On the road . January 2007 . Greece
Cybercafe
ClickXL, Tripoli, 07-01-07
Getting to know Greece
Olympia to Athens
(7 cycle days; 6 rest days; 481km; 5215m)
Olympia to Gialova (106km; 653m)
Gialova to Kalamata (61km; 611m)
Kalamata to Paleologio (Sparti) (66km; 1552m)
Paleologio (Sparti) to Tripoli (61km; 1007m)
Tripoli to Mykines (69km; 426m)
Mykines to Kineta (64km; 525m)
Kineta to Athina (Athens) (54km; 441m)
Messy at times, but humbling nature
There is frost on the ground this morning. My teeth
chatter and fingers ache as we dive down from the mountains
around Olympia. Even with the discomfort, it is hard not to appreciate the beautifully clear skies with a morning
sun that promises some warmth. We weave in and out of small
rural villages. Elderly women
clad in black wander in and out of local stores and old men saunter up and
down the roads, often stopping at a bench to
rest the legs...
Tip of the month: survival sheet comes in handy in the cold
Simon & Pierre-Yves - two French guys we joined
up with in Greece - told us about this great tip: If it gets too cold for you to handle it in your tent, then lay a survival sheet
on the floor underneath your matresses. For temperatures well below zero, you
can place one over the top of the inner tent as well. They are light to carry
and every cyclist should have at least one in their first aid kit anyway. Obviously,
they are not indestructable, but replacing them at intervals during your cycle
tour is not really going to break the budget.
And for those of you who suffer from cold feet
at night:
Wrap your Goretex jacket
around them before you zip the sleeping bag up.
It is guaranteed to keep your toes toasty warm
throughout your well earned sleep.
Olympia - Alexandroupoli (Greece)
Kilometres: 1406 kilometers and 450 meters
Riding days: 17
Alti meters: 13008 meters
Weather: sunny and at some stage even
warm!
Best accommodation: Camping Athens, very well
looked after, great sanitary facilities.
Just a shame about the highway...
Special thanks to:
Everybody who sent us best wishes for the new
year via email or the guestbook and all of you who wanted to but forgot ;-) • The man who jumped out of his car while we
climbed towards Sparti, to give us a bag full
of oranges • Nicole Reuter for contacting us in Spain and writing an article about our cycling adventures for the Surdeutsche
newspaper • Simone & Pierre Yves for being on the same road as us and the fun times whether we were cycling or not cycling together.
Breakdowns:
01: spoke (Ali again)
01: replaced worn front tyre Ali (after 8000km!)
08: back break cable (Ali)
29: fixed holes in Ortlieb bags (Son)
29: tent pole (no. 3)
30: Mr Dudley pepper grinder grinds to a halt
:-(
31: back rack eyelet breaks off frame on unpaved Greek roads (Ali)
