13. Lefkada to Ithaca - Mad Bike Rides

It turned out to be a surprisingly big day today! Three islands. Two ferries. And a heap of climbing on the bikes in between!

There are two routes between Lefkada Town and the port of Vasiliki at the Southern end: the ‘main road’ down the East coast…and the mountain road down the West side! Well…of course…we opted for the road less travelled!

And what a gorgeous ride!

This is looking back down on the bridge/causeway linking Lefkada with the mainland.

A 350m hill to get over to reach the village of Agios Nikitas.

Not a bad spot!!

And then a 650m hill to get over…..

….before the spectacular descent…

….to the port of Vasiliki!

A tiny place really……but lovely all the same!

And so on to our ferry…..

……..to cross to Kefalonia. That is the island on the right…the mythical Ithaca on the left!

To Fiskardo….a really charming village/port. Last time we were here, this place was rammed…so it was nice to see it at its laid-back best.

The ride South from here in another classic! A steady climb up to around 350m…then a wobble along the contour – with precipitous drop-offs – for about 12km…

…with spectacular views around every corner…

……and extraordinary beach views on the way down….

….to Agia Effimia.

BIG problem here! My chain got all jammed up! And it turns out to be a very unusual issue. Somehow the big nut which holds my front sprocket in place was worked itself loose. The sprocket itself was wobbling all over the place! It could well have been a disaster…but we caught it just in time before wrecking the sprocket….and the chain! But it needs a special set of tools to fix it! We could only use our fingers to tighten it!!

So it was a nervous 10km ride on to Sami…and our next ferry!! Every few kms…I stopped…and tightened it up again! Very weird! And not a little alarming!

I had ordered tickets on line for the ferry to Ithaca! And was told I had to pick them up at the office! No…you do not need a ticket, they said! The email is enough! Ho hum….and then when we jumped on the ferry…..no-one checked any tickets anyway! Greek ferries! You have to love them!