It was mid-week when Deniz Tokay from Gezginder announced that we would be going to Hüseyin Gazi on Saturday for rock climbing. We started dreaming of rocks and climbing while we hurried to finish our jobs for the week. Bryan, one of our touring cyclist friends, arrived at Banu’s home after three weeks of cycling. It was easy to persuade Bryan to go rock climbing, since he have been climbing in Colorado for many years.

Bryan watching our progress

We headed up to Ayna Kayalar very early in the morning. Deniz Tokay said that we should be concentrating on abseiling since we were going to climb Mount Demirkazık next weekend (where we would abseil a lot).

We had to do some not-so-easy rock-climbing to set up our abseiling station at the top of Ayna Kayalar. Ateş and Deniz went up in front to set up the station. While we were descending, our instructor Deniz Tokay was photographing us.

It was still early when we finished abseiling, so we changed the abseiling station to a top-rope configuration to try out climbing Ayna Kaya. We set up our second rope also as top-rope to a deep crack in the rock. The deep crack is not hard, but just an unusual route to climb. Deniz hurt himself while abseiling through this crack. It was not easy to belay at the bottom either.

Deniz stuck!

It's hard to belay at the bottom

While we were trying to climb the deep crack, a loud applause came from the other top-rope climbers (it was not possible to see that part from the deep crack). It turns out that our gruop was cheering for Bryan, who climbed Ayna Kaya. Ayna Kaya, which can be translated as Mirror Rock is a flat, shiny block of rock. While we were setting up the station, we did not think anyone would be able to climb. After Bryan, we tried climbing Ayna Kaya through thin cracks.

Ateş did not want to depart from the thin crack route. He managed to go one third of the route using the very thin crack and very small footholds.

Banu tried quitting a couple of times, but with our persistent cheering she managed to climb up to the top

Göl Kenarında Keyif

After getting tanned at rock climbing on saturday, we planned an evening cycling tour through Yalıncak. Bryan and Ahmet joined us in our plans. After wandering around trails, we rested ( which means biscuits!) by the lake side. We climbed to Ahlatlıbel, showing off Yalıncak to Bryan.

The sun was setting when we arrived at our favorite photo spot. The setting sun’s rays were ideal for photography so we spent some time there. We decided that it would be better if we cycled back just when things were getting out of control…

Did they fall?!

We love our bikes!

We may have been late for publishing this week’s activity bulletin, but this doesn’t mean that there are not activities to enjoy this weekend around Ankara. Here are the ideas from Rock Lizards for this weekend:

1. On Sunday, participate in Gerede Plateau Nature Hike with Gezginder in a cool environment under the trees.
2. Explore another nice area around Ankara with Gökhan Koçak in Gürleyik River hiking activity and refresh yourself with this watery tour. This is also on sunday. Gökhan reminds to take extra dry clothes.
3. Gökhan prepares us for DASK’s mountain marathon ADAM. On sunday evening, he arranged a map-compass usage meeting together with a photography presentation around Atakule. We strongly recommend this activity to both participators of ADAM and those who are interested in orienteering.
4. Join Kertenkeleler in Karakayalar for rock climbing! We will go on saturday, stay there at night camping and continue climbing on sunday at Karakayalar climbing garden. We would be happy to see the climber friends.

Rock Lizards are on Haber Türk Ankara Newspaper

For last thursday, as soon as we heard the announcement of Thursday Night Cyclists (Perşembe Akşamı Bisikletçileri-PAB) for a cycle with a theme; we quickly decided to participate. The theme: make a cycling tour with elegant dresses, and in the center of Ankara! It is a perfect opportunity to both show other people that bicycle can be used under any condition and create some awareness. Moreover, it is perfect fun to do this with 100 people sharing the same idea!

We quickly started preparations. As we were trying to decide what to do, Deniz arranged beige vests that will look stylish on our elegant dresses. We completed team uniforms with the print of a big Lizard logo and web address on the back of the vests.

