Date: 2017-10-12/13 cycling days
Start: Chania
End: Athens
Distance (km): 32
Climbing (m): 350
Route description: back roads to the Chania port and back roads to Tsirikos Bikes
Road condition & traffic: on Crete, roads were fine, but traffic was moderate to heavy. In Athens, roads were sketchy, and morning rush hour traffic was very heavy, though some of the back roads we found were fairly quiet.
Weather: cool, mostly sunny
Notes:
“The map says there’s supposed to be a road here.” I think Steve is getting tired of me saying this, as our quiet rural street quickly deteriorates into a rough boulder-strewed walking trail for 200 meters.
Overall, OpenStreetMaps (and the corresponding OsmAnd app on my phone) have had excellent data about streets throughout Europe, but there are some random errors, such as this street segment that was marked as “paved” on the map but is nowhere near.
We had a whole day to kill in Chania; our hotel let us check out late around 2pm, so we took our time packing our bikes, did some shopping, and hopped between some cafes and restaurants, waiting for our 11:45pm overnight ferry to Athens.
I picked up a new athletic jersey for under 10€ that looks more like a normal shirt than my red cycling jersey but is made of wicking material to keep me dry and cool. This combined with some lightweight hiking shorts that we picked up in Istanbul, and we stand out a little less, though I think this will end up being futile in India, as we are going to stand out like sore thumbs regardless of what we do.
The ferry was delayed 3 hours, but we were allowed to board when the ship came in; we got on around 11pm. Every dark corner was strewn with sleeping bags and pads, so we were thankful that we had been able to get a private inside cabin. They even gave us a whole 4-bed bunk room to ourselves, even though we’d only reserved a 2-bed room.
Neither of us will ever get used to sleeping during travel, so we both slept fitfully and woke up feeling like we hadn’t slept at all. Still, the cold fresh air, hectic traffic, and 200 meter urban climb through busy Athens side streets kept us alert on the 20km ride from the port to Tsirikos Bikes.
The guys are the bike shop have been amazing. They respond to emails promptly, and they told us they’d be happy to service our bikes and would have bike boxes for us ready to go. We pulled all the bags off our bikes, and did a little shopping. We both added some padded underwear to our clothing, which now allows us to ride comfortably wearing normal street clothes.
It was weird to see the bikes with nothing on them, so naked! They hosed them down (they were filthy) and took them in the back, and we bid our farewells, carrying all of our assorted bags and bike gear in two huge heavy-duty plastic bags meant for holding wheelsets. It was strange (and nice) to check into a hotel and not have to explain or find a place for the bicycles.
One of the bolts on my handlebar bag is threatening to become stripped after being tightened and loosened many times, so I asked the guys at the bike shop if they might have a matching bolt. They sent us to a street in downtown Athens, right around here: https://goo.gl/maps/t2JmgxvqwQn They said there are shops that sell nothing but bolts!
The next day, we did a city tour and then went hunting for this bolt. Amazingly, even though the bolt is an odd shape with an odd head that has to fit into a recessed hole, I found a shop that had the exact one I needed! It’s just 2-3mm longer than what I have, but it’s correctly threaded and even has the same 3mm head.
I spent a frustrating 2-3 hours on the phone with DHL. My replacement Project Fi phone is stuck in customs in Athens, and there is all sorts of paperwork to fill out to authorize DHL to release it from customs for me (plus a hefty fee). The DHL rep insisted that she hadn’t received the form, even though it showed as sent in my email program. I sent it again 4 times, and still nothing. Finally, after I broke down emotionally a bit on the phone and found someone who spoke Greek to talk with her, the attachment magically appeared, and she said that it might be delivered before our flight to India, but she can’t guarantee it. I’m getting by just fine with a replacement phone and a local SIM card, but it would be much easier to have the Project Fi phone that “just works” in any country. So I really hope it arrives in time.
So the next few days we have lots of errands, including finding a replacement stabilizer post for me (that broke in Turkey), finding a disposable duffle bag to carry all our stuff onto the plane, getting some malaria medication, etc.