For the last few weeks we had the opportunity to once again call Breckenridge, Colorado home. It is such an amazing place and I cannot even begin to describe the riding, all I can say is incredible.

The reason that we chose Breckrenridge was the Marathon Nationals Championships that was held this past Friday on the 4th of July. The race start is at almost 10,000′ and we knew that I had to make sure that I was completely acclimated and ready when race morning arrived.

We spent those three weeks riding (on the course, the colorado trail and on the road), racing and watching racing. Not only was I super excited to get back to Breck to try to get the stars and stripes, but I was super excited to see 3 of my Keiki athletes. In the first week that we arrived, we were at the Breckenridge Recreation Center watching Levi (our Team Mata Keiki) racing his first Triathlon. It was a Triathlon for little triathletes under the age of 12 and after getting out of the water in 3rd place, he ran to his bike, pedaled into the lead and never looked back. It was neat to see our Team Mata jersey cross the line and of course it was even better because it was in first place! It was our second win in just 2 weeks, the week before Willie (another Keiki) took the solo junior category of the 12 Hours of Temecula in California.

Then, just 4 days later we were at the Wednesday race series and this time I was the spectator/cheer leader and Ron was the racer. It was his first race in probably a year and he was excited to get out there and race again. Not only was I out there cheering him on, but I was cheering on our 3 Keikis who were racing too. We had Levi and Nikita who were racing in the 11-12 category and Patrick who was racing in the 13-15 category. Ron crossed the line right in mid pack of his category and was super stoked with the results, especially when he realized he should have pushed it harder. Then, Levi pedaled his way to the podium and finished third, while Patrick pedaled his way to the podium and finished second. Nikita did awesome, but experienced a shortage of breath, so he had to back off and just finish. These kids are amazing and I cannot wait to watch them race again and continue to get faster!

The second week that we were there, we headed to Park City for the fourth stop of the NMBS. I felt ready to go and was hoping to have a solid race where I could just pedal, feel good and see what happens. Well, I was able to pedal and unfortunately lost 2-3 minutes because of some mechanicals that was going on with my chain, but it was a day that I will never forget because I finally made it to the podium.

It was a 3 lap race and when I was heading out on my second lap, I made my way into fourth place and I will never forget what I saw. As I went through the feed zone, I looked up ahead and I saw first, second and third (Katerina, Catherine and Georgia) and I just put my head down and pedaled. As we were dropping into the first single track, I could see Georgia and I could feel was adrenaline. I wanted to keep her in sight and try to reel her in, but as I began descending my chain started jumping. It was a super fast, switchback descend and a bunch of shifting. I kept trying to pedal the chain back on the chain rings and was forced to coast when I felt the restriction fighting me. I really did not want to break my chain.

After a few more attempts, I realized that I needed to get off of my bike and fix the problem and just as I was getting back on my bike I could see fifth place behind me (Heather) and just as I was about to push on the pedal, I felt the chain stop me. After one more switchback and a spot to stop, I jumped off again and saw that my chain had 2 loops in it. At that moment Heather went by and I was now in fifth. I was calmly trying to fix the chain and just as I could faintly hear the girls behind me approaching, I got the loops out. At that point I knew I lost a bunch of time and I did not want to get caught.

Throughout the rest of the race, my chain continued acting up, but I managed to hold onto 5th place and get on the podium. It was a great day for me and a pinnacle moment, a moment that I had been waiting for. I just hoped that the next time I could just pedal and stay on the bike for the whole race!

The next day we headed back to Breck in preparation for the Marathon National Championships. I felt ready and I wanted that stars and stripes jersey. I knew the course super well and I was super comfortable on it and I was going to go and get it.

That week flew by really quickly and before I knew it I was standing at the starting line and the moment I had been waiting for was here. The race start is controlled because we lead out the annual 4th of July parade. There are thousands of people lining the streets and it is just excitement and chaos. The Pro Women were the fourth of fifth wave to go off for some reason and we were staged behind all the open categories including single speed men and women and open 60+. I never understood this, but as I stood there waiting, I was just looking at how many people we were going to have to pass.

They finally introduced our group and we were off. As our controlled start ended and we were let go, the climb began and I attacked. There were groups and groups of men in front of me and I just picked them off as I made my way up that first climb. When we hit the first switchback on the pavement, I glanced back and could not see any women. I pushed up the hill and got past as many men as I could before the first single track, which would mean traffic.

I thought I made my way through pretty well, but the line of bicycles ahead seemed endless. It seemed to be a constant call out of “on your right,” “on your left” or “can I get by.” Then, at about 45 minutes into the race, I dropped into a trail called Nightmare on Baldy (a super rocky, loose, crazy descend that can be super dangerous and I prefer to just fly right through it), when I got behind a guy who was on his breaks. I tried calling him off, but it is not the easiest thing to do and I decided that I would try and get around him. I began going to the left and I just remember thinking, “oh, crap!”

The next thing I knew, I was on one side of the trail, my bike was on the other and my bottle was in the middle. The first thing I thought of was the racers behind me. I knew I dropped in the trail with people right on me, but when I took a look back I was so thankful that no one was there. I got up, grabbed my bike and my bottle and then the pain hit. A handful of racers went by and I got out of their way and slowly got back on my bike. I ended up being held back by the guys in front of me again, but I held back and thought “patience.” I really did not want to go down again.

I got to checkpoint 2 where Ron was and he told me that I was still in the lead and I put all the pain behind me. We got to a trail called Little French and just as I thought that everything was going to be okay, I headed up a really steep trail and I heard a little “ping” and I began spinning out. I moved to the side, looked down and realized that I had no chain on my bike. There was a bunch of guys going by and I had to hug the side of the trail and when there was an opening, I looked down and sitting right in the middle of the trail was my chain. All I could think was “here we go again.”

I hate to admit it, but it has been a long while since I last worked on a chain and lets just say that I had a lot of problems. Meanwhile, there were tons and tons of people going by and my heart was beginning to sink. I kept working on it and the longer I stood there, the pain from my crash started surfacing and I saw some of the blood that was part of the result. A while later, my friend Taylor (from the Golden Bike Shop) stopped and said, “Pua, do you need help?” And at that point I just wanted to cry.

