Trips like this one are a bit stressful for me. I worry about all the things that could go wrong with important commitments such as ferry departures - delayed or canceled sailings, missed departures, etc. this morning’s sailing from Rafina to Marmari on Evia caused me more stress than most. First, because we couldn’t buy tickets for this sailing in advance because it’s a small line not supported by the booking agencies. Second, because the departure information has been hard to come by and inconsistent. I think departure is at 9:30 this morning (Sunday), but I’m not really sure.
To protect ourselves, we get an extra early start and leave our apartment at 7:30 and bike the few short blocks to the dock. Yep, it departs at 9:30,so we get our tickets and head off for breakfast: cheese pies that we picked up at a cafe that sharp eyed Rocky spotted when we biked past it this morning and ate at a port side bar along with coffee and OJ.
9:30, we’re on board, Evia bound; and at we bike off in Marmari on Evia island. Our destination for the day: Agii Apostoli, a shrimp fishing village on the northeast coast, forty miles away.
A solitary cyclist rolls up to the Evia Star. This is the only other biker I’ve seen on the ferries here.
I’ve been a bit uncertain about biking on Evia (or Euboea, as it is also known). The second largest Greek island (after Crete), it parallels the mainland just northeast of Athens, separated by the Gulf of Euboea. The Gulf shrinks to the very narrow Euripus Strait at Chalkída, where it is connected by to the mainland by a pair of bridges. I’ve found very little information about cycling on the island, and am hopeful it won’t be too congested. We’re going this way in spite of that because the alternative, through Athens, looks obviously worse.
Based on today’s experience though, it’s a fine cycling destination. We saw very little traffic on the traverse to the opposite coast at Agii Apostoli. What we did see instead was more spectacular scenery and lots of goats. Rachael in particular was taken by the colors today, and voted it the most colorful day of the tour. What we also experienced were a couple of killer hills and at times rural winds that came at us from all directions.
Not too much story about the day’s ride other than that. Just another tough ride through paradise.
The first mile out of Marmari is pretty, biking on a minor ride between rows of trees lik this, paralleling the sea. It won’t stay like this for long though.
The last mile has been a painful 15+%, that left us both wondering on each turn if it was time to dismount and push. Here, the road finally levels off again and I can stop and look back without being afraid I couldn’t start up again.
We’ve merged onto the main (but empty) highway, and are climbing at a more civilized grade. It’s beautiful, biking beside the colorful road cut with the the Euboea Gulf far below.
We stopped for lunch at a bar in Stira, having orange juice and the sandwiches we bought in Marmari. Surprisingly were six or seven other bikers at the bar also, apparently out on a day ride from Nea Stira, the resort port a few miles below on the bay.
One of the features of Greece is small trucks like this that pass through towns, loudly (and annoyingly, to my ears) advertising their wares over a loudspeaker. This one is a fresh fish vendor, who occasionally tosses a sardine to the cats.
Amazing. You can’t see them all here, but there were at least five different colors of oleander along this stretch - colors we didn’t know it blooomed in.
Over the top of the last steep summit, we drop a thousand feet in the last three miles of the ride. Which would be more enjoyable if we didn’t know we’d be biking out this way in the morning.
We arrived at Agii Apostoli somewhere around 6, dropping steeply into it after climbing steeply over one last ridge of the day. We were dismayed when we got to the waterfront and we slowly realized that our lodging for the night is pretty much an aerie, perched high up the hill behind the village, and reachable by a strikingly steep route. As has been happening too often on this tour, we pushed to the finish line.
Again? We’re going for a record here. What is this - the fifth or sixth room we’ve walked up to on this tour? I’ve lost count. You can see how steep it is too by the way she’s leaning into it.
We arrived just in time. We appreciated all day long that we had overcast, coolish conditions, but about fifteen minutes after checking in the rains began as a small thunderstorm rolled in. We waited for it to abate a bit and then walked carefully down the wet, steep streets back to the waterfront for dinner at a fish tavern. Dinner was curious though - a very casual spot, we were surprised and amused at the end of the meal to have both waitresses walk out the door and down the waterfront, apparently done for the evening even though we hadn’t gotten our bill yet. Eventually another diner took note of our uncertainty and walked back to the kitchen to summon the cook, who came out so we could square our account.
Five minutes later, as we walked down the waterfront in search of ice cream, the same helpful customer drove up behind us, rolled down his window, and with a smile handed us Rachael’s iPad. Phew!
Agii Apostoli, from our room at our guesthouse. The photo doesn’t capture the fact that it’s raining. We arrived just in time.
