Biking in Turkey: routes, experiences, suggestions?

I'm visiting Turkey late August to mid-September. It's actually my third
visit - I have a good friend who lives a block off the Bosphorus, and it's
worth the 10,000 mile journey to visit her.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experiences bicycle riding through Turkey:
what routes did you follow, how did you store and transport your bike, etc?
I'm a strong biker, and periodically do 200-mile, two-day rides, so I don't
think fitness will be the problem. I'm more concerned about the logistics of
the whole thing, and finding a good route.

The other wrinkle in this is that I'd probably be riding alone. My
experiences with the Turkish people have been nothing but positive, but I
don't want to run into any trouble.

My "home base" for the trip will be Istanbul. Any suggestions would be most
welcome.