We stood on the side of the trail and Taylor was my saving grace and after he took over, I was back on course soon after. I am not sure how to explain it, but just imagine 700 racers on a course that has a few really good passing sections and sections that passing is near impossible. And of course, the point in which I needed to hammer back was the one big section that passing was not really an option. Needless to explain, my legs were not warming back up and by the time I actually made my way to checkpoint 3, Ron was waving me down. I asked what the damage was and I had lost so much time that it would be impossible to make my way through the crowd and catch back up while my knee was throbbing and it was insane amounts of pain to get my foot out of my pedals.

We knew I had a race the following week and felt that the smartest decision was to get healed and put this behind us. The pain to pull out was awful, but I guess I had to come to terms that sometimes it is a part of racing to make decisions like this. It was my day and I felt unstoppable, but I guess someone had different plans.

I am not sure if it is unlucky, fate or something put on me, but I cannot wait for the day where I can have a race where everything goes smoothly and all I have to do is pedal. The Firecracker 50 is once again the Marathon National Championships next year and I will be back. The race director already made me a promise that we will be starting with the Pro Men so we will not be held up again. So, it is one more year for me once again.

I also wanted to thank our friend Bryan Van Vleet (who was suppose to race, but fractured his collar bone a month or so before) who got up in the wee hours of the morning to drive to Breck from Littleton and help to assist me for my race. He is awesome and we really appreciate it. We can’t wait to see you again and go for a ride! Tell the family hello!

So, until next year and until next time!

aloha,

pua.

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Pua’s Partners Puzzle

Today will mark the beginning of the monthly Pua’s Partners Puzzle contest. It is simple, fun and a gives you a chance to win some really cool stuff! So read the details below and start finding the answers.

What is the Pua’s Partners Puzzle?

Each month we will feature either one or a few of our partners who have provided us with some fun trivia and some really cool prizes. We will provide you with those questions, you will have to find and provide us with the answers and those of you who answer 100% correctly will be put into a random drawing where one winner will be picked and sent that months prize.

How will it work?

You will go to teammata.com/contest.php where all the details, questions and/or trivia of that months contest can be found. You will follow all of the rules, find all of the correct answers and email them to contest@teammata.com. *A little hint! Check out the partners website!*

Each puzzle will be featured for one whole month, it will begin on the 10th and end on the 10th of the next month. So, we will be taking entries until the 9th of the next month and on the 10th, the winner will be announced on on our site and the winner will also be contacted via email and be told how to receive their prizes. With the announcement of a winner for that months puzzle will be the next puzzle to be solved.

Rules?

1. One entry per person.
2. To enter the contest, the entry must be emailed to contest@teammata.com.
3. To be a valid entry, the email must contain all of the following:
a. Full Name
b. Address
c. Email
d. Phone Number
e. What bike do you ride?
4. The answers to the questions or trivia for that month. (hopefully the correct ones.)
5. All prizes are non-negotiable and are final.
6. Team Mata is not responsible or reliable for any of the prizes.
7. If any prizes are not available, Team Mata has the right to substitute that prize for another.
8. Winner must agree to official contest rules before receiving any prizes.
9. Have fun!!

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By living a nomadic lifestyle I have learned that there are a few things or experiences that come with the territory and are unavoidable, but this experience was one that we were hoping to always avoid.

On Tuesday morning, Ron and I packed up and left Tennessee. We were there for the 12 hours of Dirt, Sweat and Gears. Once again it was a phenomenal event that was filled with even more fun and surprises than last year. It began with a Tornado watch the night before the race, a ton of rain leading all the way until the start, a first lap that was an absolute nightmare with all of the mud and muck, going from not being able to even pedal during a few sections in the second and third laps to an absolute perfect course by the fourth lap, a live band, the landing of a helicopter, a huge turnout of racers and it all ended with an awesome awards ceremony with a ton of cool giveaways. Then of course, the following days were the most perfect and beautiful of days ever. It is always funny how that happens.

After leaving Fayetteville, Tennessee we began to head back to the west. Ron jumped in the drivers seat, as usual, to begin his marathon driving. I still have no idea how he does it. He can sit in the drivers seat and drive for a straight 18 hours, pull into a rest area or truck stop, drag me into the RV, get a few hours of sleep, wake up at 4 in the morning and do it all over again. Sitting in the car for that long is awful, but we get there quick and I get on the computer and sleep for the most part, so I really cannot complain.

This drive began that way again for the most part, but when we got up in the morning on day 2 of our drive, my driver was not feeling so well. We had to make quite a few pit stops for a bathroom break and after about 6 hours of driving, he could take it no more and it was my turn to be driver.

I really have not spent much time driving our house around, but this is one of the times that I had to do it. Ron got in the back seat and tried to get some sleep and before I knew it, the window was down, his head was out the window and it was way to late to grab a plastic bag or even pull over. We were on the I-70 driving through Colorado and finding somewhere to pullover was quite the task.

Before I could find a place to pullover, the window went down a few more times after the plastic bag could no longer do the job and lets just say it was a nasty situation. I finally pulled over, got Ron cleaned up, got the truck cleaned up and found a Walmart past Vail where we could pullover and wait till he felt a little better.

The Walmart was about an hour away and by the time we got there he was feeling a little better and told me to keep driving. Eventually we got past Grand Junction and found a truck stop to fill up with diesel before we headed into the canyon lands. It was starting to get late and we found a rest area that was about 60 miles away and I decided that I would stop there. I kept driving and the fuel looked good and when we were 20 miles out from the rest area, we began to climb and our fuel began to guzzle.

At this point Ron got up and we took a look at the fuel gauge as it gave us a warning sound and it read that we were a little over 30 miles to E. We immediately grabbed the gps and found that the nearest fuel was 64 miles away. It was late, we were tired, there was no cell service and we decided to get to the rest area and deal with our situation in the morning. We continued to climb and although we were only 8 miles away now, every mile on the fuel gauge seemed to get shorter and shorter.

