Steve's Cycling Blog

Sadly last night’s sleep was somewhat interrupted by power issues in the hotel which meant that the air-conditioning kept turning on and off as the power came and went, and for a while it also got pretty hot in our room without it on, so I didn’t get the sleep I’d hoped for.

It was also pretty warm and humid as we were getting up, 22ºC and already feeling sticky, hopefully heading ‘up’ today will at the very least dry the air out.

Stage 88 route notes

Thankfully breakfast was a TDA affair in the car park of the hotel rather than what they were offering yesterday. We were also delayed in leaving because it’s still pretty dark by the time we were done eating breakfast.

Out on the road and it was pretty muggy already and though the climbing’s supposed to start at 26km that’s from 300m which given we started at 40m means we’ve actually got a fair bit of climbing to do before then. To begin with we make our way across the plain we’d been on the day into Gonbad, then head into a gorge. It’s pretty scenic in here with all the rice fields in the river valley

River valley rice fields

The climbing continues and I’m finding it hard going today – usually this sort of road and terrain would be perfect for me, but I can’t seem to find my rhythm and to make matters worse the lower gears on my bike are jumping – I suspect that my derailleur has been knocked over the rest day and the hanger is bent out of alignment but I’m not game to try adjusting it now – that’s a job for Jordan this evening!

Into lunch and I’m glad for the break though it’s only been 44km! From lunch the road continues up getting steeper as it goes. The afternoon’s also heating up and for once there’s no wind which in the valley, in the sun, makes for a very hot ride.

I took a break at around 65km where a guy was water-blasting a truck and indicated to him that I wanted water-blasting too – he seemed hesitant at first, but eventually directed the water my way. Once he was sure he’d understood correctly he gave me a good soaking and found the whole thing hilarious – I was glad someone was having a good time 😉

I wasn’t much wetter having been sprayed with water, but at least it was cool and more comfortable than just being sweaty as I made my way up the last few kilometres of the day’s ride.

I stopped at a small cafe at the bottom of town for a cold drink but sadly no ice-cream. Further into the town there’s another building that looks like a store, but it’s currently closed – perhaps later.

Into camp and I was very pleased to be there – today’s been hot, hard and not really very enjoyable. Thankfully there are plenty of trees so I’ve been able to get my tent up somewhere which should stay shady through the afternoon.

We were trying to work out about the dates which are included on things here yesterday so I asked Fari this afternoon. This year is 1395, meaning that it is 1395 years since Muhammad left Bethlehem and moved the base of the Muslim religion to Mecca. The year begins on the spring equinox, and there are 12 months, The first six have 31 days, the next 5 have 30, and the final month has 28, 29 or 30 as required to get to the next spring equinox. So now we know 🙂

A local man who has beehives at the bottom of the hill we’re camped on has now brought us three gifts. He started with a comb of honey. When he was thanked for the gift he replied

The gift is from Allah as the bees are his, I am merely the conduit who collects Allah’s gift and conveys it to you.

He’s also brought us a syrup which is made from a wild berry – in Farsi it’s Azgil, I need to try and remember to look up what that might be next time I have an internet connection – whatever it might be it’s really tasty. Finally he brought a bag of home-grown tomatoes which are going into a salad for dinner.

The clouds have rolled in since we’ve ben in camp and the wind has also picked up which has dropped the temperature to a much more comfortable 25C.

From where we’re camped we can see the road up to the pass which is the first section of tomorrow’s ride so we know that there’s at least some climbing to be done! It also seems like it’s going to rain so I’d best go and close up my tent which currently has both sides open – I’m also now regretting having just rinsed out my LGCC shirt as it’s still pretty wet.

Later: In the end it didn’t rain more than a few spits, but it still continues to look like it’s going to, but everything got dry as the wind is really blowing now. I also had a good nap when I closed up my tent which actually made me feel somewhat better about the day.

After dinner Michael and I wandered back to the shop which was now open and selling ice-creams for dessert, and cake for supper, so it’s all good.

Fari wanted us to have a campfire so spent quite some time casting round for wood, even enlisting the assistance of the herdsman whose sheep passed through camp earlier to chop up what he’d collected. We’re now sitting round enjoying the fruits of his labours

Fari’s masterpiece camp fire

The thunder’s still rolling round and I’m tired so although it’s only just gone 2000 I’m off to sleep now 🙂

Riding data

View from my tent

The road up to the pass which we take tomorrow complete with street lights tonight (which seems weird given we’re way out in the middle of nowhere)