Oct 15, 2022

Stage 34 of 36, day 41 of 43: 115.8 km, 1121m climb, 4:45 Moving, 7:00 Total,  67.1 kph max

Country	Distance	Climbing
Slovenia	352.2	5149
Italy	29.3	346
Croatia	950.9	11,430
Bosnia & Herzegovina	211.0	1444
Montenegro	29.3	185
Albania	688.2	9749
Greece	791.2	12,935
Total	3052.1	41,238

I slept pretty well in the hotel in Tripoli until just before 7. We packed up and went down for breakfast. It was crowded and small, so I ate in a lounge instead. I had a nice call home with Katie, then we all went next door to the funny garage where our bikes and vans were stored. Marc and Ype both independently told me about the poster on a nearby store that I just had to see.

We started riding at 9am after Wilbert told us that the weather would get better through the day so there was no rush, we should stop early and often, etc. We started riding with a local Greek rider but he only went about 10 km with us. After a kilometer in town, we were out on a nice country road under thick grey clouds. It was cool, double jerseys with shorts and full gloves. The pavement felt good and fast, as did my bike and me. It’s amazing what a double rest day will do for you. I caught up to a bunch that had left before me and we stopped pretty soon for coffee. Sigi and I didn’t have anything but everyone else pounded coffee or espresso. As we watched the others cruise by we laughed about trying to be last.

The ride in the morning was easy and fun, more down than up, and had a beautiful descent that four of us cruised together at 60 to nearly 70 kph, smooth and free. Then we had a little climb, very scenic on deserted roads.

We rode along some more and came to the shoreline – it’s the Aegean Sea here, the Argolic Gulf.

We had a little food then continued but found lunch set up about 300m further along the shore. It was a beautiful spot with people coming by to walk down to the beach to photograph the flamingos. My photos don’t do them justice so are not included here. After a great lunch, we turned inland and cruised on. There was one climb, a bit over 300m, which we broke up by stopping to pick and eat some beautiful ripe figs.

We descended then took a short detour to a pretty amazing ancient (4-500BC) theater that is in good condition. It’s called the Theater of Epidaurus. Henk drove his van to the parking lot so he could watch our bikes while we all went in. After some ice cream, I went in with everyone and we marveled at the theater. Bob proposed a race to the top and I was sure the ultra-distance super runner (he’s run up to 100 mile events) would handily beat me, but my balance and fitness somehow allowed me the win.

The theater has amazing acoustics. We could hear someone talking from the center of the stage from the top even though it was windy! We checked out the museum and a few more of the archeological sites there, then remounted for the final 20 km to camp at the beach in Epidaurus. It was mostly downhill but had some squirrely winds, mostly the bad kind. We pulled in around 4pm to our second to last campsite of the trip.

Soon enough it was time for dinner and Caroline gave us another fantastic one. With two kinds of wine and yummy dessert and a nice marmot ceremony after. We hung out talking for a while but it never lasts too late as people are tired, definitely including me. I think that one of the best features of this campsite is that it’s about 10m from the sea side meaning that instead of dogs or chickens or bells or calls to prayer, we should only hear the beautiful wave noise tonight.

Oct 14, 2022

I woke up a few times in the night, listened for the predicted rain, didn’t hear anything and went back to sleep. About 6:45, still pitch dark outside, I tried again, no sound. But then a big flash of lightening lit up my room. The rain started about then and there was a pretty dramatic lightening/thunder storm. By the time we had packed up for the walk to the campsite 45 minutes later, our little dirt road was a river and it was hard to dodge all the deep puddles in the pouring rain. I found a couple of garbage bags to put around my two backpacks to try and keep my gear semi-dry on the hike. Breakfast up at the campsite wasn’t much fun but I ate; peanut butter tasted especially good.

We were talking and I heard Sigi say they were taking the van. I asked him if I heard right and he said, “Yes, why would you ride in this?” So I thought about it and couldn’t think of a reason. I joined a fast-increasing group of van riders. In the end I think maybe 1/3 of the riders set out in appalling conditions, to ride over 120 km with 2500m of climbing. Once my decision was made I was very happy.

We cleaned up the camp, washed a bunch of dishes, packing things up, then stood around until a very wise person (Diana) said, “Why don’t you go wait in the café and have some hot drinks?” So we did and it was great.

