Kellen Smetana
As you saw from the last post, Cory and I had plenty of fun with the Bruns’ in our short time riding with them through Georgia, but as Cory mentioned it was time for us to part ways with Theo and begin our push to Istanbul. Not enough can be said about the man who was able to drag us along to Bukhara and Khiva on our sickest days, use his Russian to secure a free night’s stay just about every evening, and pump out enough positive attitude and jokes to make the Kyzylkum Desert a fun experience. Riding with Theo through Central Asia was marvelous. It’s too bad he’s taking the northern route home through Russia rather than joining us on the south side of the Black Sea, else I’m sure there would be plenty more laughs and stories to be had. He will certainly be missed dearly.
As you saw from the last post, Cory and I had plenty of fun with the Bruns’ in our short time riding with them through Georgia, but as Cory mentioned it was time for us to part ways with Theo and begin our push to Istanbul. Not enough can be said about the man who was able to drag us along to Bukhara and Khiva on our sickest days, use his Russian to secure a free night’s stay just about every evening, and pump out enough positive attitude and jokes to make the Kyzylkum Desert a fun experience. Riding with Theo through Central Asia was marvelous. It’s too bad he’s taking the northern route home through Russia rather than joining us on the south side of the Black Sea, else I’m sure there would be plenty more laughs and stories to be had. He will certainly be missed dearly.
One of the last things Theo allowed us was the use of his beard trimmer. I know this will disappoint some of you back home – especially those who have already donned me with the new nickname “TK” (Ted Kaczynski) for my gruff look – but I had to take the facial hair down a notch. Don’t worry, it’s still going strong and will be back in full force soon enough; for the time being, however, I look a little more like a squeaky clean cycle-tourist than a roving Unabomber.
Trimmed beards and all, Cory and I were ready to take on Georgia – a country that always seems to require further explanation as not being home to peaches, Coca Cola, and the Bulldogs football team. I will tell you, though, that this is an absolutely amazing country that will be put in the heavyweight category with Kyrgyzstan and China battling for top spot when all is said and done. We visited excellent cities like the medieval mountaintop Signaghi, charming capital Tbilisi, and Black Sea hotspot Batumi. The people were very nice (no aerial apple cores or cucumbers) and the riding was superb. We coasted through valleys of vineyards, past monasteries on hillsides, through mountains of thick green forest, and right along next to old Roman forts. And we barely even scratched the surface in our week’s traverse; I’ll have to add a return trip to the grand to-do list.
Tbilisi is now my favorite city of the trip (I know, the stats are a little behind), trumping Signaghi we visited the day before. Cory and my first day as a dynamic duo riding between the two was one of the prettiest. We hopped along several scenic mountaintop towns like Signaghi before descending through an amber and green valley of vineyards and wheat fields and finally finished in Tbilisi, a city built along a deep river gorge. As is the case with many of our “rest days” recently, we spent the first 75% of it fixing the bikes. Fortunately, we found another velotrek where we were able to remedy all our mechanical ailments: spokes, brakes, wheels, and tires. Two kids loitering there even offered to lead us across the city to the one bike shop where I could buy replacement tubes. It must have been a funny sight to watch us struggle exhausted up the hills and across the city on our bikes following two kids who were bouncing off walls (literally) as they BMX’ed from one side of the street to another.
Everything fixed, we went out to explore the city and were so much in awe that we decided to spend most of the next day there as well. People were out and about everywhere, there were beautiful streets, old fortresses and churches strewn throughout, and the old quarter was a warren of cobblestone alleys where we could have easily spent a day getting lost. We loved it – number one so far and it will be a tough one to dethrone. Alas, we had to keep on keepin’ on; Turkey was waiting.
In our first few days west of Tbilisi we climbed through dark green hills and up one mountain pass. As it was Cory’s first pass, I was actually rather pleased when he got to have the full experience of a nasty mountain storm blow in just as we peaked.
That pleasure lasted for about twenty seconds. As we started going down the misty rain turned into a full deluge and very soon we were getting pelted with gumball-sized hail. I immediately pulled off the road to “hide” under a tree, which did not provide any shelter as my helmet and back continued to take the full brunt of the falling ice. Cars and trucks were parked every which way and the rain was such that the road had turned into a full mudslide complete with fist-sized rocks and gushing water. Cory rounded the turn a minute behind and I shouted to him to come join me off near the trees. By this point, however, there was a foot-and-a-half-deep river of water between me and the road. I could see him laughing through the hail at the thought of marching through that to join me in my miserable shelter. He looked around and was lucky enough to spot a nearby tunnel under construction. I picked up my bike as much as I could and quickly forded the mudslide to join him in the tunnel with shoes oozing mud and water.
I entered the tunnel laughing, “That was INSANE. I guess I’m not so pleased about that storm any more… How are you doing?” Cory responded, “Oh, I was basking in it! You’ve got to love that part of the experience.” True words spoken true. The hail subsided, but the downpour continued. We both basked in it while we waited out the storm in the tunnel and danced about to stay warm. After an hour the rain eventually lightened and police crews arrived to guide the now parking-lot of traffic along the rock-strewn road. Adequately marinated in mud and water, we carried on downhill through the valley. The rain continued through the evening and we slept underneath a roadside mountain restaurant for shelter. The first hailstorm and mudslide of the trip where quite an experience. We had a good laugh reminiscing on it later and I’m sure we will for a long time.
I entered the tunnel laughing, “That was INSANE. I guess I’m not so pleased about that storm any more… How are you doing?” Cory responded, “Oh, I was basking in it! You’ve got to love that part of the experience.” True words spoken true. The hail subsided, but the downpour continued. We both basked in it while we waited out the storm in the tunnel and danced about to stay warm. After an hour the rain eventually lightened and police crews arrived to guide the now parking-lot of traffic along the rock-strewn road. Adequately marinated in mud and water, we carried on downhill through the valley. The rain continued through the evening and we slept underneath a roadside mountain restaurant for shelter. The first hailstorm and mudslide of the trip where quite an experience. We had a good laugh reminiscing on it later and I’m sure we will for a long time.
A zillion times throughout the trip, people have asked where we are from. “America,” I respond, and if I feel like a longer conversation I tell them Detroit. Given Detroit’s less-than-stellar reputation in the states, it’s pretty funny to see people’s reaction abroad. In Georgia, as in pretty-much every other country, anyone under the age of 30 thinks it is the coolest city on the planet. I have attributed 98% of that to the fact that Eminem is from Detroit (not sure yet on the last 2%). “Oooh, Eminem!” or “Oooh, 8 Miele! [8 Mile]” are usually the reactions we get (I also love telling them I grew up on 9 Mile). My favorite reactions, though, are the more obscure references: “Oooh, Robocop!” or “Oooh, Beverly Hills Cop!” If Detroit wants to work on its image, it’s certainly got quite the head start on other American cities abroad.
Basking in the hailstorm and Motown praises, we made it to the Black Sea and spent a half-rest day in the lovely town of Batumi. The final day in Georgia held a big milestone for me – I joined the five-figure club with 10,000km on the trip! Many kilometers down and many more to go. The next day we rolled into Turkey to ride the Black Sea coast for 1500km until we reach Istanbul and the end of Asia.
Basking in the hailstorm and Motown praises, we made it to the Black Sea and spent a half-rest day in the lovely town of Batumi. The final day in Georgia held a big milestone for me – I joined the five-figure club with 10,000km on the trip! Many kilometers down and many more to go. The next day we rolled into Turkey to ride the Black Sea coast for 1500km until we reach Istanbul and the end of Asia.