Iain’s last day! Alas! That came around quickly!
But we made it a day to remember!! Simply….the biggest day ever!
My first ever quadruple-tonner! Who would have thought!!? I remember feeling so very pleased with myself when we completed our first double-tonner!! And that was not that very long ago!!
And not just a big day….but one of the most stunning rides ever….with the landscape changing all the time!
But first…breakfast! And a small selection of home-made jams!
After last night’s downpour…it was with some trepidation that we awoke this morning. Misty…low cloud….but no sign if rain! Phew!
And before long….we were sitting above the cloud! Just glorious!
And whilst the aim was to climb up to the Mparos Pass (promounced Baros….the highest pass in Greece…..because it is there!)…..we were soon descending…into the cloud. A real pea-souper. Difficult to see anything at all….on a road where we needed to be particularly vigilant for all the rain had led to a significant amount of rock falling onto the road! It was slow…and a bit scary! And damp….and seriously cold!! (…and of all the days…Iain had mislaid one of his gloves!!)…despite wearing a full set of thermal underwear!!
But then as we started climbing again…..it started to clear……
….and we could start to see where we were headed!
Amazing that up here there are still remote – and quite large – villages (all served by great roads!!)
Climbing…..
Climbing….
Climbing…..
And it was with some relief that we topped out at 1,900 metres!
What a view……..
……….in all directions
Simply spectacular! That is the road down!!
An unusually controlled descent…for it was steep…..
….and precipitous!!
70kms in….and time for a coffee…but the single cafe here was closed!!
Interesting village though……
With this bridge being our way out!
Spanning a hugely deep chasm! With really too little protection to stop you slipping off (…another for John W…haha!)
And so down for coffee….at 80km! Another record….for the longest pre-coffee ride ever!!
And then……we were climbing again….through huge country!! From 500m back up to 1,100 metres!
Spectacular all round!
A few claps of thunder…..black clouds…..but thankfully we kept ahead of the rain!
And then….when we thought we’d seen it all……we had this gorge to drop into to finish! There must have been at least 30 switch-backs……
Our bodies and batteries were done….so it was with some nervousness that we saw that we had to climb OUT of the gorge again!! That road…..
But we made it just!!! Before free-wheeling to the small town of Koutselio….where we thought we’d take a break and re-charge just a bit..in case there were more surprises ahead!! It turned out that we could in fact have made it without recharging…..but…..it was so worth it! The guy in the bar could not have been more helpful…and upon telling him where we had cycled from…he arrived with a huge plate of ham and cheese toasties on the house…..!
So we thought we had better order a few more beers to balance the books so to speak….whereupon he arrived with another huge plateful of food!! What a guy! With a side-line of adopting street dogs! He has five at present!
The downside of the welcome delay….was that the rain did catch up with us! Alas!! So…by the time we pulled into Ioannina at around 17.30….we were soaked!!
Shoes in the oven….heater blaring…and we got a bit dry before heading out for our last night!! A good one it was too…..too many beers….lots of fat-chewing…and no backgammon at all! I’ll miss him!
Gyros to finish….of course!!
