If you are looking for a good area to volume train for cycling, Cappadocia is your place!! Today I rode my Surly Traveler's Check (cyclocross) with its knobby tires for almost 3 hours, on and off road and I went downhill maybe 15 minutes! Hills galore. The route I took had 10% grades going down cobblestone streets, hence the quick downhill sections! Here are some sites along my way...
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Goreme, Cappadocia, Turkey. November, 2010

I am now in what has to be one of the most unusual, breathtaking, awe-strikingly beautiful places on Earth! Goreme in the region of Cappadocia, Turkey. Photos and words cannot do it justice.

Goreme is a microcosm set in stone. Literally. I feel like Wilma Flintstone or Betty Rubble. Or, better yet, a Mesopotamian (although I don't think Mesopotamia stretched this far, perhaps only the southeastern corner of Turkey.) It is a hiker's, off-road biker's, and trail runner's dream. The people are so friendly--friendly like the Fijians and Mauritians, ok, and the Kiwis, Trev M8! I am being treated like a princess. :)

Today I ran and biked on trails through several valleys with "stone dunes" everywhere!! They definitely have hills! Here's a tip: trail riding and taking pictures don't mix. Yes, I ate it! On the ground with both feet still clipped in!

Made a new friend who has a bike shop a stone's throw away from my cave hotel-the Kelebek Hotel-my new favorite. Needed a couple of new screws for my brakes, et voila. There appears Ahdem! Quite frankly I've met so many wonderful people here. Adhem, though, made me feel secure biking down hills:)

The bike is attracting quite a bit of attention, and is striking up quite a bit of conversation with the locals. "Come, sit, have some tea...and tell me about your bike..."

Good time to be in Turkey as the Kurdish Government Party has declared an 8-month cessation of terrorism to further the "discussions" of their woes. This came after this past Sunday's suicide bomber's attack in a popular square in Istanbul. (The square was full of tourists, but they were aiming for the police--phew!)

My boutique hotel has an amazing Turkish bath. That's where I'm heading...

I think I am in heaven.

Gule gule,
Jo

Loving Goreme

 Back in Action, Inc. Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Kailua, HI

While on the topic of biking in Vietnam...

First of all, if you go to Vietnam, contact Phat Tire Ventures for an unforgettable biking trip through villages out of reach by an average tourist. Low-five little kids while dodging chickens crossing the road, pedal up bridges a foot wide and so steep you cannot see the local man on coming up the other side...on a moped...

Biking from the jungles of Dalat to the coast at Mui Ne was beautiful, breathtaking, and quite adventurous. Off the trail and onto the road, however, the real adrenaline rushes began.  Try driving around a rotary or round about with about a hundred mopeds speeding in every direction but yours...I was laughing the whole time in complete awe of the organized chaos! Next up, I found myself biking alongside a local 60-ish year old man on his moped.  He extended a hand to shake and and a warm, friendly smile--at least I thought! No, as I shook his hand, he tightened his grip like a vice, and his warm smile was just a precursor to his laughter as he pulled me at what felt like 100 mph! I had to take my feet off the pedals we were going so fast! I finally shook my hand free and took note of my guide laughing so hysterically he almost fell off his bike...touche!