Archanes

May 8, 2018

We have a long day today, but get off to a late start and don’t leave the hotel until about 10. We’re late because breakfast comes with the room, it’s a very good breakfast, and service doesn’t start until 8:30. When we leave though, we set off on a perfect cycling day: a bit cool, the sky a bit overcast, a mild but helpful breeze from the west blows us along.

Our destination today is Archanes, a mountain village inland from Iraklion, a few miles from the famous Minoan site of Knossos. Archanes was also a Minoan site thousands of years ago, but archeologists can’t excavate it because of the inconvenient fact that people live here now. We won’t be stopping at Knossos again, but we did visit it on our first visit to Crete, when we were lucky to see the Olympic torch procession move through. It was a pretty funny scene, with the visitors much more interested in the spectacle than the ruins.

This was one of the hardest rides of the tour so far, and not a route I’d recommend. It would have been better to add some miles by going inland away from the coast, and breaking up the ride by staying an extra night somewhere -perhaps Arkadi or Spili.

Instead of that good idea though, we took the shortest route and followed the coast most of the way. For most of this distance, there is only one option - to ride E75, the busy national road. It’s safe enough, having a good shoulder most of the way, but it’s just not as enjoyable riding alongside a steady stream of fast-moving traffic.

In spite of the traffic though, it’s an undeniably beautiful ride. There’s the everpresent coastline and sea to admire, but beyond that is the oleander - for nearly twenty miles both shoulders of the highway are lined by an unbroken pink floral ribbon - it’s practically a monoculture.

A last look back at Rethymno, until next time. Visible on its profile are the minaret and one of the structures from the Fortezza.

The first of a series of headlands we’ll cross on today’s ride

This part of Crete is a bit less mountainous, more arable.

E75, the coastal highway. The lack of cars is due to timing, but the display of oleander is characteristic.

We biked through an almost unbroken wall of pink for nearly twenty miles.

The camera didn’t quite pick up the detail, but a pink ribbon extends to the horizon.

The road is a bit of a roller coaster, with flattish stretches alternating with consequential climbs over headlands. Climbs of 700’, 300’, 800’, 500’, and 600’ soften us for the more significant and steeper climbs awaiting at the end of the day. We’re lucky that we have an assist from a good tailwind, or today might have had a different outcome.

We take two breaks. At twenty miles, we stop at a cafe for lunch, buying drinks and eat the sandwiches Rachael picked up in Rethymno this morning. And at forty miles, around Palaiokastro, we stop at a convenience store for a milk/ice cream break that we enjoy in the shade overlooking the sea.

Our second break, looking across a small bay at Paralia Fodele (Fodele Beach)

Not long after the second break, we surmount the final coastal climb of the day and drop down to Iraklion, the largest city in Crete. It’s an arresting site, the broad white apron of the city extending for miles, contrasting starkly with the brilliant blue sea.

We arrive at the outskirts of Iraklion after four, in the thick of rush hour. It is not a cycle friendly city -at least not when approached from the east - and no fun. We’re happy to turn south and away from the city soon after reaching its outskirts, and soon begin the final climb of the day - 1,400’ in about ten miles. It doesn’t sound bad, but: we’re tired already when we start; by now it’s gotten hot; the traffic is a constant companion for the first five miles; and the climb is very uneven, alternating between soft grades and steep, short pushes.

About five miles away from the coast though, it all changes. Suddenly we’ve escaped the city and are biking through vineyards and then on an increasingly dramatic, increasingly challenging road that skirts high on the shoulders of a small isolated peak, Mount Juktas- an important mountain sanctuary of the Minoan culture (Knossos is only a few miles away). We climb up an agonizingly steep stretch of about 10-12% for a mile, and then round the bend and see our destination for tonight, Archanes.

Archanes looks beautiful, and near but remote. Just two miles away, it’s separated by a valley. We drop very steeply off the slopes of Mount Juktas down a narrow, rough winding road - over 15%, I’m sure - and then climb into the outskirts of the village. And up through the center. And up several increasingly steep blocks on the other side, finally giving up and pushing our bikes up the final three blocks to our lodging, the Villa Archanes. We’ve arrived! We’re starving, and anticipate a quick shower and a steep walk down to the village center for a meal.

Our first look at Iraklion. We’ll return to it, from the east next time, in four days. It’s the port for our ferry to the Cyclades, the next stage of the journey.

A classic. It looks like a U08,the same as my first real road bike. If I’d kept it for forty. Years, it might look like this too.

Ascending the northwest slope of Mount Juktas. At the top are the remains of a Minoan sanctuary, presumed to be about 4,000 years old.

Looking back from Mount Juktas toward Iraklion. In between add countless fields of grapes - this is the premier wine region of Crete.

Working our way up the shoulder of Mount Juktas.

Climbing the northwest shoulder of Mount Juktas

Nicotiana glauca (tree tobacco), an invasive species from South America that is spreading worldwide. (Credit: Bill Shaneyfelt)

Archanes, just across the valley from us

Way steeper than it looks here. We’ve both been pushing for the last three blocks.

We buzz the doorbell, and a voice over The intercom welcomes us, buzzes open the door, and says they’ll be over in a few minutes. Inside the gate, we find a complex of rooms surrounding a swimmming pool. We wait, for about 15 minutes, when finally someone arrives. A French couple, also guests, who said they had the same experience on arrival.

Resigned, we lie in the lounge chairs and relax, when Rachael receives a phone call from the manager. Apologetically, he says he’s been held up by a problem with his car, and will be another ten minutes. Finally he arrives, shows us our room, gives us a map of the village and dinner advice, and leaves us to our own devices. And, now that we’re here and settled, we’re very happy with the place - it’s a delightful room, in a delightful village.

We hurriedly shower and change, and make the steep walk down to the hotel. It’s an interesting walk -streets are narrow, little more than alleys; and the occasional cars that pass, too quickly, force you to plaster against the houses on the side to make room.

The village center is quite colorful, different than any place we’ve stayed so far. Bars and cafes are lined with old men sitting in front passing the time, the plaza is busy with boys playing with a soccer ball in the dusk, Swift’s circling above, folks nursing drinks beneath the cedar trees.

We eat in an open-air taverna, enjoying saganaki, a Greek salad, mains, two liters of water (we’ve both gotten a bit dehydrated) and a carafe of wine. The bill, when it arrives, is under 30 euros and is accompanied (as every dinner in Greece has been) by complimentary glasses of raki and a small desert - tonight, a simple plate of small donut holes with vanilla ice cream.

It’s quite dark when we walk back up to our room. Stars are out, streets are dimly lit, the village is quiet. It feels like a different land, from a different time. Fortunately we remembered to take our GPS with us to dinner, or we would never have found our room again in the dark.

Walking the steep blocks back up to our room

Bike stats: today, 54 miles, 5,800’; for the tour, 386 miles, 31,600’

Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 430 miles (692 km)

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