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//Day 43 /23-04-22 /Loutra Aidhipsou-Chalkida

Garmin informed me that I established a new record. I climbed 1900 meters, roughly 6 times the Eiffel Tower. Although the climbing and a bigger road I followed most of the day it was a great cycling day. Th big road was most the time empty from traffic, ran trough a beautiful landscape and was great to make safe descents.A lot of climbing today though. The road most of the time going up and down with a first big climb to leave the coast and bigger later in the day. When I started cycling in the morning I passed a sign on the road that te road was closed due to fallen rocks, eventually it was not a problem, so not clear why the signs were there. Along the way I saw different families slaughter sheep in their gardens as preparation for the family Easter lunch tomorrow. 










After 30 K I swerved inlands, which I planned via a small road instead of the bigger road. The climb to leave the coast was at a moment so steep that Black Horse and I could not cope (even in the almost never used Black Horse turbo mode…). I pushed Black Horse by foot  to the top for 100 meters and continued my route. The principle proven that the  smaller the road the steeper the climb….

I do not have much to report to much today except that the views were great and the inland of the island Evia is beautiful. I had a tough climb of 650 meters which Black Horse and I managed well, I fed a big white MF Dog chocolate to get away from me,  I passed a beautiful valley which is used by the local motor fans  as a racetrack.














When I reached the top of the biggest mountain/hill the descent was via an unpaved path passing a big quarry. It was not clear if the quarry  was still in operation or not. One giant monster truck did not have seen action the last times. The truck was really gigantic…(I added BH for scale).






After the climb and quarry visit the last 15 K was mostly a nice descent into Chalkida, a bigger sized coast town with a bridge connecting the island with the mainland. A sea promenade again lined with bars and restaurants full with people sipping……
I checked in in my somewhat hors-category budget (Hairdryer and iron in the room…)  hotel I booked and enjoyed the view from my balcony before taking a climb-compensating power nap and a videocall with the homefront. In the evening I had a nice dinner overlooking the sea…I can recommend the tzaziki….

Tomorrow the last 100 K to Athens…

Lessons Learned :
  • Big white MF dogs are not so fond of chocolat.
  • There are climbs event to steep for Black Horse.
  • When the plates are turned on a table in a Greek restaurants it means the table is reserved. 
Song of the day : Je veux vivre - Arno





Comments

  1. Liliane vanlee4/23/22, 9:19 PM

    Ja weeral een mooie dag gehad zo te zien en het landschap ziet er echt heel mooi uit
    Wens je voor morgen een leuke dag om tot in Athene te komen en een pprettige zondag.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Leentje Vanlee4/23/22, 9:35 PM

    Congrats on your record of climbing! Please buy some cookies without chocolate to throw at dogs... stop poisoning them! ;-)
    Loved the views... looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lieve meirsman4/24/22, 7:45 AM

    proficiat met uw record klimmen, prachtige streek te zien op de foto's, wel echt monstertruck, nog nooit gezien. geniet van uw hotel en lekker eten.

    ReplyDelete

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