Everyone riding in the van was asked to test for Covid if they hadn’t in the last 24 hours. I did again and was negative. I don’t know exactly when we left but I got a seat in the fire truck. The downside was that it pointed backwards, but the upside was that the firetruck took a direct route to Tripoli, bypassing the mountain pass and the lunch stop, arriving around 1pm.

By pure chance, my bags were in the firetruck, for first time on the trip. So I had all my clothes when we arrived and took a nice hot shower. Then Graham, Marc and I went out to a delicious lunch at a nearby café.

I had a great video call with Katie, then Bob arrived, full of tales of scary dog attacks and rain and massive climbing. He rode the whole route by himself – certified tough guy. In the afternoon, I just relaxed, read a book and hung out. When it was dinner time I wasn’t hungry and didn’t even drink the beer I had stashed in the room refrigerator. I am also thinking about how I need to drastically reduce calorie consumption in just a few days. Since I didn’t ride, I basically passed on dinner and hope I don’t wake up starved in the middle of the night. The rain started up in the late afternoon and continued well into the night, so going out on the town was not appealing. The forecast for tomorrow is better so we’re hoping for a good day of cycling.

10/13/2022

I couldn’t get to sleep early but once I did, I slept really well. Something about not having dogs and chickens and bells and a roommate (even though my roommate is awesome) is just great. Sigi and Anita took the motor-scooter downtown and bought food for breakfast and we had a great breakfast at “home”. I did a small batch of laundry, then we headed off to see Olympia.

Bob rode his bike, Sigi and Anita rode the scooter, and Tom and I walked. We visited the camp first, then walked downtown and looked in a few stores. Then down to the archaeological site for which the town is so famous.

We looked all around, and it’s really interesting to see the different ages of the ruins. Some are way over 2000 years old, some newer ones are built on top of older foundations. We ran into many other riders walking through. It was cool seeing the original Olympic Games site – you can still see the start and finish lines and the judging area, but it’s hard to imagine with 45,000 screaming fans. In fact it’s hard to imagine the whole place full of life with everything intact. Again, it really made me wish for a time machine.

We checked out one of the museums, then walked downtown, bought some beer and headed back home. Lunch was outdoors, looking over our really nice view, leftovers from breakfast, with beer. We relaxed in the afternoon, did another round of laundry, drank beer on the patio, tried to solve the world’s problems, etc.

We walked up the hill to the Garden Tavern, supposedly the nicest restaurant in Olympia, for our reservation at 7. It’s the nicest restaurant we’ve been to on the whole tour although not super expensive. Delicious food with lots of “on the house” dishes thrown in. Come here when you visit!

Headlamp-equipped, we made our way down the hill to our house, hoping the rain would be long and hard in the night and be all done by 9am tomorrow when we have to start another long stage to Tripoli. The forecast is quite bad again, but we’re also hoping it’s wrong as usual.

Oct 12, 2022

Stage 32 of 36, day 38 of 43: 110.9 km, 1791m climb, 5:03 Moving, 6:01 Total,  69.8 kph max

Country	Distance	Climbing
Slovenia	352.2	5149
Italy	29.3	346
Croatia	950.9	11,430
Bosnia & Herzegovina	211.0	1444
Montenegro	29.3	185
Albania	688.2	9749
Greece	675.4	11,814
Total	2936.3	40,117

Again, the weather forecasts are all wrong. We woke up to a cloudless blue sky, unlike the predictions. Breakfast as normal at 8am, then grabbing the bikes out of the garage and starting the ride at 9am.

Bob, Sigi, Anita and I headed out in the lead and rode together all the way to lunch at 57 km without stopping. After we got out of town, we had another 10 km of easy warm-up, then the hills started. Even though this stage had less climbing than the two most recent ones, it seemed harder. The climbs were shorter, steep, often and many.

It was already hot by the time we stopped for lunch, before noon. We helped Ype and Henk set up and had a great meal. Then, back in the saddle. We were just over halfway in distance but under in climbing, and it got hotter, so the afternoon session was tough.

At one point, I was climbing very steeply up a brick road, felt like 20%, sweating massively, and at the top, there was a nice little shaded café with a few of our riders enjoying cold drinks. Stopping there was so great and gave me the power to crank out the last 25 km.

