Although I knew I had a long day ahead of me the fact I had arranged my accommodation for the upcoming night in advance eased my mind and my departure was a little slow. After packing all of my stuff and loading it on the bike, the little extras like paying by credit card in one of the shops downtown and a cappuccino slowed things further. I was away before midday with a GPS that had failed to accept my proposed route many times while I was preparing for the day.
There are no roads shown on the GPS to get in or out of Goreme so I headed in the direction I thought was correct. Thankfully a sign confirmed I was on the right road heading to the first town on my route list for the day. I continued on through Anksaray to Konya where my preferred route would be determined. The GPS refused to show the road I wanted and unfortunately there were not any helpful signs either. I had a route option so now was the time to take it. I saw the signs and found the road to Beysehir (instead of the more direct Seydisehir) which may have only added 20-30kms to the total trip.
Leaving Konya, to head up into the Taurus Mountains, presents an amazing view back over the city which stretches out over a vast plain. It also starts a lengthy stretch of mountainous, twisty roads.
After the dull roads from Goreme and the small amount of traffic I was clearly enjoying the bends and straights a little too much. I passed a police car parked beside the road with the policeman looking like he may have been asleep and I certainly didn't see a radar, so I didn't think much of it. Admittedly I was going a little quicker than the typically posted 90km/hr. A few minutes as I was entering a small town I saw the police pulling people over, me included.
I was asked for my licence, registration, passport, we struggled through with a little Turkish and a little English combining Australian details with Abu Dhabi details and I received a speeding ticket from two easy going Turkish policeman. From what I gather there might be a different speed limit for motorbikes to cars with the policeman pulling out a tired photocopy with a table of applicable limits - he pointed at 82km/hr for me and the other officer pointed many times to 80km/hr on my speedo. After a photo and the policeman and I sharing a laugh at my Turkish Evil Eye good luck I was back on the road with my first ever written speeding ticket - a lot different to a text message from Abu Dhabi Traffic.
I received a speeding ticket - naughty, naughty.
It looks like this.
The Taurus Mountains are a wonderful backdrop for a long ride and as I enjoyed the look of the snow on the peaks from the valley below I hoped I was not passing too high through them to get to the Mediterranean Coast.
Taurus Mountains in the background with a little cloud cover.
As I headed up into the mountains light rain began falling, then the light rain got a little heavier. I was confident it would soon pass or I would be out of the rain quickly because there were patches of blue sky and sunshine. I decided not to stop at a large, and no doubt warm, service station to add extra layers for warmth or water protection as I climbed higher up the mountain. I continued on and the rain became heavier and the temperature dropped. I was soon riding in 3.5deg.C rainy, slippery mountain roads. At one point as I came out of a gentle uphill bend in 6th gear at less than 80km/hr the rear wheel slipped and spun as I gently tried to ease up the hill - a little scary.
As a result there are zero photos of some amazing mountain passes, snow covered steep and rocky/treed hillsides. I was more interested in making my way through without getting wetter or colder or coming off.
As the rain eased and I continued on the GPS continued to struggle when I followed road signs instead of its' round and about route. There were several periods where the screen went white while it must have been recalculating. Some of these recalculation periods lasted a long time. At one point the GPS was advising me of an "Arrival Distance" of 2,800+km for Alanya that was less than 140km as the crow flies and 200km on the road. I continued to laugh at the struggling GPS and believe my map and the road signs.
After coming out of the mountains on the Mediterranean coast the it was a flat, sunny and easy run into Alanya and I arrived before dark at the Grand Okan Hotel.
At almost 525km through some varied weather it was definitely the longest day in many ways and I was tired.
It was a quiet and early night with a simple kebab and a few beers with the bar staff telling me I looked tired.