Wow it has been too long since I have sat down to write out a little bit about biking. I have running my new buddies ears off with my knowledge and amazing them with my..."Saddle Time" but something was off. Then I was looking at my bookmarks and realized I haven't visited my own blog let alone written anything in ages! That is a problem. I am currently in a situation right now that affords me the privilege to log miles on another continent.I am currently on a business trip to the country of Turkey. There are a lot of really neat things I have seen in this country as well as many horrid smells in the air, but I am told, "that is just Turkey." On my trip I was lucky enough to borrow a slightly used cyclocross bike from Brian down at EP/BC. I was struggling with the decision of what bike to bring over here with me. I was initially thinking road bike for sure but I was unsure of the road conditions, which was the end reason for bringing a cross bike. I also thought about bringing a mountain bike. I was doing some research and there is some decent mountain biking in the area I am located. The cross bike was the correct choice although on group rides I wish I was rolling on a 25-28c instead of a 36c with knobs.
My riding frequency has increased while I am here. I am averaging 35 miles when I head out. Most group rides I go on are 45+ miles. My longest ride here so far was a 55 mile day. I am aiming to do at least a 65 mile day at the least and maybe even a century before I leave. If I take on the 100 miles I may have to borrow a set of road tires from a buddy I met here. Also besides the smells like I had mentioned before there are also a ton of stray animals here. The stray dogs have formed packs and they take their territory along the roads very serious. I have already had a run in with a dog that left one spoke bent bad and many others really loose and messed up. I took the bike down to the LBS here and Ibo re-laced both wheels with new nipples, spokes, and rebuilt the hubs for $60...can't beat that! He did a quality good too!
There will be more posts to come, biking doesn't take up all my free time so I will fill some of it by writing to you guys, whoever you may be. Thanks for reading, someone is cause my visit numbers keep climbing...Thanks Again!
