brrrrr

10th January - Muradiye to Dogubeyazit - distance 95km - descent 150m - av speed 18km/hr - current position 44,05E 39,35N

We were unsure of what to expect today - rumours of a pass at 2700m covered in 4ft of snow, an interesting prospect. Happily the day turned out to be one of the best yet. It was an auspicious start - both my tyres had punctures but while Dom and Nic fixed them and lubricated the bike chains I set up the sat phone and updated the website; it was so cold that the water froze around the neck of the bottle as we poured it for our brew. We started early to make the most of the daylight, the climb was steady throughout the morning and the headwind that seems to have been with us throughout Turkey diminished. Ro and Dickie did an absolutely fab job on the support side today providing hot drinks and pasta throughout the day - very much needed as it is certainly the coldest day to date. Jamie was an early casualty to the cold with an un-flamboyant fall due to ice (not the knarliest of his tricks!).

After lunch the climb began to steepen through rugged, snow covered scenery. It felt like we were in the wilderness. Some would have been wishing for an escalator but not the Everestmax team; Jamie and Nic roared up to the top, keen to be first to the toboggan slope that Ro and Dickie had built into the bank at the top! A big up gave way to a big down. In dry conditions it would have been absolutely tip top, however, while Pauline flew down I was wimpier at the back, nervous on the icy road surface and very aware of increasing numbness all over but keen to get away from the packs of dogs that seem to have chased us all day.

We arrived in Dogubayazit through the gathering gloom. Due to a time limit for Martha's transit visa Ro and Dickie have pushed on to the border some 35km down the road to probe for information about the crossing to Iran and the cyclists have just enjoyed another good feed.

Posted by Sarah

Fun in the snow

9th January - Van to Muradiye - distance 85km - ascent 20m - av speed 16.1km/hr - current position 43,50E 38,58N

Breakfast at 7am and almost on the road for 8am. No the delay wasn’t due to Nic enhancing his bike even further (how can you enhance a bike which is already the smoothest by far!), but due to getting the van (some people refer to her by name!) ready in the snow. With the nobbly tyres on the bikes and the slicks sadly being returned to the van, the team were ready for any weather thrown at them.

Snow stops play

8th January - Van - distance 0km - ascent 0m - av speed 0km/hr - current position 43,20E 38,25N

Last night it snowed…. and snowed and snowed. Cycling was carefully considered this morning but was thought to be foolish. Broken bones are detrimental to the success of our challenge and although stupidity is rife in many areas, cycling safety is paramount. While Everestmax achieved another fifteen minutes of fame - Turkish Television interviewed Pauline, Dom and Sarah, (check out tomorrows news.. if you are in Turkey !!) Dickie fitted Martha's chains so that Ro, Jamie and Nick could drive carefully to the next town to see if there was anywhere to stay (we were heavily disinfected against Bird Flu on our way in and out) and also to find out just how slippery and dangerous the roads are - even with the bike's newly fitted knobbly tyres. Both seemed possible so hopefully tomorrow we will set off again. Today however we have had ANOTHER DAY OFF!!! This means that far sooner than I had expected I get the chance to go on and on and on about an aspect of the trip that I feel you may otherwise not appreciate….

Hotels…

I know, you think we are easing our way through the “expedition” from plush hotel to swanky restaurant.

Well every now and then we have.. Breakfast at the Four Seasons in Damascus was just fantastic – but then it was Christmas Day. Also the Turkish bath and massage was amazing and would have set you back at least £50 in England. In fact it cost us just £4 each. Perhaps we should have stayed for another!

Most of the hotels, however have been the kind that your average Englishman would find “charming” but then grumble furiously about all the way home. The quality of the facilities has ranged from great to really very dubious.

Showers are an important feature after a long, wet, cold, dusty, snowy or just plain sweaty day cycling and often the first question we are asked when we book a hotel is “Are there hot showers?” The answer is always “Yes.. there are showers and the game of charades indicates that they are hot”… Charades is a very tricky game at the best of times.

