My alarm rings at 6:00 am. It’s quiet at the petrol station as I quickly pack up my things and sit in front of the petrol station. There’s no owner in sight, not for miles. Breakfast is a mix of Snickers, jelly sweets, and whatever else I can find in my pockets. I’ve been resting here for ten hours but haven’t really recovered – only four hours of sleep. How long should I wait here in case someone shows up? Or should I start walking towards the next town? It’s about 40 kilometers to Serres, so I know I’ll be on foot for hours.Then, at 7:00 am, a car pulls into the station. Hope. The owner steps out, greets me with a friendly “kalimera,” and understands my problem immediately when I show him my tire. He unlocks the station and grabs the compressor. Now I see why I couldn’t inflate my tires last night. Problem solved in two minutes, and I’m happily back on my road bike. It feels surreal that I waited so long for a bit of air. Note to self: I need a reliable pump – and maybe even a backup. Waiting ten hours was frustrating, but if this had happened elsewhere on the route, it might have ended my race. When I reach Serres, I buy two new pumps and a few extra tubes.
Ahead lies Parcours 4 with its challenging gravel, and I want to be ready for anything. Some riders have had six or seven flats in that section alone. I had hoped to enjoy a proper Greek meal, or at least a Greek salad, but those plans are now canceled. I need to make up for lost time. Instead, I settle for rice-stuffed vine leaves and beans in tomato sauce from a petrol station. By 3:00 pm, I finally reach the sea. I’ve been looking forward to this for so long, and the kilometres start to feel effortless again. I really want to cycle all the way to Turkey today.
After midnight, I cross the border, officially leaving the EU. Even though it's night, it's super busy and the border crossing is huge. On the Turkish side, I ride on a motorway-like road on the emergency lane. It's big enough to make you feel safe. By 3:00 am, I’m still not tired, but I decide it’s smarter to look for a place to sleep. Turning off the main road, I head into a small village, only to be met by large dogs appearing from all directions. Turkish dogs are much bigger than the ones I encountered in the Balkans! I quickly turn back and stick to the main road.
Around 4:00 am in the morning, I reach a Shell station, where two other riders are asleep. Even though it's so hot during the day, it's now super cold. My Garmin shows less than 10 degrees. In Kesan, I come across a fenced basketball court – a perfect, dog-safe spot to sleep. The night is short; I allow myself just 1.5 hours of sleep before setting off again. Petrol stations have been a constant during this race, but in the last 24 hours, they’ve played a very big part.
distance // 372 km
elevation // 2.273 m
moving time // 17:23 h
break time // 3:41 h
sleep duration night before // 4:00 h
location // petrol station
highlight // the sea
problems // none
The entire route is compiled in a collection on Komoot. You can also find the individual stages of the race on Strava!
Komoot: Joschka Völkel Strava: Joschka Völkel Instagram: @joschka_voelkel
by Reasonable-Cup-5324
1 Comment
Flipped through the photos on one of the other posts and stopped to read this one because I loved the orange stand at the coffee window with identically perfectly sized oranges it in.