We finally got to the rest area and we pulled in and got in the RV. On top of running out of fuel, our battery levels were low in the RV and our generator would not turnover. This meant that we would have no heater, no hot water and soon nothing would run. We got into bed and just shut our eyes so that we could wake up to a new day.

At 7am we got up and took a step outside and the view was beautiful. We were definitely in the middle of nowhere and we were hoping that we were at the top of the climb and it would be downhill for a long ways and we could coast right through it. We got in the car and began to drive and learn what fate had in store for us today.

The drive began and the climbing was only beginning. One second we would think we were going down, but as soon as we took a look ahead, we were going right back up. We continued to drive and we got another fuel warning and this time it read 0 miles to E and we knew it was only time until we would no longer roll. I took another look at the gps and now we were 35 miles out from the nearest fuel and there was no cell service.

At this point we figured we were going to keep rolling until we could roll no longer and then we would get out of the car and wave down anyone who was willing to stop and ask for help. We got 5 miles farther and the truck began to putt, the road continued to climb and we decided it was time to stop.

The two of us jumped out of the truck and began waving at every car or truck that went by. After a few attempts a truck put on its blinkers and he pulled up in front of us. We decided that Ron would get in the truck with our two gas cans and drive into town with him, he would get some fuel, hitch a ride back and me and Koa would wait with the house.

The truck drivers name was Nick and it turned out that he spent three years of his life in Hawaii. We could not have been luckier to be picked up by such a nice person. Along the way into town, Nick and Ron exchanged stories and became friends. He dropped Ron off at a gas station with a AAA tow service company readily available and Ron was able to walk right up and ask for help. One of the truck drivers loaded up 20 gallons of diesel and took Ron back to the RV while telling Ron all kinds of stories about his life.

When Ron pulled up in the truck they pumped the 20 gallons into our truck and we were off on our way. We had a half tank of fuel and were going to make it safely into the next truck stop. We learned that we were definitely not the first people to do this and definitely not the last, but all I know is that we are going to try our hardest to never let this happen again.

aloha,

pua

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I heard the eerie call of the mosque again this morning, but thankfully I was able to fall back asleep. When I got up the second time and took a look outside, I could see some aftermath from the storm the night before. Besides a little cooler temperatures and a little cloud cover, I could tell it was going to be a beautiful day.

We both got ready and headed down to breakfast. There is something or a couple of things that I have noticed here. First, most of the tourists here are of course from Germany and they do not seem to exactly be the friendliest or the most fond of us. Maybe it is because they do not understand us and we do not understand them or maybe I am reading it completely wrong, but sometimes I feel we stick out like a sore thumb and they are looking.

Next, if it is the morning, void what I just mentioned. For some reason, when it is the first thing in the morning and the sun just came up, everyone is so friendly. No matter who it is, you will get a greeting of “morning.” I found it a little odd at first because they were saying something to us, but it was really pleasant.

The other thing we noticed is that in the hotel, whenever there is music playing, it is american music. We learned that they listen to our music and love it. Even though they do not speak our language, they know most of the words to our songs. They even know YMCA. Not only did they know the words, but they knew the dance. One song that we heard them play in the morning is Taps. This was really strange, but no one else thought anything of it.

The last thing we noticed while enjoying one of our three meals in the day is that Germans eat with both a knife and fork all the time. We use a knife when cutting needs to get done, but they seem to use it to assist them to eat. It made me feel like I was doing something wrong or was out of place. These are just a few observations that began with having breakfast in the restaurant.

After some grub, we packed up the bikes and headed to the course. I was pretty excited. We parked right out of town and began to pedal. Our first turn onto dirt took us to an immediate right turn and over a beautiful ancient bridge. We rode the whole first half of the course and I was blown away. There was no technical sections and there was one single track that was maybe 1.5 miles, but no matter where you were on the course, you were surrounded by beauty.

At about 40 minutes into our ride, I looked ahead and we were riding right through ancient ruins that were thousands of years old. The course followed what seemed to have once been a road or path that went right through the ancient village. I must say that it created a special feeling inside, it was amazing.

Besides the beauty and history we rode through, the course seemed to fit me perfectly. As we rode and made a turn, it would climb and climb and keep on climbing. I was psyched. I realized we didn’t ride the whole course yet, but when looking at the profiles and maps, I knew I would love it. For today, my time was up and I would see more of it tomorrow.

Although the ride was perfect and amazing, Ron’s borrowed bike was not. He would pedal and the gears would slip because of course, the teeth were just about gone. On top of that, his grips were not only round, but slipping (he was dreaming of his Ergon grips). His fork was also not working correctly and he was missing his Truth. But, when taking a look at where he was riding, he still managed to enjoy the ride and smile.

We got back in the car and headed back to the hotel. On our way back, we got into a little confrontation (kind of, I guess). We were heading through town and we were stopped at a light. Just as the light was going to turn green, everyone began to go and there were two guys crossing the street in front of us. As it turned green, Ron played a local and swerved around the pedestrians and a little into the lane next to us.

The next thing I knew, I looked to my right where we were swerving and there is a car there. Not only is there a car, but it is a car with an annoyed driver who will not stop honking. The two guys finally got out of the road and everyone got safely through the light, but the honking still did not stop. Before we knew it, the car kept following us and kept honking.

We were not too sure what he wanted, but we realized he would not let it go. Eventually we were stopped at a red light and he pulled up in the “open space” of the shoulder lane that was next to us and started yelling in Turkish. I knew it was quite obvious that we were tourists and had no idea what he was saying, but he kept yelling. This is when we both looked at him and said sorry. What else could we do?

He seemed to calm down a little, but had to say a few more words before he drove off. It felt like maybe it was a power thing. I believe the rental stickers on the van were a give away and there was no room in his mind for ways of the locals to be done by a tourist. It was a little creepy at first, but I had to hold myself back from laughing after a while.

After that little incident, we made it safely back to the hotel. We cleaned up and headed to the game room and had a little bowling competition. It was pretty interesting. Bowling is not really a huge sport here in Turkey and something different is that their bowling pins were hung from strings.