I can think of two showers that have parted my hair and been wonderfully hot... puurrrrrfect. Dickie actually managed to find one with had such good pressure that it exploded off the wall, flew across the bathroom and broke a glass – sadly it wasn’t very hot. Most have a range of interesting and quirky features… Some are warmish, others are warmish for the first person then cool down and never recover. Others have reasonable water pressure if you crouch on the ground but very little if you stand up. One shared the same 3ft square space as the loo (one of those holes in the floor that you stand either side of) this was also one of those that required crouching to achieve decent pressure – a delightful and aromatic combination!! If you are lucky you will find a shower curtain. If you are even luckier the shower curtain will prevent the loo, loo paper, sink and towel becoming completely soggy. A few have had a shower fitting but sadly no water emerging from it at all. These require you to crouch under the tap with a mug, sploshing water and singing briskly to keep the chill at bay. The tiling and grouting often looks like it was done with a wooden spoon and seems to make cleaning tricky. Most require a serious visit from Kim and Aggie (“How Clean is your House”)

This doesn’t alter the fact that the hotels are full of charm and delight and have added a great deal to the cultural experience of the trip – the interior and exterior décor, style of bed, blanket, carpet, dining room, reception area and hotel managers are fascinating and endlessly different (the only thing that never seems to change is breakfast – bread, hard boiled eggs, olives, tomatoes, cucumber, soft cheese, jam, honey and sugary black tea). Also, any bed is a good bed and in fact any shower is more effective than baby wipes - the camping alternative. The temperature at night has been below freezing for most of the trip and a hotel room, even badly heated, is just fine by me.

Having said that, camping in the middle of nowhere, freezing starry nights, our excellent cosy tent and Wendy (our faithful kettle) brewing tea is brilliant and not to be missed.

Iran will be interesting. Endless opportunities to camp but very cheap hotels…. hmmmmmm.

Posted by Ro

A day in the life of the support team

7th January - Van - distance 0km - ascent 0m - av speed 0km/hr - current position 43,20E 38,25N

I could write about today... how the girls breakfast was delivered to their room and they sighed and swooned their way through all six episodes of Pride and Prejudice. Or how the boys went out to find bike oil and repair Martha's slow puncture.. but I'm not going to...

Instead I am going to give you a taste of what it is like to support our magnificent team of intrepid cyclists (children)....

Our days are filled with loading up Martha, shopping and driving, brewing tea, setting out food then tidying up, finding hotels or a suitable camp site and setting up the tent. It sounds simple but nothing is that easy when you don't speak the language.

Loading Martha takes about an hour! There are bags, computers, spare bikes, a huge tent, a first aid kit, a gas cooker, pots and pans, food, rubbish, a small table, a ground sheet, a set of scales, random cycling clothes, a blue inflatable chair and so much more. Everything now has a place and we are getting more efficient every day but the stuff we have to load seems to grow at equal speed.

Shopping is great fun. Every day we are in a different town so every day we have to find the shops (no street maps) and while one of us sits with Martha the other buys what they can - daily staples like interesting bread, fantastic vegetables, local cheese, dates from heaven, a great selection of nuts, chocolate spread a bit like Nutella (a particular favourite) milk (only recently.. it was nowhere to be found in Jordan or Syria) but also anything that catches your eye or seems interesting... I have recently found chocolate biscuits called "Pleasure"!! The fun bit comes when the writing on the packets is entirely foreign and the pictures gives no clues. I bought butter that turned out to be vaguely buttery flavoured putty and soft cheese that was actually yeast! Pauline has just turned up with something that she hopes is tonic water.. It is called Kamilica, has a red label and looks fizzy........ It's lemonade.. excellent. The games of charades are fun too. How do you mime chopping board or roof rack or even simple things like milk? My pad and pen come out frequently.. pictures speak a thousand words.

The towns are fascinating. Not a shopping centre in site. Shops, markets and barrows spilling into the streets, the owners offering small glasses of black sweet tea as you buy. The vegetables are always beautifully arranged, no matter how poor and muddy the road. Everyone seems to want to help and asking a simple question often ends up involving shop keepers from up and down the street. We are as fascinating to the locals as they are to us and have felt nothing but warmth from them as they ask your name and reel off everything they know about England.. David Beckham, Michael Owen, London.. Tony Blair!!

