Thursday August 21, 2014, 121 miles (195 km) – Total so far: 4,877 miles (7,849 km)
Thursday August 21, 2014 3 days 121 miles After a wonderful stay with Ali and his family it was once again time to get back on the road. Afshin drove us out of the very smoggy Tehran area where we began a series of mountain climbs. Several parts of Iran are very smoggy. On our first day in Iran there was a distinct odor of leaded gasoline at a station. I haven’t smelled that in years and Jocelyn has never smelled it. I can’t recall the last of the leaded gasoline in the states.
After lunch of two eggs we started our climbing. The roadside restaurants, if you can call them that, do not offer many options. Instead of some greasy meat we prefer simple scrambled eggs. The heat was soon on us but the climbing was fun, traffic very light, and the mountain color beautiful. After a few hours we came upon a small market/shed and had what else – beer (non-alcoholic) and ice cream. A few hours later we stopped in a small town park and set up camp. The next door fire department personnel came over and offered us their refrigerator, stove, and beds. Since we had already set up our tents we opted to stay in the park.
The next morning there was a reported from the local newspaper waiting to interview us. This was our first interview and we were glad Ehsan was there to translate. During this time many other people came to “see the American bike riders” and ask for pictures. Sometimes in the towns we visit we feel like celebrities. We were soon climbing again and heading more east. This day we peaked at 7, 550 feet and treated ourselves to a very nice lunch at a real restaurant near the top. While eating the wind started blowing very hard and the dirt flew over our bikes. Our descent included a few 10 percent down grades that we actually had to peddle down to keep standing. After a few hours of fighting this wind we came upon another inviting park so decided to camp for the night. It was still light so I continued to try and fix Jocelyn’s rear brake. The left side will not move away from the rim no matter how I tension the spring arm screw. I even bent the arm but it will just now pull the pad from the rim. The right side works correctly. As a result Jocelyn has her rear brake disabled. Any ideas?
Today we climbed even higher as we headed to the Semnan Desert. Once again the views were magnificent as we reflected how lucky we are to be bicycle touring Iran. The descents down to the desert were “scary fast” and we soon found ourselves in the town of Semnan and a very nice hotel. After three days of climbing this was much a relief.
