The steepest section is behind the village of Yenice, at around kilometre 15, up to the pass just below 800 m. There, a moderate one-way-street branches off towards the summit.

We set off in temperatures of over 30 degrees in this small village.

We follow the D565 road, which leads to the Black Sea. The first 13 kilometres run straight ahead with a view of the mountain range that is our destination for today. A small radar station can be seen in the distance on the summit on the far left.

Then we reach the village of Yenice.

Behind the village, the gradient increases significantly and the road widens considerably so that heavy goods vehicles can crawl up the passroad.

Suddenly, there is a roadblock (as experienced elsewhere in Turkey). Here, you have to leave the road and drive through loose gravel past a police container. They let me through.

Looking back

At the top of the pass, heavy goods vehicles can be seen on the left, enveloping everything in clouds of dust. The road leads straight ahead to the summit of Mahya Dagi.

Here, it suddenly becomes quieter and much more pleasant to cycle.

On the way up, there is even a nice wide hairpin bend. Always a highlight for any biker.

Nevertheless, there is a certain tension in the air. At the top, there is said to be a strict ban on photography and the Turkish military is said to be rather strict. On the way, the first surveillance cameras appear at the side of the road. At the back left, the radar dome on the summit is visible.

At an altitude of 885 metres, just below the summit, there is a surprise: the military is closing the road. There was no mention of this in recent travel reports, so it must be new. What now? The guardhouse does not appear to be manned. But the message on the sign is clear – in several languages.

No one around, but cameras. A quick ‘summit photo’ and down again even faster.
No, it wasn't a nice country point – but I got it :-)