The Boys (and Girls) are back in Town

Today’s stage took us from Fred’s Wedding Party to Duzce – a small town inland from the Black Sea. This meant a night in a hotel, soft beds and hot showers which for some (after two nights under canvas) were a welcome relief. For everyone it meant the special bonus of Miles and Hatice having access to a full kitchen and the result was a Kebab extravaganza.

We are now well away from Istanbul which after the bombings is probably no bad thing. The only scrape we have had so far has been on Steven’s chin – quite a nasty one after a slide off the bike but nothing a few butterfly stitches couldn’t fix.

There were a couple of hills again today but the highlight of the 116km had to be the lunchtime swim. We won’t be seeing the beach again for a few days as we are cutting across the base of the small hump on the coast that is home to Sinop, so quite a few riders took advantage (although Joust was the only one to go ‘Dutch/Au Natural’).

Dan now has the Duck after paying $5 dollars for a razor when he had been asked for only 5 cents but he says it’s worth its weight in gold!

Punctures: 3 today, total 8

Days to go: 107