The cycling experience

Back in August, I seriously wondered if all the preparations for this cycling trip would be worth it. As we packed all the camping and cooking gear, not really knowing how much we would be able to camp, we questioned if it was worth carrying all that extra weight. Would the campgrounds even still be open in September and October, and if they were, what would they be like? We also hadn't done any tent camping for a long time, so were we about to find out that we are now too spoiled and wimpy from comfy van camping to enjoy it again? Neither of us knew how we would take to cycle-touring, and I worried about how I would cope with the physical demands of riding hills with the bikes loaded.

One of many "to do" lists before the trip

Well, now we have the answers. Yes, yes and yes! It was so worth it - we loved the cycling part. For the 26 days of the actual Crete cycle tour, we camped for 19 of those days and loved it! We camped for 25 out of our total 60 days, so no question we are glad we brought the camping gear. Not to mention how much more affordable it made our whole trip. We also cooked a lot of our own meals, sometimes even using our camp-cooking equipment in our hotels if they didn't have a kitchenette.

Happy campers

When I first wheeled my loaded bike to the ferry in Athens, I thought it was so heavy and it felt weird and unstable. But after a few days of riding with the panniers in Crete, I got so used to it I didn't even think about it. As for getting up the hills, in my granny gear I found that I could manage almost any hill if I went slowly and rested often, especially when it was hot. Staying hydrated was key as well.

I bonded with my bike and its load

The good thing was we never felt under any time pressure and had no hard targets for daily mileage. We had the luxury of lots of time. We stopped if we were tired and stayed longer in places we liked. Our longest ride was 66 km, which isn't a long day for a lot of cyclists. Most days were shorter than that.  Mind you, that particular day, we climbed 1100 meters! But this worked for us. On Crete, we rode 600 km. We haven't tallied up the various day rides on Antiparos, Paros and Santorini.

Of course we learned a lot on this our first such trip. Losing Frank's pannier off the bike was an expensive lesson. (If you missed that story, click here to check out an earlier blog entry).  Now, making sure the panniers  are securely attached is a priority before each day’s ride.

This was where we discovered the missing pannier

We know exactly what clothes and gear we need, so next time we'll be a bit lighter. But actually we didn't do to badly with that for a pair of rookies. We also learned that we are not afraid of hills! In fact we found they gave us a great deal of satisfaction! And switchbacks are our friends! In our experience on hilly Crete, the grades on those zig-zag climbs are usually very manageable. Our hardest climbs were on minor rural roads that went straight up the slope without switchbacking. Head winds were our worst enemies, and we had to cope with that for a few days.

Traffic proved to be less of a concern than I had expected. Generally the roads we used were quiet with little traffic. Keep in mind we weren't there in the peak summer season which helped. Motorists were courteous. Motorbikes were more of a threat than cars actually, but there were never any real problems. Riding through cities was probably our biggest challenge in terms of safety, but luckily we only had to do that a couple of times. Santorini is not a place I would recommend cycling though…it's just too busy and the roads don't have shoulders.

Route-planning in Crete

Bike route (approximate) using Google Maps, starting on the north coast at Heraklion, the capital. Days 1-11
Ignore the estimated time shown here - it's for cars. 

Bike Route Days 12-21

Bike Route Days 22-26

Other than losing the pannier, good fortune was with us. We didn't have a single flat or any bike or health issues the whole time. What’s more, all four of our knees performed well and never complained! (Between us we've had a few knee surgeries in the last two years).

Will cycle-touring feature again in our future? Definitely yes! No locations decided on yet, but we'd both love to do more. We're back home to winter in Calgary now and already missing our bikes!

Me with my luggage and bike bag waiting for the sub-urban train
from Piraeus to Athens airport on the way home

Both bikes arrived promptly in the oversize luggage area
 upon landing in Calgary airport