6 minute read
TOURING GREECE
LET’S RIDE GREECE
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WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY SIMON CUDBY
LET’S RIDE GREECE
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY SIMON CUDBY
After a long day of traveling, we finally exited Athens International Airport in the early evening with our friend and host Angelo Baltoyannis, the owner and co-founder of Mythical Routes, which organizes and operates adventure motorcycle tours in Greece. And he had an adventure waiting for me and riding buddy Randy Commans.
The plan? To spend five days riding around Greece on KTM 690s. We’d start the ride in the mountainous Peloponnese area west of Athens and then travel by ferry to the Evia region in the east. Since we were new to the area, we relied on Angelo and his brother and Mythical Routes’ co-owner, Paris, to show us some great routes; after all, that’s their job.
Our intro to Greek culture was immediate as Angelo poured us some Ouzo with our dinner as we discussed our route. We were now anxious more than ever to get going. But first, a good night’s sleep.
Day 1: We met the following morning at Mythical Routes moto headquarters in the coastal town of Glyfada, where we mounted our Giant Loop bags onto our motorcycles. By lunchtime, we were finally on the road leaving Athens.
Nothing had prepared us for the wall-to-wall traffic that greeted us right out of the gate, but that was soon behind us as we headed west and, none too soon, out of the city. The coastline roads we soon found ourselves on were amazing with the clear blue waters far below us.
The first town we visited was the port of Corinth, home to the famous Corinth Canal. Perhaps you saw Robbie Maddison send it across the 70-foot gap in a Red
Bull video from a few years ago. The gap seemed a lot wider to us, and we couldn’t imagine anyone jumping it!
After a delicious lunch, we rode up and over Mount Kyllini with its twisty asphalt and some great off-road sections. As the hours passed, it was getting close to sunset, and the temperature was dropping rapidly. We layered up our Alpinestars gear and pushed on into the dark, navigating uphill switchbacks to the Kalavryta ski resort. Yes, they have skiing in Greece.
After a late dinner and a few tasty local beers, it was off to bed after what was a long but unforgettable day in the saddle. Day 2: With fewer miles on today’s agenda, our plan was to spend time exploring the Kalavryta area. We quickly discovered that Greece has some fantastic ADV trails as we crossed the hilltops with spectacular snowcovered peaks in the distance.
We saw a small white church on a remote hill that looked straight out of a movie set.
Although we had seen a few ADV riders in town earlier that morning, we didn’t see another soul on the trails all day.
After a lunch break in town, we climbed towards the actual ski area. Randy and I commented that these trails were as good as what we had ridden in Idaho or Colorado. We took some detours on the route and even found a little jump spot to shoot some photos of Paris and Randy getting some air. Day 3: Day three’s plan was to ride over a few mountain passes on our way back to Athens to start the second part of our ride. We skipped breakfast to beat a local ADV club onto the trails. We experienced more beautiful views and great big-bike terrain. We came across a tiny village in the mountains for a late breakfast, then continued to another small ski resort area with even more breathtaking views. We had already decided that riding bikes in Greece
is one of ADV’s biggest secrets.
As we returned to the outskirts of busy Athens, it was game on as we carved through the traffic and back to the Mythical Routes HQ.
Day 4: Now for something completely different. We were on our bikes by 7 a.m. to catch the 8:30 a.m. ferry from Rafina to Marmari. We rode our bikes onto the ship and then took an hour’s break while watching the Aegean Sea pass by beneath us on the short crossing eastward over to the island of Evia.
Arriving in Marmari was another movie-set moment, as the local fisherman prepared their nets on the quay as we passed by on our KTMs.
Heading south along the deserted beaches on a coastal road, we rode our way beside small bays and inlets that, again, had the most incredible clear azure blue water.
We stopped for a sand-riding challenge at a long deserted beach, and most of us could do a few frantic runs up and down
without too much trouble. We appreciated the 690’s power!
The afternoon was a big contrast to the morning’s adventure, as we traversed rugged mountain roads to altitude before heading down to the town of Karystos. Day 5: We were again up early the following morning to catch the first ferry back across to Rafina. We went south along the coastline to our first more touristy spot of the trip, the Temple of Poseidon. I tried a few Poseidon Adventure jokes, but nobody took the bait. Angelo told us a few of the legend’s stories that came from this area, and I have to say, there was much drama in Greece back in the day!
After another fantastic lunch (the food here is incredible), it was time to leave this historic area behind and make our way back to HQ in Glyfada.
As I said before, we couldn’t believe just how good the riding was on our trip. The guys from Mythical Routes have perfectly prepared KTM and Husqvarna bikes, and we had zero technical problems the whole week. We will be back.
Mythical Routes offers several ADV touring packages, starting at approximately $3000, which include a tour guide, luggage support, bike rental, lodging, breakfast and dinner. On-road tours are also available, as are custom tours. You will find that Mythical Routes Tours is very accommodating. Check out Mythical Routes Tours here. CN
