Originally we had entered the HMR in the Pair category assuming we\u2019d check it out on solo bikes before heading at it on the tandem, that\u2019s kinda what usually happens. For one reason or another just days before we packed up ready to go we made the decision to just go for it, y\u2019know, how difficult could it be? We\u2019d already done a bit on the big rig, Jiptik Pass in Kyrgystan is over 4000m and we made it over that and our buddies at Salsa joke that this must be the most travelled Powderkeg of them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this point the only thing really missing was brakes. We\u2019d binned the old set at the end of the Atlas Mountain Race just 3 months earlier. Time to pick up the phone and call in a speedy favour from our friends just a few miles North at Hope Technology. We had a new set of Green Tech 4s in no time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that was that, we were off to Greece with a tandem, a little trepeditious as we knew it was going to be lumpy but as it turned out we had no idea what was coming\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We flew into Athens direct from Manchester, arrived late-ish and headed straight for our hotel near the bus station, classy! It was actually pretty good, friendly and a nice breakfast. We\u2019d picked here because to get North to the start was a 4 hour bus journey. It turns out that for those who don\u2019t have the time to ride or the cash for a long cab ride we had a plan! Tourist day trip buses leave just a hundred metres away, will take bikes and don\u2019t insist on you coming back. Result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The journey was smooth and we were so excited to see the cliffs of Meteora we jumped off the bus a stop early, oops, then dragged our heavy bike bag up a hill in the mid-day sun and carried on past that same bus to our two night home in Kastraki where, by luck rather than judgement, the race would start close by 36 hrs later! We don’t plan these things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We filled our time here building the bike, doing a little shakedown ride around the first 10 miles of the course, eating, pointing at huge rock formations, eating, tortoise spotting, eating and walking halfway up said rock formations until it got too dark, gave up and ate some more. The place was overrun with cyclists and was a great place to be for a couple of days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Early Saturday morning we were all making our way a little out of town to get started. Everyone\u2019s excited and ready for the off. The start was the loop up to the flag pole above town, through the woods via some single track and pushing, our fears regarding getting in the way and holding others up were quickly forgotten about as we hurtled down the gravel track back thru Kastraki and on towards Kalabaka and the funny little diversion around some roadworks that only days before had appeared on the bridge just outside of town, we were on our way. The relatively long and fast tarmac section spreading everyone out as it was intended to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What followed was a day of enjoyable riding ( and climbing of course ) thru field boundaries, deserted gravel roads and even some rock slides. We were heading for Metsovo as a major re-supply point. We got there early evening just as Mel and the rest of the media team were looking for some re-supply of their own, always a little mental pick up to bump into them. Sometimes I\u2019m sure they\u2019re more pooped than we are. Once re-fed and hydrated we headed out of town away from the flashing lights and tourist coaches as we all dispersed for the evening. Straight up a concrete road and into the darkness to the delight of a local watching us grunt and then get off almost immediately. We slogged on a bit, walking and riding while the going got softer ( read wetter ) under our wheels and feet. Sometime in the early hours we came across a small town with a fountain and a shelter on the outskirts, near some houses but what the hell, at that time of the night there was no-one to care. We probably got 4 hours or so nap time here and left just after sun up. Up the hill and straight off road where the damp conditions hadn\u2019t got any better!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were well into the loop here and the route followed a lot of the national, long distance Epirus trail, little red and white signs nailed to trees that would follow us for days. Kinda comforting. We were having fun, dragging the bike up and over and sometimes under endless tree fall and getting a little lost when the route wasn\u2019t so obvious on the ground. The sun was fully up and we were enjoying ourselves rolling down some lovely loamy tracks, dodging the rocks and general trail debris. Except we didn\u2019t dodge so good\u2026 Well, lets face it, I didn\u2019t dodge so good, you see, mostly 99.76% of what goes wrong on a tandem ride can be laid squarely at the feet of the rider on the front. Wrong gear, your fault. Brake too late? Your fault. Take the wrong fork in the trail, yours too. Clip that rock with the front wheel and send it in a big ole arc round to the rear, smashing the rear derailleur cleanly in two? Yup, hands up you got it. So, that\u2019s where our geared journey in Greece ended. 160k. We had 700 more to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had a \u2018moment\u2019 to compose ourselves and then wrapped its remains up and stowed it neatly away, ready for a cosmopolitan burial in the next town. The thing about Salsa Powderkeg tandems ( and Fargo\u2019s, Timberjack\u2019s, Marrakesh\u2019s and others ) is that they come with nifty little Alternator Dropouts that allow a singlespeed set up. We chose a ludicrously low gear so that we could climb up hills and coast down the other side. Dictated in part by the need for a straight chain line. We held on to a dream that we\u2019d get back to Metsovo for the second time and roll into a bike shop for a spare part. Gotta have dreams right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almost 2 days after the start in the early morning we bashed, crashed and dragged the tandem down the mountain bike trails that zig zagged the hillsides before Check Point One at Smolikas Refuge. 