When we met in Güvenpark on 8 p.m., all cyclists had already gathered in anxiety. We also joined the crowd. We quickly found ourselves talking to guys in the group of almost 100; telling about Rock Lizards, that we all work in the offices but we are struggling to achieve something; how we want to encourage people who are not involved in sports and outdoor activities and so on. All the people we talked to listened to us with a great interest and encouraged us. All those guys are people that already share the same idea. Friends from the media organizations also followed the group with their bikes, showed great interest to Rock Lizards, taking photos and making interviews.

And the snapshot above is a photograph on the cover of Haber Türk Ankara on 16th of June, taken after an interview.
Moreover, the news on PAB activity with an information on our team on Bisiklet Haber can be reached from this link .

When we arrived at the last stop, Kuğulu Park, we gathered around the tables. Together with the new participants, we introduced the team and talked about our vision. We were witnessing how a group of people in a harmony could be so successful to spread out the culture of cycling. And here, we want to repeat:

Dear Thursday Night Cyclists! We know that we can do so many things together as a group and we are supporting you all. We, Rock Lizards will be together again with you! See you on thursday nights!

By the way, Rock Lizards had many photos in the news of Bisiklet Haber. Also, there is a video including a short interview with Mert on the bike. The following are some of the photos and the links of the others. We want to thank Bisiklet Haber for the photos. The links are below:

Rock Lizards are together with PAB

We are introducing ourselves on the last stop

Team clothes

During the ride

And the links for these and other photos:

Rock Lizard Clothes                           Kertenkeleler Arkadan

During the Ride                                    Sürüş Sırasında

Mert on the Bike                                     Ateş Bisiklette

Banu on the Bike                                     Sırayla Sürüyoruz

Mert and Ateş during photo taking             Kızlar fotoğraf çekiliyor

The guys are posing                  Konuşma sırasında

Our experiences in Eymir confirmed our mistrust in our old bikes. We had to find an urgent solution to this problem. After breakfast we went to Delta Bicycles (yes we still had to work to do). We had worked on a list of bicycles and bicycle parts a few days earlier, but with proffessional and constructive help from the Delta Bicycles crew our list turned into something completely different. During our interaction with Delta Bicycles, we had the opportunity to introduce our team and the race that we were going to participate. They were really enthusiastic about our team and the race. They were really helpful and gave us ideas concerning the race. We chatted about past and future projects (we all have many, don’t we). We learned that they had carried a bike to the top of Mount Ararat, and were jealous of them. You can click here or here. We told them that we would love to participate in future activities. After a two hour meeting we believe that our team and Delta Bicycles have formed a bond of friendship and support.

We went home, but our minds were on the bikes. Were at Delta Bicycles early in the morning. Our bikes were reserved and the first checks of the bikes were in order.

Our new Correatech bikes

Our new bikes need some introduction. Corratec X-Vert S 0.4. We had some experience riding a X-Vert Halcon and the ZZYZX MTB 660 handlebar was really comfortable. Cannondale’s Trail SL 1 was an alternative. At last we decided on the X-Vert S 0.4 with the help of the Delta Bicycles crew. A detailed bicycle review will be posted shortly.

New shiny chain on our new bikes

We loaded the bikes into the car, went to campus. Even though we had lots of work to do we could not resist the urge to go on a ride. We should have known that it was not possible to go on a “short trip”. We found ourselves in Yalıncak, going uphill through a path known as Bugi Bugi. Normally we would be hard pressed going up due to balance and terrain conditions, but this time -with the help of our new bikes- we went up with comfort and joy. After the ride we left our bikes at the office and went home.

Start of a new week, Monday morning. We left the house for office with our old bikes. It was kind of an emotional ride because I was riding my 18 year old bike Bianchi Meta for the last time. At noon we got on our new bikes, and went to Yalıncak even though it was really hot. We settled at a calm place in the shade, got our food out and spent some time reading and relaxing. Just what we needed to get rid of Monday blues.

