About the author

Laura Moss

Laura Moss spent 16 months cycling 13,000 miles around the world. She is a director of The Adventure Syndicate and organises the annualCycle Touring Festival. Her husband, Tim, runs this website. Read more...

14 Comments

  1. 1

    Natalie

    I think you have to be really fit to cycle anywhere in Turkey, especially in the height of summer. Well done to you. I cheat and use public transport.

    Reply
  2. 2

    Laura

    Ha thanks Natalie! Certainly some massive hills in places – although the coast road around Zonguldak / Bartin was a particularly brutal stretch where the hills weren’t big, just very steep.

    I have been told the northern option along the D020 may no longer be quite as good – see http://poab.org/log/id/397

    Reply
  3. Pingback: The Best Bike Route Into Istanbul | TravellingTwo: Bicycle Touring Around The World

  4. 3

    Matthew Harris

    Hi there. Awesome trip that you are doing. Very inspiring to read about it. It is getting me excited for my trip, which is quite similar to yours.. Cycling home to Australia (for me, I will be leaving from Holland). I’ll be leaving this September. I am currently planning the route into Istanbul. My question: have you got a gpx file of this? Also, your route through the Balkans looks similar to mine. Have you got a gpx of these too? And do you have any tips?

    Thanks for your help, and all the best with the rest of your trip!! I’ll be following you!

    Matthew

    Reply
    1. 3.1

      Tim Moss

      Hi Matthew, great that you’re planning a similar trip. We don’t use GPS really (except occasionally on a tablet in cities) so no tracks I’m afraid.

      The Istanbul route is really simple, particularly on the east side, just hug the south coast.

      For the Balkans we again pretty much just followed the coast.

      You can see where we stayed each night on our map: http://www.thenextchallenge. org/map

      Hope that helps but feel free to fire away with any other questions.

      Tim.

      Reply
      1. 3.1.1

        Matthew Harris

        Hi Tim,
        Thanks for the tips! I will, indeed, hug the coast, and avoid the main roads!! :-)

        See ya!

        Matthew

  5. 4

    kris

    Hi there Tim, and to Matthew Harris if you are there,

    I am similarly looking to ride to Australia next year, from London, I amjust curious the reasons why you would leave europe Aug and Sept?? Wouldnt that mean you would be in Europe in the middle of Winter? I wouldve thought leaving in March or April would mean avoiding a cold winter??

    SImilarly Tim, I too and reading through your blog posts. Awesome Awesome Awesome!

    Reply
    1. 4.1

      Matthew Harris

      Hi Kris.
      The departure time has been carefully planned.. :-)

      In order to cover all the high altitude terrain I want to in central Asia, I need to be at the start of this terrain at the start of summer – so I want to be at the start of the Pamir Hwy on June 1. To get there, I estimate it should take about 5 months, which would mean leaving Holland on January 1. Although this year was very mild, this could mean cycling through ice and snow and subzero temperatures.. Not too appealing..

      My current plan is to leave as late in the year as possible while still being able to cross the alps. I will then stop for 3 months when I get to Istanbul. I will fly to Australia for christmas, arrange lots of paperwork, and, do a chinese language course before continuing in March.

      When are you planning on leaving?

      I have more on my blog: http://arctic-cycler.com

      See ya!

      Matthew

      Reply
  6. 5

    kris

    ONe more TIm,

    Mate i notice you mention using a tablet. Are you literally able to access the internet in a lot of locations on your trip. As such allowing you to look up information you need for the upcoming days like, where to stay, which route to take, etc etc?? Or is it quite infrequent that you have been able to access the internet on your trip??

    Loving your blogs mate!

    Reply
  7. 6

    Laura Moss

    Hi Kris,

    We left the UK in August because that’s how our jobs worked out. It meant we had to cycle through a cold winter, but we’ve hit the Middle East at the best time of year, before it gets too hot. I’m not sure there is any perfect time really.

    We both use tablet computers. In Europe we could find WiFi in most towns we went through. If we had been really keen we could have bought a local SIM card for internet use as my tablet is 3g enabled but we’ve never bothered. WiFi was less common further east but we have still managed to access it a couple of times a week, except perhaps in Iran. We were told that there are fewer internet cafes these days and instead places just offer WiFi access and I think this is probably true – so taking a tablet or small netbook is a good idea if internet access is important to you.

    Glad you enjoy the blog posts and good luck with the trip.
    Laura

    Reply
  8. 7

    glosnega

    I would warn people from believe that cycling frå Silivri to Istanbul outside D-100 is easy. I just did this trip today. From Silivri to Selimpasa it is much up and down, but OK, and Selimpasa and further a bit is fine. In Buyukcekmece you will even find a cycle path at the beach promenade. This goes on for some kilometers, but south (while you should head east). When the promenade ends in Beylikduzu, its extreme up-and-down and difficult to find your way. I tried to follow the advice to keep near the sea, but it was impossible – the road google showed me was going in to a big industry area, and open only with permits. After the airport it went worse. Kennedy Caddesi has now turned to big construction area, with short and broken pavements and cycle paths. You will be lead into the 4-lane road with big walls on both sides and no alternative to go. Quite a scary place to be on a bike after dark.

    Reply
    1. 7.1

      Tim Moss

      Hi, thanks for the note. So sorry to hear you had a rough experience.

      This is the route we (and others) followed without any problems but perhaps the area has changed since then.

      Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. I’m glad you at least made it in one piece!

      Tim.

      Reply
  9. 8

    Daniel

    Hello,

    Thank you for this wondeful, comprehensive website. I’m just wondering about the sorts of road surfaces you encountered in Turkey and Greece, as I’m going to be cycling there in summer and am trying to decide on most appropriate bicycle.

    Thank you,

    Daniel

    Reply
    1. 8.1

      Tim Moss

      Hi Daniel,

      Great to hear that you’re planning a trip to Greece/Turkey.

      From memory, everywhere we went in Greece was tarmac/concrete.

      In Turkey, the majority were sealed roads, certainly between major towns and all the way along the Black Sea coast. When we went inland, there were quite a few dirt/gravel tracks.

      We were using touring bikes (Ridgeback Panorama) and slick 32mm tyres (Continental Contact), which were fine. If I did another tour with a heavily laden bike, I would get fatter tyres (maybe 40mm), and I would so the same if I was going to spend most of my time on the gravel tracks. Just for comfort and an easier ride.

      That said, I am sure you could manage on even a road bike if you wanted to. Just avoiding some of the worse roads and riding a little more gingerly when required.

      I hope that helps but let me know if there’s anything else.

      Thanks,
      Tim.

      Reply

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