email from Turkey #2

On 9/8/06, John Lofranco wrote:
> Ok, so we made it to an internet cafe in Bursa. The food is good. It's
> like at Banff--buffet styles. I ran part of the course yesterday and
> part today. It looks good. Nothing as steep as Sulphur mountain at
> all. Th efirst 4k is a long grind on a drit road that is quite
> reminiscent of the dusty dirt roads you see in newsreels (yes, Joe,
> newsreels, just like my hired car) of middle east bombings. There have
> been no bombs though. The second part is rocky trail covered in
> leaves--it kind of alternates between flat and up, and then moves into
> a forest trail. I saw an old man walking up with a bag in his hand and
> I thought, oh, how nice, an old Turkish man going up the mountain to
> pick berries. Then, when I was walking back down, looking for Shaun
> (the lost junior--I found him) I saw the old man from the front. He
> was wearing a Nike cap and had an ipod on.
>
> The gondola rides are steep. The air is very dry. Everyone is in good
> spirits, except Ceri and Stefan who have yet to arrive. Apparently
> they are lost in Istanbul. Hopefully they'll arrive soon!
>
> What else to say? Thanks for the messages. I am going to try to read
> them now. I probably won't respond though. I hope things are going
> well with the team. I'll be back soon. Probably one more email, maybe
> from Paris, after the race.
>
> Talk to you all soon!
>
> John