I rode the last bit with Bob and luckily a lot of it was downhill. But the last 1 km was another brutal >15% climb, switch-backing up to the campsite. The campsite looked nice, with a beautiful pool, but is isolated from town. We had chili soup, lots of snacks and even some special craft beer the staff had shopped for at our request (the guys are just so cool!) More people arrived and after we were full we picked up our luggage and five of us walked 10 minutes down to the house we had rented for two nights. When we rented it, the forecast had been for rain the whole time, now it’s just for the second night here. We took over Niek’s reservation when he had to go home. We split it five ways so it ended up being very inexpensive for an amazing two story house with four bedrooms, marble floors everywhere, tall ceilings, very luxurious.

The owner gave us access to his motor-scooter for trips to town and he took Sigi down to show him the route. We all had showers, the owner offered to do any laundry, in short, we seemed to be in heaven. My legs were tired – I guess the last few days of who knows how many thousand meters climbing were taking their toll.

We all sat outside enjoying cold beers in the afternoon, then walked up to camp when it was nearly time for dinner. Today was good in that there were no more positive Covid test results and most of the people infected are feeling a lot better and able to ride, either full or half days. There is a “Covid table”, on the end for dinner, all of us from the house sat at the furthest away table. We all had tested negative in the morning. Dinner was nice, with a couple of bottles of wine. Then we stayed up in camp for a while but I was the first to admit: I was really tired. Soon others did too and we walked down to the house, stopping at the fancy restaurant next to the campsite to make a reservation for tomorrow night. We made it via headlamp, and then relaxed in our comfortable home. I am so glad tomorrow is a rest day!

Oct 11, 2022

Stage 31 of 36, day 37 of 43: 134.1 km, 2116m climb, 6:25 Moving, 7:12 Total,  66.7 kph max

Country	Distance	Climbing
Slovenia	352.2	5149
Italy	29.3	346
Croatia	950.9	11,430
Bosnia & Herzegovina	211.0	1444
Montenegro	29.3	185
Albania	688.2	9749
Greece	564.5	10,023
Total	2825.4	38,326

The weather has changed on us. The days of blue skies with hardly any clouds and no threat of rain are gone. The forecasts are pretty useless but said we’d be pretty wet by the early afternoon. We had breakfast in a very large dining room, empty except us. Quite a few people were wearing masks, even if they haven’t tested positive (me for example).

It was a really nice start of a long stage though, no uphill at all! We rode down the hotel driveway then turned to coast down to the top of town, then rocketed down through town – I hit over 65 and then led the next 20 km down a scenic valley.

Around 23 km, we stopped to remove extra clothes for the first climb.

We headed up the hill, starting out quite steep. It went on and on and on, although there were a few short flat or downhill sections. Bob and I stopped to explore a little 2-storey fort.

Back to climbing. It was steep for a long time and we had some rain sprinkles but not that much. As I got up to the summit, the road was actually dry for the first time today.

Finally there was a good descent, a bit cold so I wore two jerseys. I got to pass two giant cement mixers – the road was just barely wide enough. I think the drivers were surprised. Lunch was relatively early, at 57 km with almost 80 to still go. But we had done the big obstacle of the day and it was great to refuel. I headed off and soon we were riding by Lake Trichonida, the largest lake in Greece. After that the sun was out and it was quite hot, and flat and boring for a little while. Then a climb started and we got our plane which seems to be a daily thing now.

I picked some ripe blackberries by the road, and then we had a nice downhill to an old bridge that was loud to ride over.

By this point, we were within maybe 30 km of Patras and started to be on the lookout for water (the Gulf of Corinth) and the bridge we’d heard so much about. After another 5 km climb, we could finally see it.

We made quick work of the few kilometers to get there and soon found ourselves under the bridge at a statue of a runner carrying the Olympic torch – the bridge was opened the day before the 2004 Olympic Games and the torch was carried across it then.

