The southern shore of the Sea of Marmara turns out to be a very attractive region with some fantastic roads. It also turns out to be quite hilly. We had a lovely ride though, even if it took a while.  

Our starting point was the beautiful little seaside town of Mundanya. It had some incredibly cute little wooden waterfront houses. They were exquisite in a “shabby chic“ way, although many were condemned due to being structurally unsafe, which could be a little awkward in the future. 

We did some more climbing along the coast road and descended into Tirilye, a smaller little fishing village that looked to be all about olive oil and tourism now. 

Then another climb, leaving the coast now we were grinding up to the main road through olive groves and some olive pressing factories.  

Then our front tyre went soft and it was time for a very pleasantly located puncture stop amongst the trees.  

Our destination was then along a main road, and we tucked in to the hard shoulder again. There aren’t many roads up this way, so the highway is the only choice. 

Karaçabey​ is a fairly dull town that isn’t used to seeing tourists. They did have a good pressure wash at the petrol station though and we were able to clean our bikes. Fingers crossed we didn’t fire any water into the bearings. 

More highway riding tomorrow into more remote areas. ​

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