and sat down for lunch, bought more data and was off.
I was going to be too early, so I decided to sample one of Izmir’s coffee shops on the way out of town.
I found a place that did an absolutely brilliant macchiato and the nice lady talked me into a piece of their chocolate cheesecake of which she was super proud. The coffee, it turned out, had won awards in Germany but I think the cheesecake deserved more recognition.
It was beautiful. Never had chocolate cheesecake before and this one was so rich that I probably won’t do it ever again. I couldn’t finish the piece. That’s the first cheesecake that has ever defeated me and I felt like I’d let down cyclists the world over, by not being able to polish it off.
I had less than twenty kms to go and was feeling strangely lethargic after a combined caffeine and sugar hit. It was also breathlessly hot, along with a steep climb and some confusing streets as I left town.
The busy road I wanted to take couldn’t be accessed from the road I was on, but a bit of careful footpath riding, exit crossing, and kerb jumping meant that I could join my road of choice and avoid a steep descent immediately followed by a steep ascent. I really am getting lazy as the holiday approaches.
The road was really busy and I rode on the far right lane that was full of local minibuses stopping haphazardly to pick up passengers and constantly hurrying 3d,. The heat was ok as long as I was moving, but it was unbearable when I was stopped at traffic lights.
I found the hotel which was in a huge area of roadside shops. There were lots of high-end car dealers and expensive shops, so I ended up eating in a Foodcourt of a shopping mall. I simply didn’t see any real alternative, but at least it had airconditioning.
Only one day to Kusadasi.