After we crossed the bridge, we had another five flights of stairs to negotiate down, then about 10 km to ride through increasingly more traffic. Finally we were in downtown Patras and pulled up at the hotel, a big stage done. Caroline had MANY snacks out and we ate massively. Then it was time for showers and cleaning up. But pretty soon, it was 6:30 and the Craft Beer Lovers team had a meeting at Beer Bar Q. This turned out to be pure gold. The first three pages of the menu were dedicated to only beer. SO many types. They “only” had about 15 on draft but tons of interesting ones in bottle too. And the place was just gorgeous.

We had to use Google Translate in camera mode to find something without meat on the menu – delicious “Vegetable Burgers” FTW. It was so fun. We ended up with our Craft Beer Lovers group of five plus four others. After dinner and several rounds, Tom, Bob and I walked up the street marveling at the sheer number of people out enjoying the evening on a Tuesday. It was really amazing. We had a round of excellent gelato, then walked home. What a great day!

Oct 10, 2022

Stage 30 of 36, day 36 of 43: 106.1 km, 2287m climb, 5:54 Moving, 6:23 Total,  67.9 kph max

Country	Distance	Climbing
Slovenia	352.2	5149
Italy	29.3	346
Croatia	950.9	11,430
Bosnia & Herzegovina	211.0	1444
Montenegro	29.3	185
Albania	688.2	9749
Greece	430.4	7907
Total	2691.3	36,210

I’m still having a great time but we continue to have new people testing positive for Covid. The first few to get it, back in Albania, over 10 days ago, have no more symptoms and are probably not even contagious any more but it seems like one more person tests positive each day. I think we’re now at 1/3 of the riders positive or recovering. So it feels like a race for me to get to the end and escape without it. I don’t know what my chances of succeeding are.

We had breakfast this morning in the ornate dining room of the Domotel Arni Historic Hotel in downtown Karditsa. We read that it’s the second oldest hotel in Greece.

The ride today was 106 km with lots of climbing. We headed out of town in a 10 person pace line, which lasted maybe 25 km until the climbing started. Then people tend to go their own pace. I rode up the first hill, 720m, then there was a short descent, then a second climb of about 600m. The trucks were set up for lunch near the top of this second climb and it was nice to take a break.

Then it was back at it. Once I’ve climbed that much, I get into a groove and it seems easier. Maybe it’s also the mountain air. It feels different/better up at 1400m compared to sea level, and the trees are mountain trees and there’s a great view in every direction.

So I enjoyed it all the way. The last 20 km or so was mostly downhill, through some nice turns, but we had one rider crash – it sounds like he’ll be ok. It was a little tricky navigating through the town of Karpenisi; Graham and I ended up walking down a couple of stair cases. But we got to the hotel in the end. It has a gorgeous view of the town but is pretty isolated. Luckily the reception guy is happy to take food orders and we had dinner delivered. It feels very post-season in this large hotel which is seemingly empty except for us. But they still have a little beer left in the bar so all is not lost.

Heard today in the bar:

Rider 1 (Peter): I don't understand it. My bike performance is just not what I'd like. I've tested negative for Covid, so what is going on?
Rider 2 (Tom): Oh, did you do a test for O-L-D?
Rider 3 (Me): That won't help, we'd all test positive.

Tomorrow is another big day (130 km, over 2000m climb and 3000m descent) so it’s time to go to bed early and sleep hard. I just walked up the 5 flights of stairs (101 total) and felt good. Turns out biking makes you strong even if you have a case of O-L-D. Good night!

Oct 9, 2022

Stage 29 of 36, day 35 of 43: 95.04 km, 1000m climb, 4:05 Moving, 5:37 Total,  67.9 kph max

Country	Distance	Climbing
Slovenia	352.2	5149
Italy	29.3	346
Croatia	950.9	11,430
Bosnia & Herzegovina	211.0	1444
Montenegro	29.3	185
Albania	688.2	9749
Greece	324.3	5620
Total	2585.5	33,923

It feels like we’re coming down to the end. We have seven more riding days total plus one rest day to look forward to. This morning, we had breakfast in camp as usual, and started out together a little before 9am. It was cool but not cold. I wore a thin second jersey and fingerless gloves. We cruised down the valley, making a large number of 90º turns. Bob, Geoff and I ended up out in front and it was super nice. Geoff was being very cool and always drafting behind as he has not had a negative Covid test yet but feels fine.

