Notes from Plovdiv-Stara Zagora

Sofia Istanbul Bike Connect

from plovdiv i cycled to stara zagora. i went on a bit of a detour, because i hoped to escape the main busy busy road which goes also to the seaside. but at some point, they told me, don't go that way, through the mountains, the roads there are terrible, and the people there are truly wild. that wouldn't necessarily have put me off, but just then a grandiose thunderstorm broke in, and soaked me silly. so i headed back southward a bit and cought the main road to stara zagora. high quality road, but that was the only good thing about it. preposterously unwanton madhatter traffic, which had the effect of a passing truck spraying so much water from the road, i wasn't even sure i could be visible to the next thing coming down. a bit of a climb too, the gradual long sort of climb, infinitely more repelling than short steep climbs, which i actually don't mind at all. but i got there.