Unexpected hardcore hardtailing in Lesvos!
“It’s my day off on Thursday, do you fancy trying out a new route that we may be able to use as a black guided route?” when you’re on holiday and a friend who’s working as a bike guide at the resort says that, there’s only one answer: yes! Finding myself back in Lesvos on our annual family holiday with Neilson, I was expecting a week of XC riding on familiar trails. The same trails that introduced me to MTB in the first place, they have a special place in my heart but compared to much of the riding I now do, they’re not the most gnarly or tech so I was looking forward to seeing what Rhys had in store.
On paper it was a fairly standard Lesvos 50km with about 1000m+ of elevation, much of that seemed to be on the main road that lead out from the back of the resort to the nearby monastary above Sigri. The resort’s other black ride covered roughly the same distance and took about 4 hours so we felt safe leaving as soon as free-riding opened at 8am and expected to be back at lunchtime. The route looked great – heading out north from Skala Erresos, taking in old roads that ran across the mountains, linking the local wind turbines, the village of Chidira before heading back in to Skala Erresos from the east.
Climbing up the switchbacks to the monastry, I smiled at how much easier it all felt compared to two years ago. Clearly a couple of years of extra riding had built my fitness as well as experience or maybe it was just the novelty of having a 2x drive chain and extra gears to play with?! Either way within an hour we were off the tarmac and onto the network of dirt roads. Google Earth had promised and short 18% gradient climb at some point in the first third of the ride and we kept each other going with speculation about which of the dusty, lose climbs qualified as that. Before long we passed the local tip and reached the giant wind turbines that stand like metal sentries atop the mountain ridge. With their low-level whir in our ears we checked the route and peeled off for our first descent. By this stage we’d left the dirt access road and were on the original dirt road that linked the farms and Chidira, our half-way point and coffee stop.
Riding a pair of XC 100mm travel hardtails, we were both on clipless pedals. When I started riding I used spd’s but I hadn’t ridden them for a couple of years until Chain Reaction Cycles gave me a pair of their Nukeproof Horizon SPD pedals to try. Rhys only ever wears clips and though my feet felt planted and secure, I was still somewhat skittish about braking on the loose track and getting my feet out in an emergency. At the bottom of that first descent Rhys and I paused. Grinning from ear to ear we agreed that it was as close to a natural downhill track as we’d ever found in the area! With scientific predictability the sketchy descending road turned uphill and we were faced with marbles and small rocks to try our skills on. Rhys got further than me before spinning out and once again we wondered whether this was the illusive 18% section. We agreed that both the descent and hill-climb on this section would warrant the classification of ‘black’ route but it was still a contender for a future guided ride as it was so enjoyable.
Back on the bikes we soon heard the alarming noise of a free-range yapping farm dog. With no farms in sight we were puzzled until a truck appeared with a man and his elderly mother in it. Clearly they were more baffled than us and wanted to know why we were there and how we got there! After explaining we were out for a ride, they carried on with their small dog running alongside and we continued pedalling. Following the ridgeline the land either side of the track was beautiful. Small plateaus interspersed with buildings that housed the livestock in winter it felt tranquil and remote.
A couple of hours in, we turned left off the ridge and followed the road as it dropped into Chidira. We had no idea what to expect from the village as it was simply a name on the map, but we turned a corner and found a series of farm trucks parked at the side of the dirt road just before the concrete and paving village-road started. My curiosity was piqued – the village looked wealthy, idyllic and typically Greek - the houses that greeted us were freshly painted and framed with pots of geraniums and succulents. Beyond them the bell-tower of the local Church rose above the rooftops. The road between the houses was too narrow for modern cars and though well-paved it was uneven with a gully running down the centre to clear rainwater.
I can’t remember the last time I arrived in a town and the locals looked at me like I’d been dropped from space. With several coffee shops opening onto the small square below the Church we felt the inquisitive eyes of the local men on us, there was not a woman in sight. Surprised but smiling broadly they greeted us with Yassas and Kalimera: we clearly had given them something to talk about. Seated at one of the tables was the local Greek Orthodox priest with a couple of friends. Clearly intrigued they wanted to know where we were from, where we were going and was I Catholic! In broken Greek and English we chatted while I explained our mission for which I received a blessing!
