Another Perfect Ending

The day did not appear to be the perfect ending to this trip. It had rained throughout the night and was still raining in the morning when we awoke. We had planned a moderately hard ride to Demre, the home of Noel Baba (Santa Claus). The heavy rain detered our plans.

We went out for breakfast at a fairly leisurely pace. A laziness one would expect when it's raining and their is nothing in particular to be done. After our cay, Turkish coffee and toast, the rain let up a bit and Corey, Brian and Tom decided to give it a go. Corey, the map master, planned a nice loop that incorporated a climb that we had descended previously. We geared up and hit the road. The rain was still at bay.

Tom blew a rear tire before he got out of town, but Paul was going out for a run. He passed Tom and learned of his perdicament and then bumped into Corey who was warming up his legs in town. Corey found Tom and provided the pump to get the tire back up to full pressure.

The ride started on the 11 km climb. Corey and Tom caught up with Brian at the top of the climb and the adventure on new roads began. The rain had stopped but it was still cold. As we descended on a new road we were in a mist that engulfed the entire range and valley. As the descent reached have point, the mist openned up and we had a full view of the valley. Absolutely breath-taking. It was sort of like the scene from the Wizard of Oz when the movie turned from black and white to color. The roads were narrow and littered with switchbacks. We eventually looped our way around and started up the climb we had set out for. It was definitely hard with our legs tired from 2 hard weeks of riding. At the top we began our last descent into Kas. Brian and Corey decided to make it a race with Brian taking it at the line. Lesson: never take your eye off of a sprinter on a downhill finish.

Since we missed Rustem's birthday on Feb 28th.(he didn't tell anyone). We setup a surprise for him. First we took him out to one of his favorite restaurants and then to Nur for a pre-arranged birthday cake. We sang happy birthday and sat for some cay, coffee and this amazing pistacio and chocolate cake. Rustem explained the courtship customs of the Turkish people.

We will spend some time packing tonight. Tomorrow we leave for Antalya and then fly to Istanbul to start our return trip. Corey and Tom may go out for a short ride in the morning, but for the most part, we are done. Thank you for following along with us. We appreciate the support and comments. Next year it is your turn to enjoy this beautiful country. We'll see you back in the states. Enjoy a recap of pictures from our trip.