In the states our bowling pins have an automatic sweeper arm thing that clears the lane and then another gadget puts the pins back. Here in Turkey, they removed the gadgets and replaced it with strings. I did not do so well and Ron kicked my bootie, but it was fun.

When we were finished bowling, we headed to the buffet to eat. This is where Ron would once again try to order a glass of red wine in Turkish and get shut down and be forced to ask for it in english. It is really funny. Depending on the waiter or waitress we would get, it would determine how we could order. We had one waitress who would teach us the Turkish language and appreciate the trying and then we would get the waiter who would act as if he had no idea what we were saying, unless it was said in english. Silly people.

After dinner we got back to the room and got ready for bed, and that is when we began to hear the storm coming. The thunder began to roll and pound, while the lightning flashed. Soon after, the buckets began to drop again. I must say, it is kind of nice to go to sleep like that.

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Day 5. (Wednesday)

This morning began a little earlier than planned or wished. All I remember was slowly coming out of my comfortable, dreamy sleep by a disturbing sound that I could not exactly make out. As I tossed and turned a little and became aware of where I was and what was going on, I realized that the disturbing call was coming from a nearby mosque and it was becoming more clear. If I was asked to describe it, I am not sure I could. It was probably the most eerie sound that I have ever heard. It sounded like a low hum of a man who was sending out a message or call. It was still completely black outside and all I wanted to do was make it go away, but even after it ended, it seemed to linger. I could not go back to sleep.

I stayed in bed for a while, but after I could not take it anymore I got up and learned that Ron had experienced the same thing. The sun was rising and we decided to take an early walk on the beach before breakfast and before the day would begin.

It was pretty crazy to walk along the beach that lined the Mediterranean Sea. It made us look at where we really were and what we were surrounded by. It was a crazy thought, but it was beautiful. The beach was lined with resorts for as far as we could see either way we looked and in front of each resort was rows and rows of sun shades and beach chairs. It is the off-season right now for Turkey, but we heard that in the summer, it goes off and is crazy. Maybe we will have to come back in the summer some day.

We finished our walk, ate our breakfast and went our separate ways. For me, today was a more relaxing day. I went to the gym, did a little spin, got a massage and took in a little of where I was. Ron on the other hand headed out to scout some of the course, and attempt to find the feed zones and a bike shop.

Eventually we both met up in our room and realized a few mishaps of racing in a foreign place. We still have not found a street map, so we have been downloading google earth and emailing with the race director for assistance. Luckily, he speaks excellent english and is nothing but helpful. He immediately sent over a map with a little more detail and said the course would be fully marked tomorrow. The other predicament that we are in is finding a co2. Here, they do not exist. Or, they probably do exist, but we can’t find them.

Thankfully, Ron was able to seal my WTB’s perfectly without a co2. But, it looks like I will be racing with a lovely hand pump. I really hope I do not get a flat. Another thing, if you are looking for a bike shop here, just forget it.

After hearing about Ron’s adventure of a day, we put a call into the race director to ask if he knew about bike rentals. Ron needed a bike for tomorrow and we were lost on finding one around here. The race director actually had a connection and took care of us. He got our hotel and room number and was going to have it delivered. We were wondering what kind of bike we would see, but we were just thrilled and thankful we found one. We also asked him about a co2 and he said he would see what he could do for us. I will keep my fingers crossed.

When those things where taken care of, we decided to take a walk up the road and check out the shopping. One way to describe this best is Mexico, but very clean and neat. As you go down the street, it is lined with the street vendors. Many have the garage like store that is opened, pulled out and set up every morning, but there are also the little boutique like stores that are set up randomly between the garages.

I have to admit that I was quick to judge with my first glance of the street. When we rolled down the road the first day we arrived, I looked out my window and saw all of these clothes everywhere that appeared to be designer stuff. My first thought again was walking through Mexico with the “Nike” shirt or bag that was marked with the crooked swoosh. But, as we walked down the street, there was some interesting things we noticed.

Besides the cleanliness and the vendors trying to pull you into their place, the product quality looked like the real deal and everyone looked good. I know it sounds funny, but it is true. No matter who they were: vendor, driver, door man, young man walking down the street or on his moped, grandpa on his bike or someone who looks a little less fortunate. Everyone was dressed to impressed and looked good. The streets were lined with leather, Diesel, Dolce & Gabana and all these designer names that I didn’t even know.

We took a walk in a few different stores and felt a little odd. The moment you walked in and showed a sign of interest, you were immediately approached. If you began to try things on, they were catering to you. We got offered coffee, tea, Rocky (the drink of Turkey), water or anything you would request. As soon as you told them what you wanted, they were gone and back with your request within minutes.

If something you tried on didn’t fit exactly how you wanted, “no problem.” They would ask what needed to be changed and in a few minutes they were back and your pants were altered and fit perfectly. You could barter with them until you felt you got a steal of a deal and then shake hands before you parted. It was awesome.

We decided that the reason this is going on, is because these clothes are on the black market. They look like the real deal and the quality is great. The only bummer about the whole thing is that you realize how much we are getting ripped off here in the US. If you really want to go shopping, go to Turkey.

After some shopping and walking, we headed back and went to dinner. When we got back to the room, Ron got a call and his bike was downstairs. It was a Bergwerx or something, I can’t quite remember, and looked pretty good. It was only going to be for a day and even though it wasn’t an Ellsworth, he was excited that he would get to ride in Turkey.

It was that time again. We turned off the lights and just as we were drifting off to sleep, I asked Ron what he thought that noise was. There was this loud banging noise coming from outside. We went to take a look and just as we managed to quickly pull our stuff in, it started pouring like I have never seen before.

It was storming and the thunder would roll and strike while the lightning lit the whole sky and the wind howled and blew anything in its way. the rain came down as if there was a bottomless bucket that was big enough to cover the whole sky and someone was pouring it out. Ron says it was like the storms on the east coast, but it was a first for me. I watched it a little and then got back in bed and went to sleep.

