Day 5: Antirrio to (almost) Astakos
Today was really what I'd like more of on this trip. It wasn't easy by any measure. But my route took me through a mixture of coastal roads, country side and small towns. As an added bonus much of the route had very little traffic.
When I woke up it was pouring rain and I was wondering if I should even ride today (One is always looking for reasons). I waited a bit and it lightened up. So I packed my things, put on full rain wear, and headed out at around 11:30.
On my way out of Antirrio, I took the only bike lane I've seen so far; the whole 150 meters of it. But after about 1km the rain stopped and by km 3, it was a beautiful partly cloudy day. And it stayed that way for the rest of the day. So, off with the rain things.
Rain wear belongs to that set of gear that you hope you never have to use but have it with you just in case. I'd include a helmet and first aid kit to that set.
From about km 5 to 10 I had a long hard climb. I ended up walking almost all of it. Looking back at my planning I should have really done more research on gearing. As my bike is now, it's not really made for going up these hill. I need to replace my largest chainring with one smaller than my smallest. I just can't make it up these hills, which is making me wonder how I'm supposed to get over the alps. I'll probably need to take this to a bike shop on a rest day to have replaced if I'm going to have a chance.
Anyway, after pushing my bike up the hill I made the long fast descent. I had a couple more of these along the way. This was probably the hardest section I've had so far with it comes to hills. This section was all along a coastal road that offered beautiful views.
But after one final, long descent from the coastal road, I started to go more inland. Here the road got flatter and my pace started to pick up correspondingly.
At one point I stopped to get something to drink. I put my riding glasses on my bag without much thinking. When I rode off, I also wasn't thinking about them. About 2 km away I remembered what I'd done and wrode back, scanning the ground along the way. Once I reached the shop I went in to see if someone had brought them in by chance, but no one had. Those were a pretty important part of my equipment. I'll have to get a replacement somewhere along the way.
As the sun was getting lower I entered a rather hill area next to the see. It offered ample places to pop a tent with awesome views. So, I did just that.
While putting up the tent I heard bells, the kind that goats or cows some time have. So I knew animals were around. But as soon as I'd got my tent up, gone inside and zipped it tight, I heard a snort and deep moo that was very close. Now a tent protects you but it also causes you to amplify every sound that goes on out side by 10. But this wasn't jus some small noise, there was definitely something out there. And it sounded like a bull from the snorting.
I quietly sat there listening. Not too worried as my assumption is that these are domesticated animals. Eventually I didn't hear anything so I went out to tie down some ropes as it was getting windy by now. As soon as I unzipped the tent, I saw something large on the other side of a bush about 10-15 meters away. It was a bull and it now saw me. We stood there a bit staring at each other. As we were staring at each other, I started to hear the sound of water being poured onto the ground. It was the bull taking a piss. A few seconds later it determined that I wasn't a threat a wandered off. Personally, I like to think I stared down a bull and scared the piss out of it. :)
Once I had the tent tied down, the wind really picked up and it rained a bit. Soon there after I was asleep.
The knee pain that started yesterday has persisted and may have even gotten a bit worse. It means that I can push with my left leg like I want to. This especially a problem on hills.
In all I made about 80km this day. I'm ok with that considering the late start and knee problems.