Ankara has the reputation of a civil servant's city, grey and rule-bound, and that does it an injustice. It sits on a high, dry plateau at about nine hundred metres, ringed by hills that are green for about six weeks in spring and golden for the rest of the year, and the capital of the Turkish republic since 1923 is full of surprises. The Roman Temple of Augustus, with its walls carrying an inscription in which the emperor describes his own deeds, stands near a mosque in the old quarter. Roman baths, a column and the old citadel sit within walking distance. Over the plain to the south, the Anıtkabir looks down over the city with solemn dignity.
The day out from here heads west to Gordion, the capital of the Phrygians, about ninety kilometres away. This was the kingdom of Midas, the king who, in legend, turned everything he touched to gold. The tumulus over a royal tomb there, dated to around 740 BC, is one of the biggest burial mounds in Anatolia, and you can walk into a tunnel to the wooden chamber at its heart, the oldest standing wooden building known. Gordion was also the place where Alexander the Great is said to have cut the famous knot in 333 BC.
The road west leaves the city on a fast dual carriageway and then settles into steppe riding, with wide-open fields, small villages and a lot of sky. Surfaces are good, wind can be strong, and trucks are the main hazard. In spring the plain turns green and poppies appear along the verges, while in high summer everything bakes and the horizon trembles in the heat.
With three and a half million inhabitants, Ankara offers everything a rider could want: fuel at every junction, bike dealers, hotels and food from street stalls to proper restaurants. Try Ankara tava, a baked dish of lamb and vegetables, and leave room for the city's famous pears. Winters are cold and sometimes snowy, so aim for April to October.