The Horribly Hilly Five Hundred

The western Black Sea of Turkey is a challenge to say the least!  40,000 feet of combined climbing over 500 miles from  Istanbul to Alacam before the road finally flattens out.  When I first looked at the map, I thought taking a coastal road (indeed the coast was within view 80% of the time) would be a cakewalk...but seismic forces had another plan for this rugged part of the world.  There was barely a section of flat on this stretch, it was all either up or down!