"Canadian pensioners triumphant after approach to Santorini by bike"

Thousands of years ago, a huge volcanic eruption destroyed the round island of Strongili in the Aegean Sea, leaving a large caldera (the cauldron-like pit left in the centre of a volcano) which is now mostly submerged by ocean. The crescent-shaped remnant of that island is known today as Santorini, one of the most visited of the Greek Islands.

The island's main port is on the caldera side, at the base of its steep 300m cliff, on top of which sits the main town of Fira. This is the very dramatic aspect you first see when you approach the island by ferry.

A cruise ship sits in the caldera as we approach Santorini by ferry


Now most normal people land at the port and take a bus or taxi up the ridiculous 4km of zig-zagged road to their accommodations. Yesterday two daft not-so-young Canadians rode their loaded bikes up those eight tortuous switchbacks. Their dogged determination  to do so was buoyed up by the young taxi-driver at the bottom who told them they wouldn't make it! He said some had tried it and got up half-way, only to give up and ride back down and get a taxi. (Of course he was also trying to rustle up some extra business. The private taxi we'd have needed was priced at €50).

Santorini's main port at the base of 300m cliffs



As we looked up at the road above us and watched cars and buses winding their way up the switchbacks, I felt extremely intimidated. I didn't know how it would go, as we hadn't yet done any big climbs with the panniers fully loaded. Frank was very strong. I needed to take more rest stops. But we did make it and we were still able to smile at the end of it. We still had another 6km to ride to get to our little studio room on the other side of the island, but a good portion of that was downhill.

Waiting for all the ferry traffic to leave before tackling the climb 


A rest on the way up

Comments

  1. SarahSeptember 15, 2018 at 8:25 PM

    That must have been a tough climb with the loaded bikes! How long will you be on Santorini?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DaphneSeptember 15, 2018 at 10:38 PM

      We'll probably only be on Santorini for four days. Although it's beautiful, it's very crowded and the roads are really busy. We were spoiled by starting in Antiparos which was so laid back and great for cycling.

      Delete
  2. CarolSeptember 15, 2018 at 8:30 PM

    You're stronger than you think! I started with front and rear paniers when touring in NZ and soon ditched the front paniers. Way too much weight for me and I was in my 20's. But I only had a 10 speed way back then.
    Kudos to both of you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DaphneSeptember 15, 2018 at 10:48 PM

      I knew this would be a learning experience and that I would probably regret the weight.That being said, I don't have much weight in the front panniers, just bulky light stuff like my down sleeping bag (don't need thatnow but probably will in October).But I may still ditch some stuff I can do without once we get to Crete where we plan to do more mileage.

      Delete

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