Steve's Cycling Blog

Not a great nights sleep was had – too many dogs barking, trucks arriving and general movement on the road to make for anything particularly restful. It also got surprisingly cool, to the point that I needed a second layer on as I was getting ready!

Because ‘reasons’ we also got scrambled eggs which is a firm favourite of mine and preferable to boiled eggs or even porridge.

Stage 81 route notes

Out on the road and the wind was already making itself felt right in our faces. Erwin left right behind me and sat on my wheel through till 10km when we caught Charlie and he jumped on the back as well. By 20km we’d caught Grant and from there till lunch he and I took turns pulling our little group along, though by the time we got there Charlie and Erwin were finding the pace in the wind tough going.

The countryside remains as uninspiring as it’s been for the last several days – scrub and sand punctuated by stretches of irrigated land growing cotton with the occasional village added in. Mid-morning the mountain range which separates Turkmenistan from Iran began to appear out of the haze and by the afternoon we were following it to our left.

The wind hadn’t been a direct headwind through the morning, but from lunch the road swung directly north west and consequently put the increasingly strong wind directly at us. Coupled with the increasing heat the after lunch ride was decidedly unpleasant!

By 95km we were hot, tired and barely managing 18 km/h into the wind when we discovered a bonus coke stop which wasn’t in the route notes but was there on the side of the road with refrigerated drinks and ice-cream! A definite bonus in a pretty uncomfortable ride.

We stopped again at the advertised 109km coke stop and in the end spent the best part of an hour sitting in the shade outside enjoying more ice cream and cold drinks. This was a somewhat out-of-character move for us – so much so that the crew in camp were genuinely worried that something had happened to one of us when we hadn’t arrived by the time they’d been expecting us.

The last 6km went by very quickly and we arrived a short time later at camp which is in the car park of the historic ruined city of Abyvert.

Again we were blessed with a cold drink delivery in camp later i the afternoon as the lunch van had to go back to pick up a couple of riders who had had enough and were waiting to be collected so needed to pass the coke stop again. BBQ chicken for dinner tonight which always goes down well.

I’m also going to have to do some shopping in Ashgabat tomorrow for a long-sleeved shirt – apparently this is essential attire for collecting my Iranian visa and for crossing the border into Iran. I think that I shall go with a white cotton business shirt and join the Gentleman’s Cycling Club. One of our number Ron has cycled in a white long-sleeved shirt since day one, and has reported that it’s very cool so Michael got himself a shirt in Samarkand (and confirms that it’s excellent) so with two of them similarly dressed the GCC was born.

I’ve just taken a wander round the ruins now that it’s cooled down some. They rate as ‘interesting’ but certainly not worth an specific trip here to visit them!

I was considering sleeping under the stars but have decided to put my tent up after recalling how cool it was this morning and now that the sun has set I think it’s time for bed.

Riding data

View from my tent

Will on the camp horizon