Bike Around The World

   Right Lane Ends
Nine States, Four Time Zones, 
One Hell of a Ride. 

By Darby Roach

From freezing Rocky Mountain blizzards to soul-scorching Great Plains wind storms to a mysterious midnight crossing of Lake Michigan aboard the ancient SS Badger, Right Lane Ends tells the story of my seventy-one day bicycle adventure from Seattle to Boston. Read an excerpt for free by clicking here.

Get your copy of Right Lane Ends in PDF format for just $19.95 by clicking the Google Buy Now button below.  Reviews of Right Lane Ends.

Be sure to check out my latest blog post below!

Light

It was a short ride from the Athens train station to my hostel where I checked in and locked my bike in the basement. It's not bad as hostels go; I'm sharing a room with two other travelers and they seem like nice enough guys. I slept fitfully last night, a result of this nagging cough I've had since Nepal. I'm on my third bottle of cough medicine with no cure in sight.

I got up early this morning and walked the two-point-four kilometers to the Acropolis, paid my twelve Euros and toured the ruins for an hour or so. I couldn't help but notice the striking quality of the light here in Athens.

I checked in with the bus company to make sure I can take my bike with me on the trip to Patros where I will catch the ship to Italy. Once I reach Ancona it will only be another 200 mile ride to Rome. Though I'll be going on to Spain, Portugal and Moroco, Rome will mark the completion of my circumnavigation of the globe.

I suppose I will have to devise some manner of celebration.

 

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Headwind

There was no doubt about it. The road had definitely dead-ended. I'd climbed the hill only to find that my lane was closed off with Jersy barriers. Traffic was flowing according to Hoyle in the other direction and I might have been able to sneak around the blockade, but who knew what lay ahead. I had already ridden 90 kilometers in a day-long head wind and boy was I beat. The thought of figuring out and executing a new route was almost more than I could bear.

But that's the joy of bicycle touring: quitting is not an option. I wrestled Blu into the other lane and coasted down to-and took-the first side road I came to. I stopped in a park, pulled out my phone and fired up Google Maps.

It looked like there might be another road I could use to get to Thessaloniki but all the twists and turns indicated a lot of climbing. I took off my helmet and stretched out on the bench. I'd rest my brain for a few moments before tackling the problem.

When I woke up and looked at my watch I saw that I'd been out for nearly 15 minutes. Precious time had been wasted. Time that I'd have to make up if I wanted to get to my destination before dark. I quickly scanned the little screen, got on my bike and with one hand on the bar and the other holding the phone, I navigated through the residential neighborhood to the main road.

It wasn't a bad climb I guess or maybe I was just to numb to notice, but it seemed like only a few minutes had passed when I found myself on the top of a hill looking down at the port city. It would be a downhill coast the whole way.

I celebrated my arrival with a nice room and the first really good meal I've had in a month.

 

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Cherries For Breakfast

I'm three days out of Alexandroupolis, out of the mountains it would seem, and the route forward to Thessaloniki appears to hug the coastline. I camped out near the beach last night and had a good morning's ride beside the sea. An old fellow who was helping to build a fence around an archeological dig flagged me down and we shared a bag of cherries he retrieved from the trunk of his car.

I stayed on the sea as long as I could but finally I had to head inland to pick up the road to today's destination, Kavala. Google says there's a campground here but damn if I could find it. My GPS just dropped me off in an alley. A passerby told me he didn't think the campground was open yet and recommended a cheap hotel nearby.

The 80 klick ride today seemed easy. I think I had a tailwind because at times I was rolling along at better than 20 KPH. Yesterday I thought I felt a cold coming on so I took some antibiotics I bought in Katmandu. They seem to be helping.

I stopped at a pharmacy and bought a bottle of cough medicine but I'm going easy on the stuff. Last time I drank half the bottle and woke up in Namche Bazaar with a beard.

 

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In Ruins

I checked Google Maps on my phone again and sure enough it showed me on a thick yellow line that had always in the past indicated a nicely paved secondary road. But the image on the little screen didn't jibe exactly with what I was experiencing here on the ground. Yeah, there was the blue Aegean to my left and I'd just passed an archeological site but that's where the similarity ended. The road had been good up until now but things had changed rapidly once the pavement petered out. I got back on my bike and pedaled another kilometer up the road, dodging huge rocks, dismounting and pushing through hopeless sand pits and generally having a tough time making headway. I thought about turning around, but man, I'd come so far already...

Hope is a hard thing to kill and I had it in my head that if I just pushed on a little farther this cow path would magically turn into a smooth two-lane with clear sailing to the next little town on the Greek coast. Yeah, that's the ticket I thought, just push it to the next corner.

But I knew better and after 300 meters I made the call, turned around and headed back down the coast. Well, it was only 7 klicks to where I was pretty sure there'd be a route I could put to good use and I did get to have lunch under a tree next to the ruins so I can't really complain.

 

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Alexandroupolis

I rolled into town after 9 hours on the bike, sunburned, wind blown and tired. I found a hotel on a side street, checked in and collapsed on the bed. I was asleep in minutes and didn't wake up until well after dark. I'd eaten little all day, stopping only to grab an occasional Coke and wolf down an orange or a banana, and my stomach was growling. I made a trip to an all-night grocery where I filled my basket with cheese, bread, croissants and a liter of orange juice.

I stumbled back to my room and made a hasty meal, then, crashed. Today was a rest day and I stayed in bed until almost 9:30 this morning, but being horizontal that long really started getting to me. I had to get up and get moving. As my dad used to say, "You sleep half your life away."

