Our two main priorities for our stay in Istanbul (aside from visiting friends of course) were getting the essential bike parts necessary for the remainder of our trip to (hopefully) Thailand and to soak in some of the historical attractions around town.
We decided to tackle the bike parts first incase anything needed to be ordered in. Most of Istanbul's bike shops are concentrated in one small area of town called Eminönü. This was very convenient for going from shop to shop to get the best deal.
Unfortunately the main parts I needed, a new front rack and a fat tire for the rough stretches, were either sold out or not available. Shoot, but this is where it gets interesting. We had prayed that we would find at least all the most urgent and special parts we need here because the next good bike and parts shop is not until western China and I would not dare ride any further with my cracked front rack. Bags falling off my bike in the middle of the road is the last thing I want.
At this point we remembered that someone had mentioned that a new bike touring shop had opened up on the Asian side of Istanbul. In fact, it was Kenta, the Japanese cyclist, who had told us about it. If you have been following the blog for the last few weeks you will recall us meeting Kenta, who James had met over a year ago in Laos, on a hill in Macedonia. There is no way that reunion was by chance. We had wondered what the purpose of this most unexpected meeting with Kenta may be and if we would ever find out. Well, on that day in Istanbul we found out. Thanks to the info about the existence of this new bike shop, I was able purchase a beautiful Tubus lowrider front rack as well as the tire (Marathon Mondial 700/40) and matching tube I so needed. It was a bit tricky to find the shop at first because hardly anyone knew about it was well worth the effort.
To me this again shows how beautifully and creatively God looks after us. The rack also fit my bike perfectly when I mounted it next day. THANK YOU!!!
The owners of Bisiklet Gezgini, Alex and Sesil, are avid tourers themselves so it was great sit and chat with them, and drink çai (tea) of course, we are in Turkey after all.
If you are a cyclist near Istanbul and reading this, here is their website. It may come in handy:
THANKS FOR THE HELP, ALEX AND SESIL. HAPPY TOURING AND GOOD LUCK WITH THE STORE.
hi linda
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