We were under strict orders not to arrive at lunch too soon: “Coffee stop is mandatory”. So we found a nice one after about 30 km and had a good long stop. The owner had lived in Germany and was all smiles, serving over 20 of us on a slow Sunday morning.

We rode along some more and came upon Sigi and Anita, stopped by a cotton field. I slowed down and asked if they were ok. No answer, I think because they were laughing too hard.

Then, around 50 km, we came upon the group having lunch. It was nice to sit in the shade and refuel. We stayed quite a while then took off. Soon after lunch the big climb of the day started. The major part was 620m in 14 km, mostly gentle but some parts were 12-15% and it was hot in the sun.

But it wasn’t too long before we made it to the top.

From the top we had only 23 km more, and a fair amount of it was a glorious fast descent. After a final bit of flat riding we cruised into Karditsa, which is a good-sized town. Our hotel was right in the center. Upstairs we found most of the riders already there, sucking down smoothies and eating all kinds of great snacks.

After showers and a little photo work, we headed out to where our craft beer team had found…Lagunitas IPA from California on draft, served in the authentic large mouth Lagunitas glasses. About eight of us had a fun round or two of beers there, then we moved across the street to a restaurant for dinner. We did what you can only do on a trip like this: ordered double meals each, plus more beer! I had a giant Greek salad plus a nice orzo and shrimp dish. Then, because tomorrow is a bigger day than today (2400m climb in 106 km), we went back and got ready for a massive sleep.

Oct 8, 2022

We had a rest day in Kastraki and I was thinking of riding up to see the famous monasteries of Meteora. The view of the rock formations dominates from our campground and you can even see a couple of the monasteries. But in the morning I just didn’t feel like riding. So I got some breakfast from a bakery in town, then took the bus which conveniently stops at the campground entrance.

It goes up through town, then stops at each of the six monasteries. Knowing they would be crowded and determined not to try and “see it all”, I picked one, the best sounding one, The Monastery of Great Meteoron. It’s the oldest (14th century) and the biggest. So I got off the bus there. The view of it and all around was just great.

I looked up and saw a giant line of people slowly climbing the many stairs. It was discouraging but it turned out that a lot of them were from one giant group. I hung out a little, then went up and only waited a couple of minutes to get in.

It’s a large, super scenic complex. I spent over an hour there exploring the museums, looking at the view and seeing every room that was open. Best was the church – a relatively small chapel, but very ornate and peaceful. I was sitting just absorbing, when a small group came in led by a guy with a big black beard who may have been a monk. He spoke with a deep resonant voice, talking about something for a long time. Then they all broke into song, very nice acoustics in the room. Many people were disregarding the “No photos, no videos” signs that were all over, but I didn’t. After that little concert, I headed out. I walked down to the next-door Monastery of Varlaam. It looked pretty cool too, but I just climbed a rock near it for a view and didn’t go in.

I walked back up to the bus stop a few minutes before the bus was due and ran into Marc, Harry and Kevin. They had hiked up and Marc and Harry were just starting back down the trail to town. I joined them for a nice walk, somewhat steep to start, but shaded.

Before noon we were back in town. I bought lunch at the bakery and went back to my tent to change into shorts (shorts not allowed inside the monasteries). I ate at the campground bar then went back down to our campsite to relax for a while in the afternoon.

I walked up to town again for dinner with several riders. We ate small and restrained dinners which was nice.

Oct 7, 2022

Stage 28 of 36, day 33 of 43: 68.5 km, 881m climb, 2:39 Moving, 2:49 Total,  64.9 kph max

Country	Distance	Climbing
Slovenia	352.2	5149
Italy	29.3	346
Croatia	950.9	11,430
Bosnia & Herzegovina	211.0	1444
Montenegro	29.3	185
Albania	688.2	9749
Greece	229.3	4620
Total	2490.5	32,923

After a lousy night of sleep, and a somewhat small hotel breakfast, I was wondering if today’s ride would be any good. It started straight from town with a climb of over 600m in 14 km. Since there was no downhill I tried wearing just a short-sleeved jersey and it worked. I generated enough heat to stay warm almost to the top of the hill. There were some cold, strong headwinds, but it was balanced by gorgeous views with almost no traffic.