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Day 4. (Tuesday)

After eating some breakfast, we got ready and headed out to the climb. According to the course map, this will be the biggest climb of the race and it seems that it will be the make or break of the race. When we got to the road that headed towards the climb, there was a security check point and a gate. We stopped as everyone stared and we managed to explain that we wanted to ride on the course. He took a look in our van, saw the bike, gave us directions that we eventually understood and waved us through. We were not too sure what the security was for, but we figured we would soon see.

We continued down the road, and as it turned left, we looked up and there was a huge damn. This was why there was all the security and this is what we were going to climb over. Ron drove across a bridge and then stopped to let me out. When we stopped, we heard rocks falling from the wall behind us. We took a look back and there was a goat herder, following his goats down the road.

I got on my bike and Ron drove up the road a little to park the car and run up with me. It was a fire road climb that had a consistent, steady grade. The majority of the dirt here has little tiny boulders or large marbles and a lot of the dirt roads are also covered with them and this fire road had sections of that. I climbed almost halfway up and then turned around and I could tell that this was definitely a climbers course. I could not have been more thrilled.

When we got back to the car, we packed up and headed to the hotel. After some lunch, we headed to the grocery store called MM Migros to find some peanut butter. I was not sure if they would even have it because there was none for the morning buffet at our hotel, but I thought I would try. We also thought it would be fun to see what a Turkish grocery store is like.

The parking lot was normal, except the parking stalls seemed very small. When we walked inside we felt like we were walking in any other grocery store until we walked up to the shelves and read the labels. Although the majority of everything in the store was in Turkish, we found things that were from America. Many products or foods had the American brand and a Turkish brand. But when it came to the peanut butter, all I found was a jar of Skippy. I was surprised that there was no Turkish brand of peanut butter, but it seemed that they were really into Tahini.

After finding what we needed, we went through the checkout and went back to the hotel. The rest of the evening we followed our same routine and got ready for the next day. I must say that it has been really nice that the days on this trip have not been flying by. We have been enjoying each day and are pretty well prepared. Until tomorrow.

aloha,

pua

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Day 3. (Monday)

Ron was up by 6:15 am and out the door in no time. It was less than three hours later that I could hear this loud noise coming from down the hall, and sure enough, it was Ron and my bike. We opened up the box and everything was perfect, my bike was beautiful. I never thought I would be so happy to see it.

The moment we had the bike in our hands and in our room, Ron was at work. Within two hours, I had a bike and we were heading out the door for a training ride in TURKEY! We were heading towards the area that the race will be held, but because the course was not marked, I would be riding on the mountain roads that Ron had found. I was not too sure what I would be in for or what I would see, but I was super excited.

As soon as we drove past the chaos in town, Ron parked our car and got my bike out. I got my stuff together, jumped on my bike and starting pedaling down the streets of Turkey. This is when I realized that one thing was true, no matter where in the world you are and no matter how different things may be, when you get on your bike and start pedaling you will always feel at home. I was on my bike and I was home!

I began pedaling and it was soon becoming more desolate. I would look to my right and see a goat herder with her cane herding her goats, not too far across the meadow from her, there was a man and his three camels on the side of the road advertising camel rides. When we got a little farther up the road, Ron began honking his horn to get my attention and when I looked towards where he was pointing, there was an ancient bridge going across a meadow. It was absolutely amazing.

Not too long after that, I made a turn and took a look at where I was heading and I knew that I would not have enough time here to see everything that was ahead of me. I did not realize that this place was so mountainous and beautiful, I wanted to explore everything. I was riding on a road that seemed to continue forever. As I continued to pedal, I continued to be amazed.

Just when I thought I was out in the middle of nowhere, I would take a turn and there would be an ancient little village up ahead. The road would wind right through it, and as I rode by, the women who were working would stop and the children who were walking home from school would stop and stare at me as I rode by. Each home seemed to have rugs hanging from the porch or clothes hanging from the line to dry while roosters and chickens were running around by the goats or cows that were tied up to a tree. I felt like I was going back in time.

One thing that we noticed was that everything was very neat. The homes were very old and run down, some of the structures were even falling apart, but no matter what, it seemed that everything was always kept neat. There were so many times that I just wanted to stop and take a picture, but I was on my ride and I did not want to be rude to these people whose culture I really didn’t know.

When my ride was over, I had climbed almost 2,500′ and we did not even come close to the roads end. It was crazy to be up in the mountains on a paved road (even though it was not a perfectly paved road) that did not seem to stop. As we looked around, not only could we see the paved road going on and on, we could see dirt roads everywhere. You could probably spend days exploring and hardly touch what is out there. I really wish we had time for that.

On the way down, I got to do a little sightseeing and be a tourist. I tried to take in everything I could and took some time to realize that I was halfway around the world in Turkey. I would remember this forever.

Eventually we made our way back to the hotel and had a pretty normal evening before it was time to go to bed. The course was still not going to be marked tomorrow, but we were going to head out to one of the climbs that we knew would be in the course for sure. I can’t wait to see what it’s like.

aloha,

pua

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Day 2. (Sunday)

At 7 am Ron opened up the curtains and got me up. I was not quite ready to get up, but we had to drive back to the airport and get the rest of our stuff. It was almost 1 hour away and we really wanted to get my bike and put it together. We began our drive and the roads were pretty empty and not so bad. Along with all the crazy drivers, we saw an old man walking one cow, a woman walking two cows, tractors driving dow the highway, people walking along the highway and an actual cyclist training along the highway.

We finally arrived to the airport, parked in the crazy parking lot and walked in the terminal. We walked around and asked for help, but everyone was pretty clueless. After getting no where, we put a call into the lost and found. They told us we were in the wrong terminal and we had to go back to the car, pay for the 2 second parking and drive to the next terminal. When we got there we had to ask for some help, get confused and then finally get to where we were supposed to. As we were approaching the office, we realized there no bike box in sight. We walked into the office and sure enough, the bike did not make it.

The feeling of not having the most important piece of luggage is pretty awful. To think that you have traveled all the way to Turkey for a bike race without having a bike is stress. I realize that we are not the first people that this has happened to, but we have been through so much. Ron immediately started pondering the fact that we may not have a bike and thought about what other options we might have.

