A One-Man United Nations on Two Wheels

Finally, 

it's the end of the October, my travel season is started and I'll be on the way by my bike until May. First, I'm planning to join a bike tour in South Turkey after that I'm gonna leave Istanbul for my paradise, South Asia. Why Asia? Because I feel terrific there, peacefully people, fantastic nature and high Summer during we actually have a winter from October to April. I'll be glad to share my days, experience, sadness and happiness with you. You'll be my travel partner if you want to join me. I hope we'll be good friends on the way in this Winter.

Mumju

"Turkish Version"

"En sonunda benim icin mayis ayina kadar surecek bisiklet sezonu basladi. Bu sene oncelikle Gokova turunun ardindan ailemle biraz hasretlik giderdikten sonra guney asya yollarina dusecegim. Niye yine asya diye soracak olursaniz gezdigim bircok yer arasinda en huzurlu insanlarin yasadigi, dogasi harika ve buralarda kisi yasarken oralarda sicaklardan iliginiz kemiginiz isindigi bir yer. Bu tur boyunca sizleride turuma davet ediyorum. Bisikletinizle gelemeseniz bile manevi olarak sizleri yanima almak istiyorum. Bu tur boyunca hatiralarimi paylasmak isterseniz haydi duselim yollara"

Kardes web sayfalari: www.yesilbisiklet.com  www.pedalla.com  www.candede.net www.bisikletciler.com www.bisikletforum.com www.gokovapedallariminaltinda.com  http://bicycle.dekalog.pl/www.peaceride.org/chronicle/index.htm      

amumju@gmail.com

My last bike ride in New York for this year.

New York'da ekimin son gunlerinde bisikletin tadini cikariyorum.

New York, White Plains is so beautiful in Fall, especially on the bike.

Ekimde doganin burundugu renkler insani buyuluyor.

We five teenagers just got out of a bus to join the bike tour in South Turkey.

Gokova Turu icin Istanbul'lu gencler Mugla'da otobusten iniyor. Pedallamaya haziriz.

Once a year, I meet my dear friend Cenap. 

Ya Cenap abimi senede bir defadan fazla gorebilmek mumkun olsaydi. Umarim Bulgaristan turunda.               

After a nice riding the Medditerranean Sea is visible

Today, 25 of October, we are starting a one week bike tour. With Suleyman and Ahmet, after one year we are riding together again.

Suleyman abi ve Ahmet'le turun baslamasindan once birbirimize iyi dileklerimizi sunuyoruz.

My nice friend Kayhan, a pleasant guy. Nice to meet the friends again.

Oooo Kayhan nerelerdeydin gecen sene ve dun gece, bayagi da ozlemisiz birbirimizi.

Now it'll be serious. This tour isn't a bike race, just enjoying the nice weather, friendship and biking.

Hazirliklar tamam simdi sira pedallayip yeni dostluklara kopru acmakta.

It looks like "Tor de France" from helicopter.

Turumuzda havadan "Fransa Turu" nu aratmiyor. 

Hakan is a very friendly guy. I missed him since last year's tour.

Hakan degerli arkadasim, niye aramizda binlerce kilometre var tum yil boyunca?  

The weather allowed us to have a swimming break.

Iste ideal bir bisiklet turu, acele yok, stres yok...

For biking you don't need gasoline but good food. 

Kayhan ve Gursel'le muhabbetli bir atistirmamiz.

Ooooh poor Gursel (on the left ). who had a mechanical problem came to my helpfully friend Gursel because he has a bike shop in Istanbul and the service must go on every where...

Gursel'cigim sagolasin yol boyunca elin yag ve pastan kurtulmadi. 

Unfortunately the swimming break is over, now is the time for climbing.  

Bayagi da kalabalikmisiz. 

I met Can Dede, a polite guy and the others who I knew from the Internet. Talking in person is better than chatting on Internet.

Internetten tanidigimiz arkadaslarla hos bir sohbet omre bedel. Can Dede nerelerdeydin bunca sene?

A nice dinner and the Turkish traditional dance.

Haydeee efeleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer.......

A relaxing break after the high and famous mountain Mazi. We deserved cold drinks.

Mazi dagini astik kisa bir moladan sonra guzel bir gun bizi bekliyor. Aksam Bodrum'dayiz.

