To Ofrynio Beach: I've crossed a continent!

September 24, 2015

Today's ride had a lot of variety. It took me a while to find my way out of the city. Then I chose to ride the highway for a bit. I thought it was likely to be flatter than the secondary roads, and if it had a shoulder it would be safer as well. It turned out to have a shoulder in some sections but not others.

I left the highway at Gazoros, which is a small town and looks poverty stricken. Shortly after I started down the secondary road, a guy in a car passed me and stopped, and motioned for me to stop. He chattered on at me, and I heard "greek greek Greek, Bulgarie, Bulgarie, Greek, Greek". I gather he had seen me on the road in Bulgaria. He made pedalling motions with his hands, and smiled and laughed, and went on his way.

The road was nice and smooth, and went up and down a bit, and provided me with some snacks.

It went through farm land with many different crops, some already harvested, and others still growing. I recognized some, but not others.

This picture isn't too clear, but I think it's cotton.

I turned off the secondary road onto a tertiary road when prompted by Mr. Garmin. Then I got to a traffic jam.

The goat herd was keeping a steady monologue going, which seemed to keep the goats moving along. I'm sure he told them not to get upset by the crazy bicyclist.

Then Mr. Garmin beeped at me for another turn, and this turn didn't look so good.

Both my Garmin and maps.me on my phone put me on this unpaved road. Fortunately it was short, about a mile and a half, because it was alternately rocky and sandy.

It was a short ride, but took me to a steep hill before I rejoined the highway. The road continued through farmland.

There was one more ridge to make it over before the descent to the Greek coast. A massive headwind kicked up, too, and the climb was a struggle. Once I made it up and over, and started catching glimpses of the sea, I was pretty pumped up. I had crossed the continent! From the Baltic Sea to the Aegean! Wow.

Go left or go right. You can't go straight. That's the Aegean Sea straight ahead!

I stopped in the town of Ofrynio Beach. It's a touristy town with lots of beachfront bars, and sun bathing chairs that you can rent. The town is nearly dead now, as the busy season has ended. I had dinner, again the only person in the restaurant. I finally got some moussaka. It was worth waiting for! On the way back to the hotel I stopped at a bakery and got 3 small pastries, one of which was baklava, but all of which were dripping honey. They were delicious, but really small. I should have gotten the big pieces!

There are a lot of beachfront bars and cafes. None of them were busy today.

Today's ride: 61 km (38 miles)
Total: 2,939 km (1,825 miles)

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