Thursday, June 30, 2011

Soundtrack...

Every trip needs a soundtrack.
Music is key to almost any experience IMHO...
Anyone who knows me, knows I've probably pimped out their iPod. And done it with great pleasure.
Music is important to me, and thus will be important on this trip.
It will be pumping the whole trip through this 32gb iPhone and these Bose MIE2 headphones.
It will be playing in my helmet, on the beach, in the plane, on the train, and in the rain.
Gaga, Drake, Adele, Elvis, 311, the Foo Fighters, Tommy Vegas, and Zucchero and everything in between. I won't discriminate.

To Map or to GPS...

Ahh the age olde question, to use a map or to use a GPS unit.
Its common knowledge that world explorers and travelers have been using GPS navigation systems to circle this flat planet for hundreds if not thousands of years....no wait, somethings not right there.

I've always been a map guy myself. Having just purchased my first GPS unit  (which of course only works in North America), I can't speak too much on these units.  I do like it so far - but it leaves something to be desired. It really only takes you on a path from point A to point B. And you just follow along, like a ZOMBIE. Now, when using a map, you can always see what lies just a little bit off the route you are travelling on. Makes for a lot more options, side trips, diversions, and generally more fun!

I think that this can all be settled by taking a glimpse back at classic pop culture moment. I believe it was 2 wise men in an UWS coffee shop discussing their favorite explorers....

"Magellan? You like Magellan?"

"Oh yeah, my favorite explorer. Around the world, come on. Who do you like?"


"I like DeSoto."


"DeSoto? What did he do?"


"Discovered the Mississippi."


"Oh, like they wouldn't have found that anyway."
- George and Jerry, in "The Boyfriend"


So I think I will go with the maps.
Recommended by my buddy Chris @ Jupiters  are the Michelin Maps.
Now I must tell you - I went to Barnes & Noble last night to find said map, and wasn't even sure where to look. Travel section duh. Maps, again duh. But is Turkey in Asia or Europe?
Well in fact it is in both - and in double fact - Barnes & Noble didn't have the map.
The search continues.
In the meantime, I've taken the poor mans route (at the advice of one Jeffrey "Bear" Schmidt) and started piece mealing together some Google Maps for the route I'll be on...(see below photo)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Bike trip preview photos


See some photos below of a few of the places I will be heading to on my F800.

Cirali - Beach Town















Hierapolis/Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water.















Ephesus - Ancient Greek city in Turkey













Saturday, June 25, 2011

It's all coming together now...

Well, today is a historic day.
Governor Cuomo has signed the bill to authorize gay marriage in NY, AND we have booked a bed to sleep in whilst in Istanbul.
We'll be slumming it though, staying at the W Istanbul.
The bad news is, the only rooms left have (1) King size bed.
The good news is, "If we're sharing beds, I'm bunking with Phil."

Friday, June 24, 2011

Coastal Hotel Plans

Below are the plans so far for my hotel stays while along the bike portion of the trip.
Its still coming together a little bit - but I have almost all the hotels booked...

Sunday Night - July 3rd - Efe Hotel - Gocek, Turkey Efe Hotel
Monday Night - July 4th - Sima Peace Pension - Cirali, Turkey Sima Peace Pension
Tuesday Night - July 5th - Venus Hotel - Pamukkale, Turkey Venus Hotel
Wednesday Night - July 6th - Gullu Konaklari - Sirince, Turkey Gullu Konaklari
Thursday Night - July 7th - Marphe Hotel - Datca, Turkey Marphe Hotel

Thursday, June 23, 2011

10 Days to go....

I'll be heading to Turkey in 10 days, and I'm pumped. A lot of planning should be going into this trip, but alas, it's not going that way. I've never had a blog before, so please excuse all the amateur errors, run-on sentences, boring posts, lack of detail, overabundance of detail, and so on and so forth.