Riding to Kartepe from Istanbul

We had a nice Sunday ride on last weekend. We planned to drive Kartepe from Istanbul in the morning and come back on the same day. Kartepe is a famous ski resort which is quite close to Istanbul. You need to ride to Sapanca before climbing to Kartepe, Distance is nearly 130 km in total, 100km on high way and the rest is asphalt main road. There is small lake at Sapanca and Sapanca is another nice holiday destination with good hotels and warm springs. After Sapanca you have to climb 1800m high at a distance of 23 km for Kartepe. It is a nice countryside road with curves. There are good opportunities for breakfast and lunch on the way. After reaching to Kartepe there are different alternatives. You may ski or snowboard in winter season or go to the forest by teleski for trekking, if there is no snow. There wasn’t enough snow for skiing yet on last weekend however the atmosphere and autumn colors was very nice. After a stop for very tasty breakfast at Sapanca we climbed Kartepe and spent some hours. On the way back to Istanbul we had a coffee and tee break near the lake. We were total 16 bikes, 3 SW600, 2 Burgmann 650 Executive, 3 Burgmann 400, 3 Majesty 400 and rest were different models including 1 BMW-GS650. Total duration was 8 hours and the distance around 300km. Average speed was 90 km and the consumption of my Silver was 5.2lt/100km. It was a good weekend with friends and bikes. Here are the photos and the story.

During our start from Istanbul it was raining, after 10km it became a shower. 100km later rain stopped and the weather during the rest of the tour was very nice. We have a brief meeting before staring to ride and an experienced driver who drives at the pole position explains the rules and communication signs at the beginning. Everybody shall have A2 class motorcycle driver licence and the protective equipment. We apply group riding techniques and nobody can pass over the others during the ride.

By drfaruk at 2010-10-22

Zip style riding to provide more distance between the bikes. I’m the third bike.

By drfaruk at 2010-10-22

On the highway

By drfaruk at 2010-10-22

Stop for brekafast


Delicous food


Target destination

By drfaruk at 2010-10-22

Unfortunately very few snow


Metal horses

By drfaruk at 2010-10-22



Riding back to Istanbul


Intermediate stop on the way


Down the mountains

By drfaruk at 2010-10-22


By drfaruk at 2010-10-22

Final coffee stop at Sapanca lake


The end. Some pictures were quite big, and disturbing the page and I attached them with small size. You may see the big size by clicking on the picture. Thanks for your attention

Awesome report. Looks like a fun time. Thanks for sharing.

I went back through your photos again, it really looks like you guys had a great time. Thanks again for posting the photos here and for the link to the photo album.

Great narrative and pics! Thanks for sharing!!

KINN
Vancouver Island, B.C.

Thanks a lot for your nice feedback. I'll share the following activities by the time. Unfortunately it is getting winter and the frequency of the activities will be less. I hope to share also different topics directly related with the bike later.

Nice pics and nice narrative.
We all like to see what others are doing.

MaxB