I strolled along the Aegean for an hour, then, made some repairs to my bike. I came across a drugstore that had a scale so I weighed myself for the first time since I left Seattle. I'm down 27 pounds.

I plan an early start tomorrow and hope to cover close to 100 klicks.

It feels really good to put in a hard day.

 

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Adios Turkey

The border crossing went smoothly if you don't count the run-in with the soldiers. I had cleared customs and was almost across the line into Greece when I stopped to take a picture. The moment I whipped out my camera a couple heavily-armed PFCs in full camo yelled at me to put it away.

I did my best Clark Griswald, smiled stupidly and tucked my Olympus back in my handlebar bag. "Sorry," I stammered and shrugged as if to say, I'm an American, what do you expect?

But I sure will miss Turkey, it has been awfully good to me.

I made about 60 kilometers today. I should reach Alexandroupolis on the ocean late tomorrow or early the next day. I think I will take a rest day there and do some work on my bike. The next leg of my trip across the mountains of northern Greece will put a lot of strain on me and Blu so I want to make sure we're both ready for the grind. The rear wheel has been creaking and I found a couple of loose spokes. I've learned through experience that those can be the early warning signs of a failing wheel. I had this wheel especially overbuilt with the strongest components I could get so it should hold up but you never know.

The new saddle is breaking in nicely and I feel like I'm starting to get back into shape after my hiatus in Nepal. But I'm still pretty tired at the end of the day and I do dread the hills. God knows there are going to be a lot of them the next few weeks.

Well, let's see what tomorrow brings.

 

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A Very Good Day

I was a few klicks out of Kirklaerli when I noticed that my bottom bracket was loose. I'd passed a little bicycle shop earlier so I turned around and made my way back. It turned out that the shop was a gathering spot for the locals and my arrival was deemed something of an event.

Word went out that there was an American in the hood.

While the owner fixed my bike, five or six of the locals gathered around and chatted with me. Only one of them, a young guy, spoke English, so as he translated, we traded barbs and bad jokes. Soon, someone from across the street showed up with a round of Turkish tea and we all sat and drank and jawboned some more. Then, it was time for breakfast. Delicious sliced tomatoes, three different kinds of cheeses, more tea, bread, jam and butter, olives, more tea... Well you get the idea.

Finally the work was completed and I went to pay, but the owner would have none of it. "You are a guest in my country, and I am happy to help you." He told me through our interpreter.

You gotta love this country.

 

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Turkey Lurkey

I think it was the cool damp weather that helped speed me on my way. After the hot, dry, dust of Asia, a little rain was a welcome respite and I made the most of it by turning in 77 kilometers today. I took my time, stopped a lot and reached Kirklaerli by 4:15.

The Turkish motorists are some of the most considerate I've encountered in all of the 16 countries I've biked through so far. They slow down to pass me and most of the oncoming traffic blinks their lights and waves or gives me the thumbs up. It's a small thing I suppose but when I'm feeling down or really beat at the end of a long day in the saddle it does wonders for my morale.

My trusty camera finally broke the other day. The lens refused to deploy and I had to partially dissemble it to find the switch that activates the little motor. Now I have to fool with the broken switch every time I want to take a picture. Oh we'll, it could be worse.

Maarten and Janneke are a couple I met near Istanbul and were gracious enough to share their home with me the other night. They treated me to a fantastic dinner, a couple of glass of good wine and hours of great conversation. It was so good to have someone to talk to. What great folks they are.

I'm just a couple of days from the Greek border, then, it's a straight shot to the ocean, Italy and Rome, which will mark the end of this fantastic trip. It seems like I just started. How could 13 months pass so fast?

 

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Dog Camp

I camped out last night in a park inhabited by a pack of wild dogs. Of course I was ignorant of this fact until well after nightfall when they began howling and barking and generally making a nuisance of themselves.

As a result of the ruckus I got very little sleep and the ride today over endless rolling hills to Saray, Turkey, really did me in.

I decided to get a hotel after only 55 kilometers, collapsed on the bed and didn't wake up until several hours later. My stomach was growling so I loaded up with food at the local grocery store. The fruit was good but I suspect all that string cheese is going to stay with me for a while.

 

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Along The Bosporus

I rose early and was on the road by 7:30. Being Saturday, traffic was light as I rode along the Bosporus. The sun was just breaking through a gang of clouds across the water over in Asia, the fishermen were out in force, the pavement was smooth and a sweeter initiation into cycling in Turkey I couldn't imagine. After 20 kilometers I left the water and headed up into the mountains. The first kilometer or so was steep and I had to get off and push a couple of times but after an hour I reached the top and was sailing happily through a series of winding rollers. I was enjoying the riding so much that I neglected to check my map and soon I discovered that I had made a wrong turn a few klicks back.

Lost, as usual, I was consulting my GPS when a fellow on a mountain bike stopped to help me find my way. We got to talking and he asked where I was from. "Oh, Seattle," he said after I told him, "I know Seattle."

"Have you been there?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied, "I spent some time in Bothell."

"Crazy."

"Yeah," he said, "I work for Phillips Medical Systems."

"Get out," I said, "my best buddy works for Phillips."

"Yeah? What's his name?"

"Mike Mann."

"Sure," my new friend said without a moment's hesitation, " I know Mike!"

But he invited me to spend the night with him and his family anyway.

 

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