Cycling

Sadly, our base at Biser in SE Bulgaria did not make a good base for cycling. The intense dry heat (we recorded a maximum of 43°C or 109°F on 20 August) was debilitating. Worse - rides of any distance involved cycling along road E80, narrow with no shoulders but much heavy traffic and many trucks. In addition, it carried the annual migration of Turkish 'guest-workers' on their way from Germany and other West European countries, driving to Turkey in July/August, then returning in August/September. Thousands of them! We do not exaggerate – there are over 2 million such Turkish 'Gastarbeiter' in Germany alone. The new section of motorway, not yet officially open, from Harmanli to Svilengrad, seemed to make little difference to the density of this traffic. It's still the main road connecting Turkey, and therefore Asia and the Middle East, with the whole of Europe!

Discouraged by all this, not to mention the death of our old friend Ian Hibell at the hands of a Greek motorist in Athens (see The Death of Ian Hibell), it was not a summer to enjoy cycling. We did occasionally ride the E80 north-west into Harmanli: a 16-mile round trip, fraught with trucks.

23-mile circuit: The only other road out of Biser village is a quiet hilly lane leading 6 miles south to Cherna Mogila, a semi-abandoned gipsy village. This ride involved climbing from 320 ft to almost 1,000 ft, with a good freewheel back. We usually extended the route by continuing another 5 miles east on an overgrown and crumbling track to the village of Lozen, where there is a small café. A good road then runs NE for 5 miles, past fields of sunflowers and vineyards and over the railway track into the town of Lyubimets. Here there are shops and cafés for a break before returning 7 miles west along the busy E80, crossing the bone-dry Bisserska River before reaching Biser. This 23-mile circuit became our favourite ride, to be completed early before the heat of day built up.    

51-mile return to Mezek: We did undertake a longer day-ride, to Mezek. We cycled along E80 and through the watermelon wholesale market to Lyubimets; then south to Lozen, where we paused for coffee. At Malko Gradishte, a hamlet 3 miles south of Lozen, we turned sharply north-east on very quiet narrow lanes for 5 miles to Siva Reka, then 3 miles south again to the small town of Mezek. Here there is a Thracian Tomb but it is kept locked, so we paid a later visit by car to play 'Hunt the Key'.

Following signs to the Medieval Fortress, we climbed a steep road past a small Tourist Office (closed), up to the walled Fortress. We continued up the hill towards the Greek border for a few kilometres, reaching a height of 1,275 ft before settling down to a picnic lunch. A horse & cart drove along the hedgerow, its driver greeting us in Greek - we were paralleling the border just a mile away on our left. The nearest official border crossing is near Svilengrad, but we guess the locals know the lie of the land!

We freewheeled back to the Byzantine Fortress of Neutzicon, built in the 11thC, and wandered freely, taking photos inside its massive walls. Information signs in English and a new wooden staircase inside one of the 9 towers hinted at development to come. Down in Mezek we needed ice creams and cold drinks, the temperature now reaching 40°C or 103°F! We retraced the quiet lanes to Lozen, from where we had a choice of route: via Lyubimets again or along the track to Cherna Mogila. We took the latter, to avoid the busy E80, though it involved more climbing.

By 5 pm we reached the camp in Biser, dry and dusty, to rehydrate with pots of tea and cool showers. The GPS recorded a total climb of 2,500 ft over the 82 km. Height and distance were no problem but the heat had almost defeated us. We didn't repeat the exercise.