To Alexandroupoli

September 30, 2015

Small Ikea, next to last night's hotel. I didn't go in. The flags are whipping in this morning's wind.

My plan for today was to ride some service roads for the motorway, and small secondary roads that go through towns when the service roads weren't available. There were quite a few intersections and turns involved, and I knew I needed to be careful with navigation. When I asked my Garmin to send me to Alexandroupoli, it picked out quite a long route, different from what I planned based maps.me. So I stopped regularly to take out my phone and use the GPS to check my position against my plan.

Generally speaking, it worked out well. There was a lot more climbing than I expected, but my expectations were set by the elevation profile of the motorway, not all of these side roads.

I hope that Greece's economic problems don't prevent maintenance of the power stations.

There was a really big climb through the towns of Strymi and Dioni. I was happy to be able stay on my bike when the slope tilted up over 10%. There were a few aggressive dogs in these towns, and I've found that stopping and yelling at them is effective for stopping their pursuit.

At the top of one of today's climbs. I'll save it for another trip.

Coming down from Dioni, I had a choice about which side of the motorway I could ride, but both sides involved some distance from the motorway. On the way down the hill, I saw a road parallel to the motorway that wasn't on my map. It was near a cemetery, and I thought it might just be a perimeter road for the cemetery, so I passed it by. The road I was on went under the motorway, and on the other side there was also an unmapped road. I took a chance on it, and it did run parallel to the highway, saving me some distance and probably some climbing.

The road that isn't. This small road parallel to the motorway doesn't show up on maps.me or on OSM on my Garmin.

Later on, when I had Wi-Fi, I also checked Google maps. The roads were there! And there was also one that could have saved me from the climb through Strymi and Dioni. That was a lesson learned the hard way.

Eventually the route joined up with route 2, the smaller highway I've been following off and on since I've entered Greece. Route 2 roughly followed the motorway, but it pulled up high into the mountains along the motorway. I'll admit to some frustration looking down on the motorway with it's fresh pavement and wide shoulders, thinking I'd like to benefit from the engineering and smaller grades and might even be safer than on the smaller road without shoulders.

Route 2 did have the benefit of some historic information signs, the first I've seen in Greece. The signs were about the Via Egnatia, one of the old Roman roads that went through this area. One of the relevant points was that towns developed along the road at intervals of a days travel. Some of those towns were Kavala, Xanthi, Komotini and Alexandroupolis. That has been my route. One day's travel for me matches one day's travel for the ancient Greeks!

Eventually the road peaked out in the mountains, the descent started, and I caught my first glimpse of the sea. It's just breathtaking when that happens. This view was through an olive grove.

First view of the sea today, through the olive grove. It's hard to capture the breathtaking view.

I got into Alexandroupoli and stopped at the municipal campground. It had good reviews, and I was looking forward to camping by the beach and meeting some other campers. It had been really windy all day, and it was blowing hard when I stopped. The person at check-in actually suggested that camping in a tent wasn't a good idea. I went in to look around, and had a meal at the campground restaurant. I was the only person there, and it was another case where most of the menu was not available. It looked like the only campers were long term residents in motor homes. I decided not to stay, and went into town and took a hotel room.

It's a pretty town, and is quite active for being a beach town out of season. There are some ferries out to the islands that leave from here, and the port seems busy.

587 meters of climbing

Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 3,173 km (1,970 miles)

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