[Closed] Riding in Turkey - anyone done it?

I've been to bodrum on a neilson holiday. There was some reasonable riding but most was fire road type stuff. Of course different areas may well be completely different.

Jeees, i thought that said Riding a turkey for a minute!

Clubber, the key with Neilson is to get to know the bike guide, then they'll show you the [i]real[/i] stuff they always know about! Some of their guides are great folks, even those ex-bike guides of a pimpy, jazzy, sort of ginger stylee who post on here now and again...

Oh, and Geoff out in La Manga who is a legend among ex-Neilson bike guys.

I've got to know them each time I've been. Top blokes 🙂

There was still a limit to how much good riding there was but we enjoyed it regardless.

pmj? He's a Tosser 😉

pmj? He's a Tosser

Quoted for posterity!

😉

I went to Bodrum when I was nineteen and done a power of riding. 😀

Just tell pmj that dinky dingleberry sends his best to baa kid k 😉

Did someone say "Big Gay Rower"?

Looks like, you stumpy g@y gimp 😉

Errr... no. Try again.

Carl's son then?

Was that Big Gay Rower in a Dress? 😉

No, it was a shirt 😉

Oi!

Less of the ginger talk in here.

You big XC Jey Boy Nobe!

being all very modern I have a couple Turkish mountain bikers on facebook friends. Could email and ask them for you? Send me an email and I will pass on you contact to them if you want. If they don't know then they may know someone who does.

Yeah? Ur bik iz saracenin!

On a Turkey note, CliveA that posts on here occasionally worked in Turkey for several years. I know that there is some decent riding too - personally I'd take the bike.

Sen zencefil saç var

LOL - google translate is great isn't it 🙂

Haven't heard much from CliveA since I bumped in to him at the Boatshow ages ago. Isn't he doing some sort of cycle guiding for Hants Council these days?

Google translate - Ace! 🙂

Iyi aksamlar arbiler...

Yup, I guided for Neilson in Turkey in 99 and 2000. Amazing summers. 🙂

I was based near Bodrum in the southwest, but I've also ridden near Dalyan, further along the south coast, not far from Marmaris.

[b]The good stuff:[/b]

- Beautiful hills and forests (any time I get the scent of pine it still takes me back)
- Helpful friendly people
- Lots of rough tracks in place of roads
- Great little tourist-free mountain villages for refreshments
- Beaches!
- Good food. Even better than Greek food.

[b]The not-so-good stuff:[/b]

- Not all the tracks fit neatly into circular routes. Some just go somewhere, then stop.
- Rights of way don't really exist. If someone owns some land, they may let you through, or they may put up barbed wire.
- There isn't much singletrack (at least, not where I know). If you do find a narrow twisty route, expect it to be rocky, thorny and shared with a wild boar.
- Thorns. Big bloody thorns.
- Dogs. Big nasty ones.
- Poor standards of driving
- Virtually non-existent mapping

On balance, I'd say expect to be riding mountain bikes, possibly on off-road tracks, but possibly not on classic singletrack.

However, to put this into perspective, as a Neilson guide, most of my punters were in the market for fireroads, and the demand for me to find other stuff was rarely there. And on my day off, I was generally too shattered to ride for fun!

If you can make contact with some real local mountain bikers, you may get some better intelligence.

And enjoy Turkey. It is a wonderful place.

Oh and Flash, I'm working for CTC these days. Based in Guildford, doing marketing stuff for the [url= http://bikeclub.org.uk ]Bike Club[/url] project.

Gurusuruz,

Clive

Sen zencefil saç var

Senin elinde tuhaf ?ekilli top ta??ma gibi.

😉

Was that Ortakent, Clive?

My parents have a place on the Bodrum peninsula and having driven inland on my last trip over there, there looks like plenty of potential away from the coast, and in particular up near Ortakoy where there are stunning rock formations and some big hills.

Will be taking a bike out next time I go, but have been having a nightmare finding any decent mapping of that area as CliveA says. If anyone ever hears of anything then I'd love to know.

Locals are incredibly friendly, the weather's fantastic for 11 months of the year and it's still cheap to go there as the exchange rate hasn't followed the euro.

Clubber - No, this was pre-Ortakent.

Gundogan on the north coast of the Bodrum peninsula, and Bitez, in the bay next to Ortakent. Both closed now. 🙁

Straightliner - Where is your parents' place? And where's Ortakoy?

The forest I used to ride was on the north side of the ridge, with Dagbelen village at the top, and Gundogan and Golurkbuku by the coast.

On the south side of the peninsula, you can climb north from Konacek to an abandoned village, then there are bits and pieces of tracks taking you along the ridge towards Bodrum.

Another one is to climb through Yakakoy to the radio masts to the west, then descend to toward Gumusluk, overlooking the Greek islands. Gumusluk is one of my favourite places on earth.

This was ten years ago, and thinking back is giving me the most overwhelming nostalgia. Curses to you all! 🙂

Parents place is in Golturkbuku so some of those places sound very familiar and worth investigating next time I'm over. Ortakoy is a long way inland, past Milas and continue North East. It needs a car to get to, but I think it's got potential.

Straighliner - Your parents live in Golturkbuku? Fab!

If you're on the 'main'(?) road heading towards Gundogan, there are a couple of tracks on your left, just before you reach the fork on the right into 'old Gundogan'. These two tracks are the start and finish points for a lovely loop in the forest that goes through Dagbelen village near the top.

If you're passing by Ortakent (south coast) in the summertime, call in to the Seaside Hotel and ask to speak to to the Neilson bike guide. He/she will be loads more up-to-date than my decade-old ramblings!

It was Sam there last year. Top bloke.

Aaaaah, all this chat of sporting lycra in the enigmatic surrounds of the Bodrum peninsular takes me back to memories of yesteryear. Of times when we were free to express ourselves, to ride with an abandon and spirit that is sorely missing in todays single tracks of Turkey.
For those were the days when Clive and I would don our cycle clips, fill our camel packs with vodka visne and mount our three wheeled chariots of tricycle glory.
Clive has failed to mention this in previous posts as he has fallen by the wayside, been pushed to the dark side and abandoned the three wheeled movement that he created in the land of kebabs and flying carpets.
Whilst you can find excellent tracks for riding your (makes me feel queezy to type the word) bicycles, the tracks, forests and crags for which the peninsular are famed, really are the domain of pedal powers' true accoutrement.
Whilst our fabled pioneer has, regrettable been turned, there are still an underground few that still don our velocipedes' on sunny Sunday mornings and head for the hills to high five open mouthed children, proffer water from ancient wells and trade girlfriends for wrestling camels or over worked donkeys.
Yes my friends, there is a three wheeled world out there waiting to be discovered in Turkey. So go get a ticket, jump on a plane and join us. You'll not regret it and will come to live by the motto that the mighty Clive led us to believe in, "It's not a spare wheel, it's an extension of your true self".

Thanks Clive, I'll have a look for those trails when I'm next over there and will also call in on the guys at Neilson to see if they know of any cheeky trails.

As for the tricycle option, I may just stick to two wheels 🙂

My folks also have a place on the Bodrum Peninsular - in a little village called Torba. I have been loads of times but never with my bike. There are a couple of old bikes out at the house – an old Marin I think - and I have taken the bikes out on the roads but have never ventured into the forests.
Next time I am there is there a local company that can offer guiding?

Gumushluk is great - especially Mimosa - one of the finest places to eat in the world!