The usual morning routine today and I was on the road as soon as it was safe to be riding in the hope that I could get the 140km done before the real heat of the day – somewhat optimistic given that we couldn’t leave till nearly 0600 and the heat arrives around 1000, but if we’d had yesterday’s tailwind again it was theoretically possible!
Unfortunately the wind arrived earlier than ideal, and initially from the wrong direction, though it wasn’t too strong.
Clearly the original plan for this road had been a dual carriage way however for much of the length only one of them ever got sealed and is used for both directions, however for about 25km this morning the second carriage way was sealed, but currently unused.
We decided that made it the largest cycle path in the world and took advantage of the lack of traffic – Turkmen drivers are very considerate in terms of moving over to give us space to ride, but out here in the desert they drive fast – very fast in some cases – so even with a good few metres of clearance you really feel them coming past.
The other thing we’ve noticed about the Turkmen people is that they are very friendly – as much as the Uzbek people – but they are much less aggressive in their friendliness. The Uzbeks are very loud and insistent with their tooting and whistling, and will continue to do so until you explicitly acknowledge each and every one of them where as the Turkmens seem to be content to wave, or perhaps toot once.
The morning ticked over reasonably well and I was in to lunch in reasonable time where I did my usual of taking a reasonable break – by then it was already damn hot and 15 minutes either way wasn’t going to make much difference to the temperature.
From lunch to camp seemed like harder going, I think mostly because the road continued to deteriorate which makes things slower and less enjoyable. I stopped for an ice-cream and cold drink at 95km but from there to camp there was pretty much nothing but desert to be seen.
Into camp and we’re set up at another truck stop, though this is somewhat ‘more’ than last nights with a fence round a huge compound and a decent sized restaurant at one side. The good news is that the restaurant has cold drinks, and have just brought in a delivery of beer which is now in the freezer for later consumption.
There are also far more trees including a line of tree we’re setting up tents under, and those around the restaurant terrace where we’re currently whiling away the afternoon staying out of the sun.
Later: BBQ chicken for dinner tonight which is a definite favourite meal amongst those which we get regularly and a significant step up from last night’s fairly bland pasta (in Mark’s defence it had been a long day getting across the border and into camp, so it was hardly surprising that it was a simple meal).
My beer was less satisfying than I’d hoped after over two weeks since I’d had one – despite being in the freezer for quite some time it wasn’t terribly cold and didn’t really have a lot of flavour to it.
The full moon’s just come up, and the temperature is finally starting to drop so it’s time to go and get things sorted in my tent ready for tomorrow morning and see about some sleep.
Riding data
View from my tent
Dusk through the fence from my tent
Definitely my favourite blog title so far!