Feeding five hungry cyclists is not as I had imagined. I thought we would be creating fantastic syrian and Turkish dishes with local spices and flavours. But no - our greatest successes have been finding really good crusty bread - none in Syria, lots in Turkey - Frosties, beer and Toblerone from duty free and milk that you don't serve with a spoon. We eat so much interesting, spicy local food in the towns that our job seems to be to keep it simple and English. Not always easy but really pleasing when we get it right. We've yet to find a shop with PG tips but its ok.. Dom brought enough to get us to Kathmandu.

I haven't even touched on the fun to be had explaining (miming) to hotel managers that there are five hungry, cold, wet cyclists who need a hot shower and would like to store their bikes indoors and could we unload the van of ALL our stuff and do they have internet access and how we are cycling from the Dead Sea to Everest.. yes Everest.

We will need another day off...

Posted by Ro

Sun, mist, snow and rain!

6th January - Tetvan to Van - distance - ascent - av speed - current position 42,15E 38,25N

This morning had its usual rituals. Sarah filling up water bottles, Jamie securing the spare bikes on top of the Van, and Nic cleaning his bike. Nic likes to live life by the phrase "you look good you ride good", but as he has currently fallen off his bike more then anyone else, I think he needs to do a bit more cleaning! We were on the road by 8, with the intention of cycling right the way round the lake to Van, 145km away. This would mean that we would be able to have a day off tommorrow and as it's our 15th day on the bikes in a row - it would be a well deserved break. About 5 km down the road Jamie got a puncture causing a slight delay, but the sun was shining and we still made good progress. Pauline was particularly happy this morning because the scenery reminded her of winter in Scotland. Unfortunatly the gathering cloud behind us also reminded her of Scotland! During the morning cycle, a new EVERESTMAX land speed record was set of 70 kmph. However, I am not going to mention any names because they'll only get a big head! Just before lunch we had our first rain shower but luckily it stopped in time for us to keep our sandwiches dry and admire Dickie and Ro's snowman.

After lunch we were confronted by a long, slow climb up to a col at 2235m. The EVERSTMAX team take ascents like this in their stride, so to make things more challenging for ourselves we climbed up to the col in a snow storm! As we descended the col, the snow turned to icey rain, and within minutes we were soaked. We used a military check point to our advantage, and while are passports were checked we warmed up by a wood burner and within minutes we were steaming, literally. We managed to push out two 20km stretches before it got dark, and then the headtorches and bike lights came out for the last 40km into Van. It had been a very long day so far on undulating terrain, and the last stretch to the hotel was hard and cold. Still fighting freezing rain, Dom, Sarah and Pauline cycled on towards Van whilst Jamie and Nic mended yet another puncture, Nic's first of the trip! The roads then began to get icey and the hotel was a welcome sight, especially for Dom who found it hard to stay upright on the slippy roads. Over 9 hours in the saddle today, the lie-in tommorrow is definitely going to feel good.

Posted by Jamie

Up and over!!!!

5th January - Baykan to Tetvan - distance 71km - ascent 0m- av speed 16km/hr - current position

The day started well with Nic attending to Wendy (our whistling kettle) to get ‘bed tea’ on the go. Meanwhile I went for an early morning explore of our campsite which was a mystery last night as we arrived in the dark. We were surrounded by snow capped mountains, a river running a few metres away and as I walked far enough away to get that priceless moment of privacy a very loud ‘HELLO HELLO!!’ came from about 150m up the hill from an army lookout post. The army boys along the way have been incredibly friendly and full of smiles and cheers encouraging our efforts along the way, but I needed no encouraging at this point of the day…just a secluded area with nobody watching …….know what I mean?

We were all ready to go by 8am and then Sarah confessed that she had been looking for her glasses and gloves and couldn’t find them anywhere……..'try your head and back pocket' was the quick response from Jamie who immediately nominated her for the ‘Numpty Hat’ a rather stylish number awarded to the numpty of the day.

Off we went. Up hill isn’t enough for us….we want head wind and lots of it please!!!!! We managed to do 10km in the same time we would normally do 20km. Ro and Dickie recognised the need for a morale boost and did an impromptu tea and snacks stop after 20km..we love them! They also saw that I was slacking a bit due to an over active bowel system and drove all the way up a steep hill in front of me to break the head wind…now that is what I call a support team!

