“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.”
After we set out from Tblisi we hit a very different sort of desert/arid landscape which proved to be quite pleasant because we opted for the small country roads instead of the scary highway nearby.
“Do not squander this time. You will never have it again. You have a crucial opportunity to invest in the next season of your life now. Whatever you sow, you will eventually reap. The habits you form in this season will stick with you for the rest of your life. So choose those habits wisely.”
We took another offshoot from the highway which led up into the mountains, though we must be getting soft since we didn’t take the road all the way to the end this time. Instead, we spent three days camping and fishing along the river. I know I have said this a million times already, but camping here in Georgia is probably the best thing about this country. There are plenty of open fields with trees and rivers, most of which already have a fire circle since the picnic culture is so prevalent here. We have now started to take advantage of this to make our own fires, which, as Kevin puts it, makes it “real camping.”
“We are torn between nostalgia for the familiar and an urge for the foreign and strange. As often as not, we are homesick most for the places we have never known.”
45C is about 35C higher than I typically enjoy. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a mountain girl through and through and if there isn’t snow on the ground, chances are it’s too hot by my standards. Cycling through the countryside in the Georgian valley has proven to be extremely difficult due to the heat, though in all honesty, it hasn’t diminished my already growing love for this country. If this isn’t proof that cycling (and really life in general) is just a mental game based on your attitude, I don’t know what is. Despite the heat, there isn’t anywhere else in the world I would rather be as Georgia has already proven to be full of wonderful countryside and hospitable people.
The Wandering Nomads 