In which Sid and Doris tour Elena before enjoying a fabulous mountain ride.This morning was a fantastic holiday ride. If there had been a head wind or rain it would have felt different but this was happy riding. The rest of the day just plain hot riding, with a score of 72 kilometres and 1055 metres of climb.
We started by looking at the old town in Elena with its time-blackened wood houses (the ones that have escaped the regular fires that swept these the towns) – quelling a small pang of regret that we hadn’t had a hotel in town because Sid and Doris run a very strong #noregrets policy.
We also went up to see the monument to Januarius MacGahan. He was a US war correspondent who reported the massacre of Bulgarian civilians by Turkish troops and irregulars after the Bulgarian uprising against the Ottoman Empire. His reports of the atrocities caused Britain to back Russia vs Turkey in the following war, and earned him fervent thanks from the whole of Bulgaria – Elena is not the only town with a monument to him. The region had its own special Balkan Wars from 1912 and 1913 when Bulgaria did relatively well, with Turkey the major loser. By the early 20th century Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece and Serbia were independent. The Ottomans fought back and retook Erdirne / Adrianople, where we hope to be in a few days time.
We are not searching out wars. Where we go we find they have had them. One hundred years ago this was a very busy region with the Turkish slaughter of the Armenians (1915 to 1917) and Greek Turkish wars, atrocities and population swaps from 1919 to 1923. See Little Birds.
So, we saw Januarius who brought the Turkish actions to the world and then we cycled out through the cobbled old town. Yesterday we showed you the road to the hills and here it is seen from the other end. Most satisfactory.
Today there was a slight tail wind, the tarmac was smooth, the road engineers just had it keep climbing (“So Gregor, how do you want me to design the road?” “A Lada Niva with a full load of logs, a slipping clutch and shot dampers has to get up it.” “Borzhemoy, you give me some challenges!”), the road was empty, except maybe some cows and after them a thick trail of poo.
We saw both Forest Police and poachers. But each knew where the others were, so there was no trouble.
Doris thought you might enjoy some info-shots – today’s weather forecast, the road profile and an interesting signpost at the end of the first part of the Big Climb (interesting mainly because it shows you just how illiterate we feel here).
The views across the middle section of the Beeg Eels were huge and extremely satisfying. Sid and Doris agreed that M. Michelin should rate them Vaut Le Voyage (his other two ratings btw are Mérite Le Détour, and, rather dismissively, Intéressant). On our well-worn 1:400K paper map of Bulgaria, EVERY tarmac road and micro-settlement round here is shown. Don’t trust Mr Google Maps round here as he has a terrible habit of inventing roads.
Regular applications of sesame and cereal bars kept us moving, and we replenished the bottles and cooled the Sid/Doris skin in the thoughtfully organised mountain springs. Rushing down to Tvarditse we accidentally ordered double portions of croque, but with two hills left pushed them into the furnace.
The route to Nova Zagora was straight forward, though we found the holiday climb had taken its toll, so glad of a short day. The “Nova” in Nova Zagora is apparent from a distance as the town consists of the old low-rise houses plus at least 73 eight-story mass accommodation blocks. We know there are at least 73 because the numbers were painted on the outside – as you can see Number 14 was clearly identified from a distance. We forgot to take a picture but fortunately Mr Google StreetMaps is ever alert so here is a screenshot. Mysteriously, block 73 was an older-looking one further into town, but let’s not argue with the comrades’ block numbering system.
Once in the town it has taken a while to find a bar cool enough for Sid and Doris but we did find some new and highly interesting vending machines (it is possible that the journey is starting to take its toll on our mighty intellects) – we give you here a milk vending machine, coupled with a bottle vending machine if you have forgotten to bring yours, and a coffee vending machine of such importance that it is actually shown on Google Maps.
As we came into town a local (MAMIL) cyclist hailed us and asked for our story. “Elena! It’s great up there! Why have you come down here where it’s so hot?” We ask ourselves the same question.
We leave you with a few more pictures. The Bulgarian Government Town Name Fountain department have been here but the effect is still charming even though we’ve seen this in several places. Bulgarian towns have really lovely generous central spaces, just ignore the strangely abandoned/run-down government buildings around them you old curmudgeon and enjoy the sight of the paseo and the children running through the pop-up water jets.
There’s also a picture of a bee-keeping shop (we have seen a LOT of beehives, often in large groups and painted different colours, which mystified us until we read about this) a picture of a bicycle such as Tim Moore probably used on his journey “The Cyclist Who Came In From The Cold”, and a picture of a local dignitary saying “More Beer! Here!!”. We strive to keep you amused.
