After a much deserved 3 days off in Istanbul Paul and Brian headed for the Turkish/Greek border. We took a bus out of the city to avoid the crazy commuting traffic.
As usual we found it hard to get back into the swing of things after a long break.
The story of the day...
Whilst in Istanbul Brian decided to get a full bike service in a shop called Pedal Sportif. The service included cleaning the bike frame, checking the break pads, cleaning and checking the chain and also greasing the hubs.
When the job was done the bike looked like new. We all agreed that they had done a fantastic job on the service but we were soon to find out that we had been dealing with a bunch of useless clowns that ended up costing Brian alot more than the 40Euro service.
About 70kms from the Greek border Brian noticed that the back wheel was alittle stiff and pedalling was becoming difficult. He complained to Paul but agreed to try and keep going till the next town. About 2kms later the back wheel ground to a halt as if the breaks were on. He inspected the wheel and noticed that it was no longer spinning on the axel, so he opened the hub to try and fix the problem. After a few adjustments he thought that he had found a solution so hopped back on the bike. 500m down the road the wheel seized once again but this time he was unable to open the hub.
We were out in the middle of nowhere with a very broken bike and it was now getting dark. We agreed that it would be best to try and get to the next town to try and get the bike fixed. After an hour of failed attempts Brian finally got a lift to Ipsala.
It was late by the time we arrived so we decided to wait till the morning to fix the bike.
Paul and Brian bid fairwell to Mike and Joanne
We met these guys a few days ago and again when leaving the bull...
Paul takes an early break
The country side gets greener as we come close to the border
Dogs still a problem in Turkey!
Unaware of the disaster unfolding in his back wheel
Brian attempts to fix the wheel
