Near Berhamkale

The day dawned miserably, at least weather-wise. The forecast had been for a significant drop in temperature with rain & that's exactly what I got.
Fortunately I'd been able to dry everything at TJ's hotel so I could wear all my socks, my stock of which wasn't high. The day before had proven that my waterproof socks really were waterproof, which was nice. Today's 3-4 degrees Centigrade would prove that I could deal with cold & wet weather.

TJ's provided an excellent buffet breakfast, of which I took maximum advantage. I then crossed the Hellespont to Çannakale & Asia. I passed up visiting ancient Troy as the writeup in my guidebook wasn't stunning & the weather wasn't exactly for strolling. Just outside Çannakale I found a large Western style supermarket, a sure sign of Turkey's growing wealth, and managed to find rolled oats. This was a good sign, I'd be able to cook myself porridge which is my traditional cycle touring breakfast. Though later I found that I'd forgotten to buy milk, I have goat's cheese instead which should be interesting.

I had a bit of a bad spell in the afternoon when I found myself a bit to close to hunger, cold & with a rear tire that just wouldn't keep it's pressure. I took the tube out & found a hole then put a patch right next to it. Of course when I re-inflated the tube & checked it in a bucket of water the puncture showed itself. A bit later it appeared that the same think was happening but as it wasn't too much of an issue & it was getting late I just pumped it & continued. If the tire is down in the morning I'll investigate further. I've been having a number of issues with tubes in this wheel, I hope there isn't a fundamental issue going on here.

The countryside has turned into the thin, rocky scrub that I'm familiar with around the Mediterrenean Sea. Though here there are many short stunted trees. I've no idea what kind they are other than they are clad with lichen.

I've found myself a lovely camping spot just off a minor road. A car passed up the road every hour or so. I saw a stone paved path off to the side & followed it on foot. This path is probably an ancient highway though cannot have been used for more than a century. If it was cold before the Sun went down it's really cold now.

I cycled 85km in 5 hours & 27 minutes.