Any time you are off the bike for a while and don’t have a kick to get back on (like being dumped off of a boat in the middle of a foreign country!), you must overcome a certain level of inertia. Way back on July 5th, before we left home, we posted about how we needed to overcome the inertia that we keeping us at home. We have had very similar feelings in Antakya. We needed to figure out some kind of plan that would get us back on our bikes and heading into Syria. This time, our challenge has been colds, weather, and daylight. At this time of year, it gets dark at around 4:30 pm. After dark, the temperature drops, sometimes to below freezing. Add to this the large distances between indoor accommodations making camping a necessity and we may need to do some re-thinking of our itinerary.
We hopped on our bikes for a quick 30km ride today, and both felt great, so we’re looking forward to riding again. We’ll see how it goes!
Our current plan is to ride to Reyhanli (about 50 km) on Monday. Reyhanli is within 10 km of the Syrian border. On Tuesday, we plan to ride to Aleppo. Once we reach Aleppo, we will have a better sense of what shape we are in for riding and what it is like riding with the cooler days.
Reports from other touring cyclists who have crossed the border in the last few days indicate that the crossing is quite easy and quick. Since we already have our Syrian visas, it should be even easier.