Two hours time difference isn't much in the global scheme of things but as a man I reserve the right to jet lag, at least until Mid morning.
The Iskele 'open tennis championships' were in full swing at 8am under my window. It makes a real change from the traffic noise at 8am back in the uk.
Opening one eye slowly like a little boy on Christmas morning , my new bike lay in pieces on the floor beside me. Finally it was time to unpack and build up the bike.
On previous trips out here I have ridden Celeste, my bianchi c2c via nirone alu carb. This time however I'm going to be riding my new Cube GTC Agree race 2014 bike. Celeste is taking a well earned rest having served me well on previous trips and all summer in the uk.
I'm still undecided on a name for my new bike. The obvious one is Rubic ( Rubic cube, get it?) I will see if the name sticks and suits its charachter, yes , all bikes have thier own character!
So for now, Rubic, it is.
Re building Rubic took a while. I was very careful to avoid loosing anything or assembling him while in cock up mode. I couldn't see any damage after the flight so all is looking good to go.
So far God Garmin is taking his time finding the orbitting satellite marked Northern Cyprus. Images of a goat in a spacesuit flash through my head. As with most things out here, it will happen 'one day'!
Remarkably I seem to have forgotten absolutly nothing, and it all fitted into the bike bag, bike, clothes, shoes, washkit ( for the weekends) , the lot!
I've got time here, so today is about getting the kit sorted, adjusting to the heat and time difference and generally slobbing out.
Slobbing out is a technical term used by 'pro cyclists of the highest calibre', such as me, for pre ride preparation. It's of course critical for toned Herculean athletes to get in optimum shape, and fine tune and tweak everything at least 20 times before donning lycra and venturing out to boldly go where some have been before.
It's time for me to get real, get out and get riding...
several hours later,,,,
right then, best laid plans and all that. I find my self 'trapped' at the resort for this afternoon as today was the day Cyclops instructed his road work minions to tarmac the road in and out of the resort. Its exactly the kind of tactic I should have expected from him! The tarmac is sticky and in the heat isnt drying . Sticky tarmac on my tyres is a BAD thing becauss it atteacts all kins of glass and rubbish which cause Punctures. These I do not need. Niether did I fancy a day cleaning the wretched stuff off my tyres.
The plus side of this is that the road will be newly surfaced and the pothole obstacle course to the main road here will have gone. Yay!
So I decided to make the most of this time and get some route planning done.Never let it be said that this entrepid cycle bum goes swimming, to the sauna, jacuzzi, beach when there is work to be done!
Route planning may sound easy, however with today's modern cycle GPS devices being designed by God Garmin , a degree in nuclear physics, nuero surgery and mathematics is a necessity. I have none of those, but I do have something called 'pig headedness'. This skill has been put to the test today, and I have not been found lacking. Plotting a track file of some distance for use in a garmin requires reduction in track points. This is achieved via a gpx editor and a lot of swearing.
Cycling isnt just about turning your cranks these days it seems!
So, job kind of done, I decided to cook a chicken. Its what I man has to do when trapped by tarmac. The chicken deserved better I must say.
Here is a shot of the sunset tonight from the balcony here
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