I got to the top in an hour, ate a banana and added a long sleeved jersey. We were on top of Katara Pass at over 1700m. It’s one of the highest passes in Greece. As a bonus, we had a clear view of Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece at 2917m. Everyone added clothes, remembering how cold we were on the descent yesterday. I used full-fingered gloves all day.

I strategically started with Bob J, the master descender, and told him, “Go ahead you’re faster”. We started well after many people and I drafted him for 20 km, passing every single rider ahead. It was magical. His skill and experience was a dream to watch. Later, one of the riders told me watching us pass by was the most beautiful thing she saw. The first 1000m of the descent was continuous, barely dipping below 50 kph with little braking. My bike is not geared as high as his so sometimes I had to aggressively tuck right behind him to keep up. He kept pedaling on all the straights for maximum speed. I can only really pedal to 50 kph.

We had a bit of uphill after that and were joined by Bob M and Geoff and Simo. Then there was another 500m descent at warp speed, again sucking Bob J’s wheel the whole time. We kept up the pace line until arrival in Kastraki, with the famous rocks of Meteora becoming more and more visible.

We cruised into the campground surprising the truck crew who had just arrived themselves. We helped set up camp, unload the truck etc. Ype arrived, then Henk and there was a grand lunch with everyone happy from the amazing ride.

Tom, Per, Graham, Peter and I downed a few beers at the campground bar, then I wrote this up. Peter and I are on dinner duty tonight – I think it’s my last time. We looked at the schedule and after the rest day tomorrow, there are only two more 4-day blocks of riding, and a rest day in Olympia before we arrive at our final destination, Athens.

We are really looking forward to exploring the monasteries tomorrow. Here’s a photo I found online.

Cool bonus fact: the 1981 Bond film For Your Eyes Only was filmed here.

Oct 6, 2022

Stage 27 of 36, day 32 of 43: 85.3 km, 1640m climb, 4:29 Moving, 5:41 Total,  59.6 kph max

Country	Distance	Climbing
Slovenia	352.2	5149
Italy	29.3	346
Croatia	950.9	11,430
Bosnia & Herzegovina	211.0	1444
Montenegro	29.3	185
Albania	688.2	9749
Greece	160.8	3739
Total	2422.0	32,042

The weather has cooled off quite a bit. It got down to 3°C last night and when we started riding today, a little after 9am, it was 7°C. It didn’t feel that bad so I started with both jerseys on, not carrying anything else. By the time we were halfway down the initial 15 km descent from town, I was starting to get a little cold. At the bottom, I was frozen, especially my hands. We stopped at Noutsos Bridge, built in 1750, and spent some time checking it out, mainly to warm up!

Warmed up a bit, we continued and pretty soon found another of the famous bridges in the area: Zagorochoria Plakidas Bridge, built in 1814. This one has three arches. We walked down and looked under it and walked over it.

The riding in this area was up and down, on deserted roads, and the landscape was thick beautiful forest. I never saw anything like this in the Greek Islands, that’s for sure. The spot Ype found for lunch was just awesome. He tantalized us by text first:

After lunch, Bob and I continued together, up, down and around, through some headwinds and soon came to the major climb of the day, 750m in 14 km. This one was pretty consistent, pretty, with low traffic. It did drag on and the headwinds were intermittent and strong sometimes. By the end I was feeling somewhat unpowerful.

Finally my Garmin read 0m to ascend and I cruised down a kilometer to the town of Metsovo. It’s at about 1200m elevation, with cool air and hilly narrow streets. We checked into the hotel and immediately set to work on soup and snacks.

Next up was a hot shower, laundry and a nap. Then it was time for beer. The craft beer crew was already ensconced in a place downtown so I walked down and joined for a round of decent craft IPA.

By 7, it was dinner time so we walked a few doors down and ate. The menu had only meat dishes so Bob asked about other options. The guy said, “Vegetarian or vegan?” and we knew we were ok. I had a great salad and stuffed vegetables – delicious and filling. We had mineral water to drink and since I had just one beer at the previous place, I scored an AFD by Peter’s bike touring rules.

The owner brought us free ice creams for dessert and didn’t offer any ouzo, just excellent! We walked home, all wearing heavy jackets, wondering how cold it will be in the morning. We took a detour to the hotel lobby to stand by their roaring fire for a while before going upstairs. I will certainly sleep well tonight!