Ateş came to the campus just when it was beginning to get dark. We went on a trail running workout, which we have been postponing for some time. There were losts of steep and long uphill trails in our workout. We ran through trails that we never have passed before, and was surprised by the nature of Yalıncak once again. We watched the sunset while we ran..

Lunch break in Yalıncak

It was a busy and suffocating Friday in the office. I woke up before dawn due to excitement over the presentation that I have been preparing for the last week. Actually I have been losing sleep since I was appointed to my new position in the Computer Center. I have been feeling pressure due to the increased responsibilities that have been assigned to me. My resignation and exhaustion must have been evident from my voice and facial expressions. Even when there were just few minutes remaining until the week was over my mind was boggled with my Thesis Comitee report that I had to write ( which would probably take the whole weekend). At last I could not resist the urge and called Ateş.

-Ateş, lets go to Eymir after work.

-That would be nice.

-But with bikes..

-…

-Ateş?

-I think I will come by car.

– Come on, it’s only 15kms. Ok, it is a little bit uphill but we will go through Yalıncak, there won’t be any traffic.

-I think I will come by car.

15 minutes of trying to convince Ateş did not work. Next in line, Banu..

-Bango, Eymir after work, with bikes, through Yalıncak.

(even before I completed my sentence) -Yubbi!

There was only Mert left.

-Mert, we will be cycling to Eymir after work, can you come?

-Hmm, I have some work to do, I will meet you there.

-Won’t you be late?

-Don’t worry, I’ll manage.

-Ok!

Crops in Yalıncak

It was around 19:00 when Banu was able to get out. It was not long beforwe we were cycling through Yalıncak. We had just oiled our chains so we were making good way with higher than normal performance. The weather was wonderful, we stopped for pictures, wanted to spend some more time there but had to continue since we did not want to be late for Eymir. There is this hill in Yalıncak which we thought was impossible (when we started cycling seriously) to go uphill cycling. We were able to climb the hill without even breating heavily. I guess our workouts have been beneficial to us 🙂 We were in Ahlatlıbel in hust under 45 minutes.

A Tree and Deniz

We met Deniz Tokay from Gezginder and started cycling to Eymir. The brakes of my bicycle (which was so old that if it were a human, then it would be old enough to vote) were not slowing me down. I had to go real slow downhill. There was only 1.5km left to our meeting point when my chain broke unexpectedly. I lost my balance when the chain broke but somehow managed to land on my two feet. Banu and Deniz came to my help but none of us had ever fixed a broken chain. I was hoping Ateş had came with his car so we could go back home. Since the meeting point was really close I decided to run with the bike (and try to fix the chain at the meeting point)..

Not surpisingly I was the last one to arrive at the meeting point. Since we were really hungry we ordered right away.

Rock Lizards, working

I had my mind on my broken chain while we were waiting for our food to arrive. Ateş brought out the stainless steel stencils that that he had have cut. They looked brilliant! We worked on our equipment list (for the race) while examining the stencils.

We ate, we chatted, we watched the fireworks and their reflection on the lake.

Fireworks over Eymir

It was 22:30 when the waiter announced that they were closing up the shop. Somehow I had forgotten to fix my chain. I have never had to fix a broken chain, but Mark had told me about it once.. We used our multi-purpose toolkit we bought from Delta Bisiklet to remove 2 chain elements from the chain. Removing chain elements shortens out the chain (which puts more tension on the gear cogs, derailer and chain). This is why some touring cyclists tend to carry an extra chain. Suprisingly my chain was fixed in under 10 minutes. We were ready for the way back but Ateş was worried and did not want us to go up the steep Eymir hill with a fixed chain. Luckily Ateş had his bike carrier in his trunk so we were able to load the bikes to his car. It was midnight when we arrived home.

To be continued.