Once the head wind eased off, we moved into the cold. We were cycling through stunning scenery with frozen waterfalls and snow right down to the banks of the flowing rivers. We were after all approaching the winter Turkish ski resort of Bitliz. Nic chose to take the fall for the team by leading the way into town and going from the smooth tarmac onto the black ice and making a dramatic exit from his bike onto the road on a corner and managed to pull himself and his bike out of the way of on coming traffic. This incident meant that Dickie was on patrol for the rest of us telling us to slow down …..thanks Nic (your stats are looking good!).

A lunch of kebabs and bread wasn’t quite the après ski café style we were hoping for but a more welcoming and smiley cook you could not wish for. The town was not a classic resort with bars and expensive ski kit, more like roaming cows and goats with carts, cars and lorries.

Next was another hill. We had done headwind and cold, now we wanted something different…how about really thick fog with sporadic sections of snow…bring it on! So we continued for the next 30 km into the town of Tatvan where our great leader Dom was in harmony with his team by suggesting we stay in a hotel as conditions were too dangerous to continue to a campsite past town in the dark. We found a 'cheap and cheerful' and are all about to indulge in a hot shower...

Posted by Pauline

Heading for the hills

4th January - Batman to Baykan - distance 95km - ascent 270m - av speed 21km/hr - current position 41,50E 38,10N

After the delights of massages in our luxury hotel another late start was perhaps inevitable. Not helped by Dom of course who nipped off to see another dodgy Turkish mechanic who could fix a rear spoke. Such is the price of pushing a machine to the limits!! He did a first class job and straightened the wheel into the bargain. All for the grand sum of about £1.50! We headed out of Batman in thick Gotham City like mist. The first 25km were pretty grim along a busy main road without the benefit of good visibility. Nic and Jamie were even faster than usual with their renewed No.1 'Lance Armstrong' like haircuts. (Such is the pressure to keep up with Dom they have resorted to extreme measures!) Sarah took a bit of a tumble after a brief disagreement with a tractor but bounced back quickly and roared off into the distance.

At midday the traffic seemed to ease and the sun broke through the mist to reveal a stunning landscape. We stopped in a hillside village for lunch although Dickie and Ro were still behind us. Pauline and Sarah headed off to a local house where they were promptly offered a lunch of eggs, bread and strong home made goats cheese. The family in question wouldn't take any payment and it speaks volumes of the hospitality we have been offered here in Turkey. Nic and Dom stayed at the roadside and they finally managed to fix the elusive slow puncture that had been nagging Dom for a couple of days. A tiny sliver of metal the culprit. As soon as Martha arrived Ro quickly produced her usual lunchtime array of treats. Dickie preferred to take on 20 local school children single handedly to a game of rugby. Dickie won of course but then they didn't know the rules. The scenery after lunch became more dramatic by the mile. For those who have been to Utah it was uncannily similar. Rolling sand dunes and small gorges on each side of the road gave way to snow covered peaks on the horizon.

The last hour before sunset as usual was the most stunning with the mountains turning pink in the distance and the mist starting to collect in the valleys and hollows on either side of the road. This was the scenery that we had all come for and after long stretches of desert it was much overdue. The only catch is the hilly terrain which has slowed our progress dramatically but such is the price of being in the mountains. The day finished in the dark winding our way through a narrow gorge. Nic led the way battling a fierce headwind before we found Dickie and Ro with the tent pitched and Corona beers on ice. This is our first night camping for a few days but it's long overdue after being in hotels since crossing from Syria. We will be at least another week in Turkey as we head east towards the border with Iran.

Do continue to follow our progress and again a plea for our readers to spread the word of what we are trying to achieve and why. We heard recently of a £5000 donation through our expedition to support SOS Children's Villages in Pakistan. This kind of support makes a real difference to peoples lives and is a huge morale boost to ourselves. When the going gets tough its quite timely to have a reminder that what we're doing really is making a difference. Many thanks for your continued support.

Posted by Dom