2003 / Day 3

Wednesday, January 22, 2003
We got a late start today because everyone had coffee too late last night and ended up awake in the middle of the night. The usual breakfast satisfied us before attempting our first climbing day.

Today Rustem took us east to Doctor's mountain. Or something like that. It was amply named since you would require one if you made it to the top on your bike. This time we rode into the wind leaving us great expectations for the ride home. An overcast set in and again threatened to ruin our day. We would have none of it. Each town we passed through had its' own flavor.

After about 30 minutes on the road the fun was over. We took a left turn and the climbing began. At first they were small hills but then the switchbacks started. Unless you powered through these switchbacks you would most likely come to a complete hault. We kept climbing and more and more clothing started to come off.

We again started to run out of daylight and were force to decend. Rustem the Turkish rocket took off down the mountain seemingly without brakes. The rest of us go to the bottom of the mountain with our rims glowing red. At one point we were challenged by a peloton of goats. We didn't stand a chance since all of them were natural climbers from birth.

Back at the hotel we were presented with coffee by Sherin. Coooffeeee! Now we must decide what to do for dinner. Life is tough.