Another Rustem special.
There were climbs and some super descents.
Tom rides above Kalkan.
Gary with the heart of Kalkan in the background.
A local cay patron.
We arrive at Patara.
The ruins are just amazing.
The ruler of Patara.
We had to remove clay from our cleats after a brave attempt to get a closer look at the Amphitheater
The dessert car is open for business. Baklava anyone?
A beautiful sunset as we get closer to Kas.
The famous Adana kebaps (pronounced Kabob).
A Deeper Look | The Ruins of Patara
Day 7
As usual, Rustem cooked up a great breakfast. You've gotta love it. There was quite a bit of rain last night so we thought the winds may be a bit high (considering our last experience to Kalkan). It was a bit windy but we keep a good tempo and made it in 1.5 hours instead of 3.
We didn't stop at Kalkan but peddled on to our desired destination - Patara. Before we left Kalkan we stopped for some cay and a quick snack (Pop Keks ...yeah). There was quite a decent into Patara. Immediately we thought "what goes down must go up".
The ruins at Patara were breath-taking. It was amazing to stand in the middle of everything and touch the massive stones. We tried to ride to the Amphitheater, but the road was washed out and extremely muddy. We made a valid attempt, but time was running out and we still 50 km to ride to get home.
The climb out of Patara was brutal. It was a 15+ percent grade with switch backs. It didn't help that my cleats were clogged with mud and could unclip at any moment. We stopped one more time at the border of Kalkan for a cay before some fast big-ring riding back to the hotel (nice tailwind).
All in all it was a 4+ hour ride with approximately 2 hours of climbing. We were starving when we arrived back in Kas and Adana Kebabs in a local restaurant did the trick. We had a unanimous vote for a rest day tomorrow.
