Category: Greece 🇬🇷

Off the boat st Nea Styra I started to cycle hard up the excessively steep hill. And push on towards Kymi and the 5pm boat.

There is a spring water stop half way down one of the hills where I stopped to replenish water supplies. I took the opportunity to check the ferry timings to Skyros. It was now I found out that my ferry was not at 5pm as thought but at 8.45pm. I felt deflated, I now had 6 or 7 hours to wait when I reached Kymi but also missed an opportunity to meet up with Athanasios while I was in Nea Styra.

But the die has been cast and I ploughed on down the road. Now stopping often to replenish supplies, drink coffee.

The boat left Kymi late and we eventually arrived in Skyros at 11.30. I was home by 12. Showered and bed by 12.30

Today I’m tired and deflated.

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The route out of Sounion towards Athens is beautiful, the self proclaimed Greek Riviera. And very much like the French Riviera it is spoilt by a fair few crap buildings and in Greece some pretty horrendous graffiti. But most of all there are the road both ways is full of cars, motorbikes, mopeds, lorries with their operators all thinking they are racing drivers.

But when designing the route Lake Vouliagmeni seemed to be recommended. And I can wholeheartedly endorse that recommendation.

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The receptionist were fantastic they allowed me to lock my bike away in a cupboard so I felt relaxed. The €15 is for the whole day. You can use any free chair and just sit away from the hubbub outside. The waters are therapeutic and at 29⁰ and there are benches to sit on and gave your feet chewed at. There’s about 20mins where they swarm around you feet, obviously at this point I didn’t have my phone. I loitered for about an hour which was long enough for me you could easily wile a good few hours if you were with friends.

After this relaxing time I only had 20kms to get to the campsite. Unfortunately when I arrived it was nonexistent and had not been there for a bit. This threw my plans totally out of wack. There is a campsite near Central Athens but I really didn’t want to go there, so I decided to return to the Neo Makri campsite I had stayed at a few nights before. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the fires are getting worse and its best I return to Skyros.

The 1st ferry I needed to take was sort of towards the fires. Luckily I received a text saying there would be an early ferry at 7.30.

At 6am as I left the campsite site, still dark expecting to see the glow of flames from the fires on the mountains to the north. Hopefully the firefighters have subdued them a bit in the night. But it did feel counterintuitive to cycle towards where the fire is. But turning a bit west there was blue sky. I caught the boat.

The sun like a blast furnace on my back I veered to and over the center line of the road, suddenly the screech of brakes brought me back to the moment I had been contemplating where I could get some food and drink and unwittingly allowed myself to meander across the road. It most certainly can happen to us all.

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During my coffee break in Rafina 90mins earlier I had been contemplating returning home but for some reason I just slowly rode to Sounion. The morning temperatures were OK but 12.30 onwards there is a spike that saps every gram of energy from my body. But 1.30 arriving at the campsite. 1.5 litres of milk and a litre of OJ and I’m set to put up the tent.

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I was all for going immediately but Lefteris the campsite manager suggested I go to the temple at sunset. Let’s face it I had nothing else to do. Loitering all afternoon then food at about 7 and ride the 5kms to the temple. Of course its still hot at 7.30 so I arrived a soaked person.

But my negativity was unjustified and I was in easily.

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On my first ever cycling trip to Greece I came to Sounion. As the saying always goes, when I first came here you could walk all over and there was no payment. Now there is a man with a whistle and €10 at the gate.

The end of this first block was to ride to the top of Mt Ochi, its about 1100m there is a Dragon house there, the best preserved of the 25.

Out the hotel at 7 straight to a cafe. Only truck drivers there at that time of day.

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My Komoot router loves to take me up the steepest climbs, today these were either gravel or concrete many of which I had to walk. So already tired when I reached the climb proper. It’s straight up from now on. Mainly off road. It’s steep and rough. The route became vague and I walked 100m and talked to some guys who directed me back. Eventually after wandering a bit and pushing my bike up some ridiculous slopes I dumped the bike and started to walk, serious uphill. Spotting some cairns I decided that my direction was correct. Up and up, by this time the sun was a furnace of heat beating down and I was struggling to move forward. Blisters on my heels wasn’t helping. Then I sat on a rock I knew I had 1 to 1.5 kms to go but the will had left me. I did contemplate for 30mins or so but when I stood up I walk down deep disappointment in myself.