277k. It was ok, we ate & drank and then rolled on our merry way back towards Metsovo. So went the rest of the middle part of the race. Quite a bit of hiking and dragging the tandem into beautiful gorges, over picturesque stone bridges and through riverbeds. When we’re asked how we manage the pushing and walking with this bike you have to understand just how much is involved, it really has become quite normalised in our heads and we just get on with it. As usual one of the biggest ins and outs ( or ups and downs, depending on your perspective ) was in the late morning sometime after one small resupply cafe where the owners had been watching the progress and had been open most of the night. It’s always a relief to get these hikes out of the way without incident. Didn’t drop a 50lb fully loaded tandem down a ravine in the middle of nowhere? Result!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Check Point Two was an oasis of food, drink and naps. That’s once we’d wiped the bike down, checked it over and done some fettling. Had a nap for an hour too, beautiful in the sunshine. There had been some napping on the way there swell, in the mid-day sun, by a fountain, in a small sleepy village in the Greek mountains, it would have been rude not to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We left CP2 in the mid to late afternoon fully re-supplied and ready for the climb ahead into one of the most remote parts of the route. Gently up and up with too many stops to look over our shoulders and gasp at the view. Then look forward at the switchbacks impossibly stretching on, a new one around every corner. As happens at least once during these events tonight was the one we’d misjudged the elevation and terrain, getting about 30k short of target and pulling off into a small stone structure in the woods for shelter. It was pretty high and cold that night so just a short one!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With just a couple of nights to go we were faced with a long road climb to a ski station. Luckily it seemed just the right gradient for our stupid single gear and we rolled up slowly in the warm evening sun. Just as we were about to crest the top the heavens opened. Which probably made the frog we’d almost run over earlier very happy but we were pretty bummed. We’d planned to push on that night and make up some time as it was a warm one but by the time we had descended to the town and Check Point Three we were absolutely soaked and miserable. We checked into the hotel, ordered pizzas from around the corner and got a solid 6 hours while our clothes dried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Up early and left in the dark with a full days riding ahead of us. The rumour was that the last section was tough with a ‘bit’ of climbing and it didn’t disappoint. We also got very wet, again. We actually did a lot more comfortable gradient climbing, even off road and were enjoying it. The light rain that night higher up was at our backs and we got super wet before we realised, it was warm and calm so no problem. ( EDIT : just been reminded that as we crested that hill and turned the corner it was actually pretty damn wet and very windy ) Ducked into a church for shelter in the middle of the night for a couple of hours, disturbing some fellow riders, sorry about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we left in the morning we saw a sign just down the road for accommodation and heard tales later of it’s magnificence. Such is the way of these things, there’s always a better sounding stop just around the corner but sometimes you waste too much time looking for it and you just need to get your head down!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our final day was on of really nice deserted gravel roads. You could tell the coast was getting closer, everything was getting greener as we descended towards the last big climb. Even one stretch that tested our patience for a bit as we couldn’t travel at more than 12kph on the flat. This was also the one instance where a pack of dogs got their breath a little too close to Shona’s heels. No contact. Just doing their jobs. That last hill was a doozy that probably had us busy for a couple of hours longer than anticipated and the last of it was right in the middle of the day, pretty steamy. Eventually we crested the ridge, not quite where we expected to be and then we had a view of the end. We took a couple of photos and rolled on down, just a little excited to be so close. Once the loose gravel tracks that if we’d had a big ring, we’d have been ‘big ringing’ and motoring were over we had one last hurdle to overcome. A couple of riders even passed us as we rolled an span gently, restricted by gearing, along and into the picturesque harbour town. What a rush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At some point the weather had been just lush, at others pretty miserable, could we have moved faster? Probably. Hey, we weren’t the last in. The people, food and country of Greece had won our hearts and we (almost) loved every pedal stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the details may have got a bit whoozey but the outcome is the same. If you have the chance get out to the big hills in central Greece. It’s a pretty deserted paradise for big bikepacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roll on Taurus and the Mountains of Turkiye…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"