As we were pacing, the woman who has been helping us got on her computer and said the box was in Germany and she just need someone to respond to her so that she could get it sent. While she was doing that, we got on the phone with the global services of our travel insurance and they too began the search for our box. When we did all we could do, we got our bags and headed back to the hotel.

We got back to the hotel, ate some lunch and got to work. Ron was going to head out to do some scouting on the course and I was going to head to the gym to get a ride in and lift weights. Because the course was not marked yet, Ron downloaded a few different maps and google earth to reference them against each other and see what he could find. He knew he would not be able to figure out the exact course, but he wanted to get a feel for the area and find a route that I could use for training.

Just before he was about to leave, the phone rang and it was someone from the airport informing us that our box was found would get here at midnight. Getting that phone call took a huge weight off our shoulders and it felt like our trip would finally begin. Ron would wake up early in the morning tomorrow to pick it up so that we could get it together and get my training done. With that amazing news, Ron headed out to find some trails.

By the time he got back it was time for some dinner. At the hotel we are staying at, everything is all-inclusive. It works out perfectly because they serve three buffet style meals everyday, so no matter what, there is always something you can find to eat. There is always every kind of cheese, salad and olives you could imagine. Then they always have different types of meats, rice, pasta and soup. Ron loves it because he gets to do all kinds of experimenting. I on the other hand, tend to keep it safe and stick to what I know. One thing I love is that everything is light and simply prepared. They definitely know how to season and flavor their foods.

Outside of the buffet restaurant, there are two other restaurants that you can make reservations to and I think we will tray at least on of the two before we leave.

After dinner we headed up to the room and were ready to craxh. Ron was getting up super early and we were both super tired. I just hope that everything goes well and smoothly tomorrow, but I guess we shall see. There is one more thing, I realize that I have not given this place a chance, and judging it on the first day with the circumstances and state we were in was not the best thing or the most fair. But, after today, my view has definitely changed and things are not as bad as I thought. I think like anything else or anywhere else, if you accept how they do things and be willing to adjust and experience it that way, you may just like it. It is extremely different and still crazy, but it really is not so bad and I think we are going to love this trip.

aloha,

pua

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Arriving to Antalya

The flight was 55 minutes long and just as were walking off the plane and felt a sense of calm. As we were walking off of the plane, a lady with a clipboard was standing in front of us at the bottom of the stairs. This would not have even got our attention, but the fact that her clipboard had our names typed on it did.

We walked up to her and she led us to a vehicle that was parked across of our plane. We got into the van and it began to drive off. As it began driving away from the terminal we landed in front of, we looked at each other and wondered where we were being taken. It was at this moment that we realized we were in a foreign country, in a van with a man who obviously did not speak english and we had no idea where he was taking us or what was going on.

Just as we began to think about how naive we were, he made another turn to another terminal and pulled up in front of a door to the building. We sat waiting until he finally opened the door and another lady walked out of the building to escort us through to the security to check our passports and then into an office. In the office we were greeted by a woman who informed us that none of our bags made it with us. Our hearts sunk, our mouths dropped and all we wanted to do was cry. The woman behind the desk saw frustration and told us it was okay because our two bags would be on the next flight over. That would have been great if we only had two bags, but we had three bags and one bike box. This is when her mouth dropped.

For the next hour or so, we were filling out forms, answering questions and trying to track our missing stuff. We did not even know what was missing and all we could hope was that it was not the bike box or tool bag. The lady that was helping us called our rental car company just as we were finishing up and as we were waiting, she managed to track down one more bag. This was great, but it would not arrive until midnight and we would have to pick it up tomorrow. The rental car arrived and we were heading out, when the final fourth piece was found. She told us that this bag was also going to arrive at midnight. Although it was an inconvenience, we were so happy that it was found and we would have it the next day.

The rental car was going to pick us up outside at the curb and we slowly made our way over. When we got their a van pulled up, a young guy walked up to us and we both identified that we were who the other was looking for. We were pleased to see him, but we quickly learned that the feeling was not mutual. He was a younger guy who was very annoyed. He spoke fairly good english and managed to explain to us that he was waiting for us for two hours last night, trying to call our phones and we did not show up. I felt really bad, but there were a couple of things that he did not understand. 1. We were super delayed 2. That usually we pick up a rental car from someone behind a desk at the airport, not from someone at the curb.

We tried explaining and after a little back and forth and a conversation with his boss on the cell phone, we all got into the van. He began to relax a little and I think he began to understand and realize what we went through. Within 10 minutes we were at a gas station, filling out paperwork and paying for our rental. The whole situation was a little odd, but everything was legit and we were getting our car.

Before we took the car he drove us to the pumps and we filled up. In Turkey, you do not pump your own fuel. You must drive up to the pump, pay them the cash and they fill it up. Or, you pull up to the pump, go inside and pay with a card. If you pay with a card they take the cash out of your pavement and hand it to you so you can give the fuel attendant your cash. After we got our fuel and our car directions that took us back to the airport, we headed on the road. We attempted to buy a map first, but we have yet to find one. We tried a handful of gas stations and a few car rental companies at the airport, but no luck. We were going to have to learn as we go and the moment we hit the road, was the moment we quickly learned what being a Turkish driver was all about.

It took no more than 2 seconds for it to all begin. Ron started our van, pulled forward though the gas station and before we knew it, the truck from behind gunned it and went to our left to get around and in front of us. We weren’t too sure what was going on, but it did not take us too long to figure that one out.

We had to make a right out of the driveway onto a sort of side road and then make a left at the light and then another left so we would be going the opposite way back to the airport. That sounds a little confusing, but we basically needed to do a u-turn, but from the side or frontage road. So, we get to the light and quickly try to figure out how their traffic laws work. I think the way to describe their roads or their intersections is a round-a-bout. Our round-a-bouts at home do not have lights, but here, there are lights and signs that look like stop signs. The only difference is that they say “DUR” instead of “STOP.” We think these signs also mean stop or possibly caution.

