Having cycled into Tblissi I couldn't have been less excited about going into the city. I had to get my bike checked out (dodgy crack in front wheel) or I would have been pretty happy to not cycle anywhere. Anyway it took us an hour and half to cycle 6k to the bike shop. The city is built on a hill, it's cobbled and full of traffic. And it's Georgian traffic. After this trip to the bike shop we tried to cycle into the city centre and it was pretty disastrous. We kept going through these terrible smelly underpasses with messages like "Flowers are stupid, love is fake, weddings are just funerals with cake" (actually I quite liked that one). Eventually we gave up, asked a posh restaurant if they would look after our bikes and being white and british and rich looking prevailed yet again. We then took the metro. Any metro journey costs 3p. London take note. We took the metro to the cable car which went up to the botanical gardens (sound familiar??). These botanic gardens rated pretty highly, and had nice views of the old city. After this we went to Freedom square, where the Georgian residents famously pushed over the statue of Stalin when independence was declared. There's now a massive statue of St George ridin' his horse. After this we were exhausted and went back to our guesthouse. Whenever we have days off we have to do as much tourism as possible - obviously we do! When will I ever be in Tblissi again? Obviously I had to see freedom square! But tourism is actually more exhausting than cycling. I'm not joking on this. This means our rest days are STRESS days and then we have to get up the next morning and cycle all day all over again.
May 24th Tblisi to Gori - A shrine to Stalin and the worst headwind since Christmas Eve
Getting out of Tblisi was pretty bad, we hit the highway and stuck to it. The worst bits were when we were drawn off the main road on sliproads and then had to cross back over two lanes to get to the right road. Eventually we could turn off the main road onto the old main road which was great! Empty of traffic and beautiful scenery. It was like pushing a button. Like that button you push to turn the oven on when you're about to bake a cake. It was pretty windy at the start but the roads were bush lined and provided quite a lot of shelter.
Then we hit the plateau. Phoar. It was like being hit by a hammer. Our speed dropped to 8 kph and it started raining, and it was cold. There was no shelter anywhere so we had to keep going. We passed a bridge which provided shelter from the rain at least, but Mum was ahead and didn't stop. Obviously we had a massive fight about this. Eventually we got to a bus shelter and sat down to eat some cake, I looked to the side and there was a dismembered mouse about 4 cm from my left hand. We both were literally retching and had to leave immediately. The rest of the day was a slog. It stopped raining at one point but the wind was inescapable. It gets in your ears, fills up your mind so you can't even hear yourself think. Normally I ride along doing things like composing eulogies for my friends, but when it's windy you just think of the wind and how unhappy you are.
Eventually we got to Gori and went to see Stalin's birthplace. It was really really weird because it's very temple esque.
We had planned to cycle on and wildcamp because Gori's Stalin museum pulls in the tourist crowds and inflates prices. Our morale was very low though and we were intercepted by a woman who said she had two other cycle tourists staying at her hotel already. This was enough persuasion for us. This was were we met the lovely Patrick and Rosie who are cycling from London to China. Their route so far was a pretty much exact copy of our future route and we had a long time to talk/share stories. Speaking fluent english for the first time in ages ( when Mum and I talk we only have about three phrases that we repeat) made me feel like a genius. I was so impressed by my flowery vocab! Anyway we had a very nice supper with delicious Georgian wine which is like communion wine (you're probably not supposed to find communion wine delicious but it is).
May 25th Gori to A Field Somewhere - Why why why why why do we continue to go down terrible roads.
The headwind was better in the morning, and the scenery was stunning. Castles set on hillsides and beautiful panoramic views. It was also hot! Fab. In the morning we met a v interesting pair, a French woman cyclist and a German extreme runner.He had a trolley with all his stuff in. We really wanted to know how many tents they had (if u get my drift).
After this we went to this tiny village and mum bought Pine Cone syrup from these three children. It actually tasted alright. They were definitely the coolest kids in school.
At one point we had a choice between the paved main road, and A Mystery Road. We took the mystery road and it was a complete nightmare.
The road was unpaved and seriously churned up by all the lorries going to the nearby quarry. The mud was pedals deep in some places, and we were soon covered. It was wildcamping paradise though and we picked a cracking spot.
May 26th A Field Somewhere to Vani - We seek solace in a very short train ride
We woke up and the road got worse and worse. It was mud embedded with tiny shards of quarry dust, which blocked up our wheels and meant we had to stop very regularly and remove these lumps.
The progress was slow going and we were desperate to make up some ground. In the end we took a wrong turn and ended up at a train station. This seemed like fate was on our side, and we got the train for 7km until the road got better. In some ways I was upset about this - we won't have cycled all the way home. But we really couldn't go on, and it was very short. And our diversion was way longer and than the main road anyway.. After this train journey it was pretty late and we still had a decent distance to do that day. We got on with it. Mum wouldn't let us have any breaks but we eventually got to the small town. We've been having a real problem cooking because of the worldwide lack of methylated spirits, which meant we've been eating a lot of cheesebreadtomato meals. Which is nice, but it's nicer having something hot. Georgian food is DELICIOUS, but in small towns there really isn't anywhere to eat.
May 27th - Vani to Batumi - We hit the Black Sea
We had a long way to go to Batumi but we needed to get there. There was camping in the botanical gardens! (a phoebeharrietrtw long awaited dream) and they were 124km away. We set off early and got going. This was all on a main road, which was pretty dull and very busy. It's the main road South in Georgia which means it gets all the European traffic. We soon got our first glimpse of the Black Sea! It looked startlingly blue #plottwist and very inviting. We turned left, had lunch at a truckers stop (some delicious beef stew thing that was almost like curry), and kept going. There was one dodgy bit when the main road climbed a big hill and got very narrow. We played it safe though and got off whenever it seemed dangerous. Eventually we got to the botanic gardens - shocked everyone by ordering a beer (women don't drink in Georgia, and especially not beer). There was a German couple in a camper van and we had hopes of a Gaby and Werner moment but it wasn't to be. We walked down to beach and Flopsy did a bit of hopping.
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