Cycling through the Strandja mountains

Many people we meet cycle through Strandja park. The Strandja mountains are very good for cycling, because an asphalt road (albeit with some holes in it that for some reason never get repaired) goes through the park from the Black Sea coast all the way to the border with Turkey. And many people continue from there to Istanbul.

Many people cycle through Strandja Nature Park, because there is a very good route from the Bulgarian Black Sea coast to Istanbul in Turkey.

The road goes over some low mountains and forested valleys that are not too challenging even for relatively inexperienced cyclists. There are several springs en route for filling water bottles. Some small villages and towns have shops for buying supplies. Camping in the forest is allowed, and of course there are many beautiful views over the Strandja mountains. It’s obviously a very popular route for adventurous people.

So far we have met quite a few cyclists going through Strandja. Early in the year there was a couple from Germany who every year pick a route somewhere in the world and go cycling there for half a year. They have been in many interesting places and write books about their experiences. A few weeks later there was a thirsty German who was wondering whether he could buy a cold beer in our village; unfortunately the shop was closed. He is in his early eighties but still young, doing a round trip through Europe. He was alone, because his friends thought themselves too old to cycle this far. Recently we met Dutch people and young Austrians cycling to Istanbul.

Cycling for Shelterbox

We also met two young men from the South West of England. They are cycling from Cornwall to China (wow!) and have taken out a year to get there. By cycling they raise money for a charity called Shelterbox. After we met them we checked the Shelterbox website, and it’s a brilliant set-up. They provide a box containing all essential equipment for a family of 10 people to survive for up to 6 months in areas that have been hit by natural or other disasters. You can read about their cycling adventure on their website.

So even though we are the middle of nowhere, we still meet some of the more interesting and adventurous people on the planet!