                      

I put this picture to explain what it means the next picture.   Okay, I was riding rather fast, suddenly the left pedal has been come out of it's axis and I lost my balance. I slipped between saddle and handle bars on the middle of the frame, that was it what I can remember from the accident. It was black front of my eyes like the following picture. 

Bu karanlik resmi asagiya koymamin sebebi kaybolan dakikalari daha iyi anlatabilmek icin. Hafif yokus inisten sonra ayakta 45 km/h hizla pedallara yuklenirken aniden pedal ana milinden firladi ve ayagim resimdeki gibi bosa cikinca dengem bozuldu. Sadece govdemin bisiklet kadrosu uzerine dustugunu hatirliyorum ve ondan sonraki 20-25 dakikada film koptu. Sadece asagidaki resme benzer birsey hatirliyorum.  

I opened my eyes in an ambulance after about 20 minutes. I really didn't know what was going on.  

Gozlerimi 20-25 dakika sonra ambulansta acinca olaya bir anlam veremedim. 

My friends told me I fell on my right shoulder first then my bike and  I turned and slided up side down for a while. During the accident, I held my bike, never let it go, because I love it very much. 

Kazada oncelikle sag omuzumun uzerine hizla dusmusum, kafamin asfalta siddetli sekilde carptigi kirilan kasktan belliydi, sonra sirtustu bir sekilde ben altta bisiklet ustte epey bir suruklenmisim. Bu arada bisikleti hic birakmamisim, nasil birakirim onca el emegi goz nurundan sonra yeni bisikleti toplamistim. 

                           

                          Does he breath??

                                        Ya bu adam nefes aliyormu acaba?

I still remember this nurse's facial expression when she looked at my chest film and saw my collar bone in 3 pieces instead of one. 

Hemsire cekilen filme merakla bakti ve onun yuz ifadesinden ciddi birsey oldugunu ilk kez anladim. Koprucuk kemigi uce kirilmis.    Vay be serum bile takmislar.

My dear friend Dr. Kayhan Ozogul helped me from the beginning of the accident to my hotel room. I was lucky to have a friend like him who is an emergency doctor. He bought me a new sweatshirt because the nurses cut my favourite bike jersey to see my body. 

Kayhan'cigim yardimlarini kelimelerle ifade etmem cok zor. Sagolasin.

                             

                              Fortunately I could move without pain because of painkiller.

Now I'm back to Istanbul and my doctor told me that an operation is not necessary but they bound my both shoulders with a special belt from the back. My  back is hurting a lot but after that I can walk straighter than before and I'll look taller than before.  

Even it was a bad experience I learned a lot from my accident. You never know when the life is gonna end, enjoy every single minute. My helmet was destroyed, without it I couldn't write anymore. From now on never without helmet. I appreciate my friend's help a lot. They  helped me,sent me a lot of e-mails and called me to wish a good health.

Now, I try to recover in the next 4-6 weeks at home. I really don't know if I can ride by bike to South Asia in this year. I hope that I'll be well soon and I can move my hands and especially my legs to travel.

Thank you for reading.

Acilar bu resimleri cekerken verilen agri kesicilerden pek hissedilmiyordu. Su anda Istanbulda evde sirtima takilan askilarla 6 hafta dinlenmek zorundayim. Tam onumuzdeki sezon icin asya turu planlamistim bakalim ne zaman hazir olabilecegim.  Ayrica pek kask takan birisi degilimdir ancak grup halinde surerken kullanmayi yeglerim. Icime mi dogdu nedir artik bundan sonra kasksiz bir adim gitmek yoooook.

Bu kaza hayati dolu dolu yasamak icin aldigim diger bir ders oldu. Bisikletin uzerinden sanki bir anlik obur tarafi ziyaret ettim. Insanlar olumden hep korkarlar eger olum bu sekilde Lance Armstrong'unda arzuladigi gibi gelecekse hakikaten zamani geldiginde cok acisiz ve eziyetsiz bir yontem. Aman yine de bekleyebildigi kadar beklesin acelemiz yok, yapacagimiz cok seyler var.

Yardimlarini esirgemeyen telefon ve e-maillerle hal ve hatirimi soran tum dostlara cok cok tesekkurler, hakkiniz odenmez.

Vaktinizi ayirip okudugunuz icin hepinize tesekkurler.

Have you still time?

http://bicycle.dekalog.pl/www.peaceride.org/chronicle/index.htm