The lights here are very similar to ours, they are just smaller and all over the place. Although they look similar, the meanings of each color seem to be a little different. If the light is red, you kind of treat it like a stop sign or sometimes a caution. If you come to an intersection with a red light and there are no cars around you, gun it and continue on your way. If there is a car stopped at the red light in front of you, all you do is use the space around them to continue through the red light and be on your way. Now, if the light is flashing yellow then you know the red light is coming. This just means, go really fast and get through the intersection before the red light appears. Next, a red and yellow light together is letting you know the green light is coming. Which means to start stepping on it. Finally, the green light means to go and waste no time doing it.

It took a little while to figure it all out, but I think we got it under control now. One more thing that we also learned, is that if you are at a light and start hearing someone honking from behind, that also means go.

As far as the roads, they look pretty much the same. There are normally two lanes with a shoulder next to each lane. It all seemed pretty normal until we were at an intersection where everyone was stopped at a red light. It was a two lane road, we were in the right lane and before we knew it, there appeared to be four lanes. There was a car who was going straight, just as we were, who decided that the shoulder on the right was another lane. When we looked to the left there was another car doing the same thing, just on the left side. When the light turned green and we stalled just for a split second, there was a car honking from behind and chaos all around. It was a race to see who could get in front first, they would just forget about the lanes and just get in front. You must never show any hesitation.

Then, when we were driving down the two lane roads and saw a car come up to a car in the left lane and a car in the right lane next to each other, they would flash their lights or honk their horns and just drive around them which ever way they found space. This could be on the left shoulder, right shoulder or even right between them if you want to.

It was total chaos and a total shock. I figured there was no way we were going to get to our hotel in one piece and Ron was pretty freaked out. We were both exhausted and could barely keep our eyes open. Playing bumper cars or what felt like bumper cars without the actual bumping, was not the most pleasant or exciting thing in the world.

We still do not know if there are any actual traffic laws, but we still have not seen a police pull anyone over. I do not think I have actually seen any police patrolling the roads or highways. I have only seen them in the downtowns and they were driving past cars that were parked almost in the middle of the roads and people driving all over the place, so I am guessing that they are not too worried about traffic violations.

Since we do not know the actual laws or rules of the roads, we kind of came up with some on our own. We will call them the guidelines on how to drive like a Turk.
1. Never use your blinker.
2. DUR means to stop only if someone is there. If you see DUR, use caution.
3. If you are at a red light and there are no cars going the way that would cause an accident, go.
4. The lines on the road mean nothing, pretend they are not there.
5. If you are at a red light with other cars, roll as far forward as you can before you actually stop. If there is room in front of the car ahead of you, pull in front of him and stop. If there is space around the cars in front of you, treat it like the start of a race and line up in the front row where ever there is space.
6. When there is a pedestrian waiting to cross, it is not your place as a driver to slow down and let them go. If you do, not only will the cars behind you start honking, but the person crossing will go into shock.
7. Use your horn.

These are just our observations and what we believe to be true. Or at least, this is what we always see. The one thing we learned is that when you do something wrong, as a tourist would, there is no hesitation on their part to let you know.

Ron has been the driver since we have been here and I think he fits right in now. I don’t think that anyone would even know we were tourists until they pulled next to us and took a look inside. Ron is definitely the give away. A white boy with a baseball cap, definitely not a local. We may just have to find a fake wig and mustache before we leave. Ron even gave me a tour of the shoulder lane, a little weird out there, but I guess I could get used to it. I have yet to drive, but I may jump in the drivers seat before we leave so I can have a little adrenaline rush and I can say I have driven with the Turks too.

I think that is it for the driving, except there are a couple of things to know. Once the sun goes down, it seems the road gets even crazier. Also, if you are looking for a road map, good luck. It does not seem that maps exist for this place. The best map may be google earth.

So, back to our story. We actually found our way back to the airport in one piece and after we figured out the parking lot that resembled their driving ways, we learned our two bags that should have been there were going to be delayed. We were completely sick of everything that was going on and all we wanted to do was get to the hotel, eat and relax. We decided the best thing for us to do is to drive to the hotel and pick up all four bags at one time. In the terminal there were a bunch of ATM’s and we decided to get out some Lyra (Turkish Dollars) before we left, but for some reason our cards were not working. We had some Euro with us and knew we looked like zombies walking around and we were completely sick of being in an airport, so we headed back to the car. We drove up to the parking attendant and handed him our money and he would not accept it. He made everyone behind us reverse and we had to run back into the terminal and get change from a restaurant. After getting through the communication barrier, we were able to get the money, get out of the parking lot and make our way to the hotel.

Because we had no map and we had no directions, we made a couple of phone calls and finally found the hotel. I was a little nervous about what our hotel was going to be like, but it was beautiful. We walked up to check-in and everyone spoke english. They did not always completely understand what we were saying, but we were able to communicate.

When it was time to pay, we handed over our visa card and it got rejected. There was no way anything else would go smoothly for us, to I think at this point, we were expecting everything to go wrong. It was really just one of those days. We had other cards, but realized that Bank of America shut our card off because they thought there was something suspicious going on. This has happened before when we started living on the road and I completely forgot to call and let them know.

After getting into our room and checking everything out a little, we headed down to eat. All we wanted to do after that was sleep, but we did not have any clothes and we needed to stay up to start adjusting to the time. Prior to leaving home we had already started adjusting our sleep schedule to limit the jet lag, so we weren’t a full 10 hours back, but it was a struggle to keep the eyes open.

We headed back to the room to make a couple of phone calls to our travelers insurance and made a claim on our delayed luggage. Then we headed back to the car to go find a store and some clothes. It took a bit of driving to find our way around, but we did it and found some stuff we were looking for. As it started to get dark, we headed back to our hotel to shower and get ready for some sleep. I could not wait to sleep. I actually tried to write a little bit before I crashed, but my writing started to make no sense and my eyes were so heavy that it was useless to try and keep them open. Once we turned out the lights I think we both were already sleeping.