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The path down on the bike was violent and the worst of things happened, I lost my back light. Absolutely gutted. Back on the road a couple of up hills and straight in Mamari to catch the boat to Rafina. I immediately fell to sleep my head on the table. Still 0nly 3.30 in Rafina I searched out the closest campsite Camping Nea Makri and booked in for 2 nights.

There are fires raging around Greece and I need to just check on them.

I met Athanasios on my last mini tour while eating in Eretria (the town not the country) and he suggested I visit the Dragon Houses of Southern Euboea. This first stage is his fault.

The boat had only a few passengers, so I manoeuvred to the front of the boat and was first off. I do like to play a little game of see how far I can ride before the bus catches me, 13kms today, I think that’s a new record.

After all the faffing with my luggage my frame bag rubbed my inner thigh until it stung as the sweat ran over it. 🤦 I’ve adjusted the contents.

I did see a sign saying 35⁰ at 9.30 it’s going to be a hot day.

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I know the pictures don’t look that spectacular but the house up in the mountains near Styra was really impressive. I tried to get my bike up the last 100m track but it proved too steep to carry it. The houses are thought to be about 3000 years old, hidden in up in the mountains great slabs of limestone converging to a central roof. Put together without mortar.

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As always the end of my day was a mess. I rested from 3 till 5 then set off did about 5kms decided to rest for another hour, one guy did stop and ask if I was OK which I appreciated said I was but I was seriously overheating. Then as I neared Karystos, I saw a hotel and moved in, now €70 over budget.

I rode to the supermarket bought too much food and drink and am now struggling to consume any of it.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings. 🥵

I finally worked out how to share the detailed routes. It is split up into 8 parts of uneven length and fully readjusted to incorporate most of Plato’s suggestions. Peloponnese route.

Here is the bag I was waiting for with the bag it replaced for comparison. Although the old one was an OK size the inside was coming off and although waterproof was not a worry structural integrity was.

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I couldn’t be less Greek in my eating habits if you paid me, I usually eat at 5pm then do not consume anything but water till 8.30 the next day.

So after a lazy afternoon and early evening at the beach I walked up to town at 9pm to eat my evening meal 😖

This morning I was feeling a bit out of sorts, forgot to do my 5 Tibetan Rites, forgot to have my cold shower, forgot to eat breakfast and went straight into packing 🙈🤷‍♂️.

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Around 20kg that sounds about right. I broke a rule, (Rule 1. If you have 2 of anything you have 1 too many) I have 2 pairs of cycling shorts

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What was that, you want me to do one of those wanky shots of me lying in my laid out bags and kit, go read another blog for that. 😘

I’m sort of ready to go now. Buy ticket tomorrow morning. I forgot the ticket office in town is closed on Sunday evening.

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I have not changed with the times. I haven’t adapted my style. I haven’t learnt new tricks. Let’s face it I’m an old dog and you can rest assured no-one is trying to teach me and I’m not trying to learn. If you are interested in the same old thing, crap writing about me on a bike around, this time Greece, then you are in luck.

As usual there’ll be bad planning, zero organisation, stresses, feast and famine, and from what I’ve seen on the forecast 40⁰c temperatures.

After getting back from my short reintroduction trip to Delphi I got on the Internet and bought a few bits and pieces, the 1st package arrived today and hopefully the second will arrive by the end of the week ready for an off on Monday.

So here I go promising no organisation and I immediately break my promise with a sound piece of organisation. I designed my route on Komoot (without a doubt the best route, on and off road, planner) it’s around the Peloponnese. It’s split up into sections I’m sure you will work out how to follow it. Click here to see the route in more detail (I have no idea why it’s blocking my link to the details of the route, patience is a virtue)

Just under 2000kms. It’ll take me as long as it takes 🤷‍♂️. Actually it is already wrong as my friend Plato advised me on a few other places it visit in the area and I will be incorporating them into the route. There does seem to be an inordinate amount of climbing I always forget how mountainous Greece and expecially the Peloponnese is.

I am still playing with my Widgets and adjusting the appearance of the site, unlikely by very much and not so anyone else other than me will notice.