I have to be honest, I was wanting that day to end way before it did. I think I had a bit of culture shock and because of everything we had been through and how everything was going for us, I was kind of wanting to be back home. I knew I was jumping the gun a little and had to give it a little time and I also had to experience it when I was not in zombie mode.

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Istanbul to Antalya.

We are now sitting in the domestic terminal of the Istanbul airport. It definitely feels very foreign. We are in a waiting area and the benches are lined with people sleeping or people trying to sleep next to their luggage. It was 3 am when we got here and there is nothing I wanted more than to get some sleep. Ron and I claimed a row of chairs and attempted to close our eyes, but all I can say is, impossible. There are people constantly walking around either with purpose or to pass time. Next door it sounds like there is a jack hammer going and it is all topped off with the Mexico looking toy stores in front of us. The toy store would be fine, but the workers are trying to entertain themselves (I don’t think anyone is really interested in buying toys at 3 in the morning, but what do I know), so every 5 minutes ‘tickle me Elmo’ is giggling as he rolls and tumbles over. Then, if it isn’t Elmo laughing it’s the disco music or the singing turtle yelling “joy to the world.”

It is now almost 5 am and we keep looking over to see if the ticket counter is open so we can walk over and get our boarding passes, check on the status of our luggage and get to the gate. Our next stop is finally Antalya and I cannot wait to get there. I have yet to see what Turkey looks like and we really do not know what to expect. I guess we will see soon.

Still in Istanbul.

I really thought that the next time I would be writing would be in Antalya, but believe it or not we are still in Istanbul. I guess sometimes when you think the fun is over, it is really just the beginning.

We were sitting and waiting, when finally at 6 am everything seemed to come to life and our ticket counter had a person there. We walked right up to exchange our voucher that we received from British Airways, when our simple exchange turned out to be not so simple. Not only were we trying to explain our confusing story, but we were trying to explain our confusing story to someone who really did not understand much English. After a little back and forth mumbo jumbo we were directed to the supervisor who quickly sent us to a ticket purchasing counter. There was not much more we could say, but we knew this could be trouble.

We headed over to the ticket purchasing to explain our story one more time and we got the same reaction. Our little ticket voucher that British Airways so cleverly handed to us, seemed to not go over so well with everyone. The man behind the counter asked for 10 minutes and stepped back and gave it to him. The 10 minutes quickly went by and still no answer or acknowledgment. He continued to service other customers and eventually a young Asian man got to the window and seemed to be very frustrated, annoyed and uneasy. I think he was having some ticket trouble, but when he finally stepped back we walked back up to the counter and were not so thrilled when he asked for another 10 minutes on top of the 20 minutes we just gave him.

There was another individual at the counter now and we tried to explain that we just needed to know if we were going to be able to get on the plane and if they knew where our luggage was. But, she still had no answer and asked for another 10 minutes. Just as we were turning away, two managers walked up, took our voucher and spoke a bunch of Turkish to each other. After a few moments they asked us to follow them. As we were following them, they kept discussing the situation and we followed them right back to where we started about 1 hour ago. I think we explained our story at least 2 more times when the young Asian man walked up behind us once again. His anxiety definitely was not calm, I think it grew 10 times worse, he looked like he was going to cry.

Instead of standing back and waiting for help, he began shoving his way in towards us to get the managers attention and that is when they took a look at his ticket and told him to just wait. I was not sure what his ticket said, but he obviously had enough time to spare. This was definitely what seemed to be a common situation that I continually noticed the second that we stepped into the plane to Istanbul. There was no longer any feeling of patience, respect or place. If you wanted to get anywhere, you had to stick your foot out and shove your way in. If you did not do this, you would get no where.

We continued standing at the counter watching everyone behind the counter, they were still staring at our voucher and speaking about it in Turkish. We had no idea what was being said, but I am sure it was the same things they had been saying for the last hour. When finally, we saw one of the ladies begin typing on the computer and print out two beautiful boarding passes.

After taking the two boarding passes, we showed them our luggage tags and asked if they could make sure my bike and our three bags were on the plane. The lady took a moment and picked up the phone, spoke a little Turkish, typed a few things on the keyboard and then told us there was no problem and they would be there when we land. We were so excited and felt that we were finally going to make it to Antalya.

There was now one hour left until our plane deported. We pushed our way through to the security check and jumped in line. A few minutes into our waiting a few people began to shove their way through our line to get to another line next to us. When we looked up, it was the young Asian man from the ticket counter. He still looked uneasy and his dad did not look any better. But, it looked like they would be alright and would make their flight. After a few more bumps and shoves we quickly learned that we could not let our guard down for even one second. It was key to leave no space between you and the person in front of you and to not look relaxed or oblivious to your surroundings. The purpose of standing in line was completely out the door, you had to fight for your spot and own it.

Right before we were about to reach the belt and put our bags on it, a group of four girls began shoving their way in front of us. We held our ground and just as we were about to step forward, one of the girls who spoke a little english told us that they were going to miss their flight and they really needed to get through. We looked behind us and knew it was a long line because we just stood in it, but we felt bad and let them in. When no more than two seconds later, three more people began trying to shove through and say they were in a hurry. We immediately shoved back, moved forward and got our bags on the belt. There was no way we were going to let everyone in front of us and we had no more want of being nice.

From the security it took maybe one minute to make our way to our gate. There was a little time to spare and we finally felt a little settled and confident that we would get to Antalya. After about 20 minutes of waiting a line to the gate began to form and we quickly claimed a spot. Just as we got a spot, we looked up and we could not believe who we saw. It was the young Asian man from the ticket counter. We could not believe he was having a breakdown for the same flight we were on. You would have thought he was on a flight that was gone an hour ago. I think the crazy part of the whole thing was that, even though he had his ticket, was at his gate and was in line to get on the plane, he still looked frazzled and anxious. At this point we just laughed and Ron joked that he would probably end up sitting next to him.

After getting through the gate, we got on a bus that escorted us to our plane. We got in the plane, sat down and the young Asian guy had the seat right next to Ron. I think it was the moment that he finally sat in his seat on the plane that he finally looked relaxed.

It’s time to try and get some sleep and finally get to Antalya.

pua

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