While entering the village had been easy, leaving it was tricky. We knew which direction we were going in and headed out through the square climbing up through the village. Pausing to consult the Oracle aka Google Maps, we were quickly joined by a couple of locals who wanted to advise us on the best route to take. Convinced they were trying to lead us to the main road, we thanked them for their advice and carried on through the town. It’s very steep they said, and we laughed explaining that we were looking for steep! Eventually we made our way through the maze of narrow, car-free roads and joined the dirt road again.
Happy that we were heading the right way, we soon heard a voice calling frantically behind us. Accompanied by the beeping of a car horn we stopped to see one of the locals following us in a tiny white car. ‘No, no, no, you’re going the wrong way – this is the old road and becomes very narrow and broken in the mountains’ he said, but again we reassured him that this was what we were looking for and both we and the bikes were prepared for it. We had no idea at that point how unrideable the ‘road’ would become but we still would not have turned back even if we had. This was the kind of epic exploration ride we were after.
Checking the route once more, it appeared that we would reach the end of this section of track and then turn right and head up to the final mountain ridge that we needed to traverse in order to get back to the Erresos side of the island. Up until that right turn, we were happy that this was a route that experienced guests would enjoy as a long-distance off-road black route. Turning right we pushed our bikes up the steep, loose rocks that formed the road, before opening an improvised metal gate. Beyond the gate, the track disappeared beneath a carpet of thistles and grass. It had clearly not been used for years and possibly never by motor vehicles.
Thankfully Rhys had watched a GMBN video on how to lift and carry your bike on your back for some hardcore hike-a-bike and we happily put it to the test. With my trip to Lesotho next spring never far from my mind, I explained that Tom and I were talking about doing hike-a-bikes to get practice, so this was perfect. Reaching the top of the climb we found ourselves faced with a network of rock walls outlining different fields. As before, the plateau was like a secret world, with bulrushes showing a local spring, and rocks and stones dotted about on the carpet of short grass.
Stopping to examine some old honeycomb next to a hole in the ground we knelt down to see if there was a small creature living there. The minute an angry hornet emerged we scarpered, not exactly the brave explorers any more! There were so many hornets on the plateau that if you stopped you were quickly surrounded. Thankfully they didn’t seem that interested in hurting us and we even managed to stop long enough to fix a puncture without being stung. The strangest thing was the shells of deceased tortoises that we found up there. One was totally denuded of it’s scales revealing a bone-like white structure with the recognisable shells on flaked on the ground around.
The plain lead over to a final mountain-top farm where we joined the track that would eventually lead us down to the main road. Lulled into a false sense of security we assumed that our sketchy riding was done for the day and we were about to race back in time for lunch. The dirt road from that farm would not have been out of place on the course of the Megavalanche race and we were riding it on cross-country hardtails with virtually no suspension and only our helmets for protection. However we were in danger of missing lunch so we went for it. With several touch and go moments I confess that I did ride bits of it with one foot unclipped but it was so much fun! Every few hundred metres we had to stop, shake the tension from our bodies, catch our breath and regroup before carrying on. If the hike-a-bike hadn’t already convinced us this ride would not pass risk assessment, this descent certainly did. Both on the edge of control and using every ounce of skill and my recent Greek Orthodox blessing we ricocheted our way to the bottom.
By this point we were starving and exhausted but grinning from ear to ear as we raced back on the tarmac road from Mestopolos to Skala Erresos. Although we’d missed lunch the kitchen team took pity on us and presented us with huge plates of food which we demolished in minutes.
Over 6hrs after leaving resort, having covered 49km with over 1300m climbing we had shared an amazing adventure. Once again, I was reminded how amazing mountain biking is and how much enjoyment and challenge you can have when you try out new routes. Thank you so much Rhys for sharing your day off and the adventure with me. You’ve given me memories I’ll cherish for a long time!
Full review of the Nukeproof Horizon SPD pedals from Chain Reaction Cycles coming as soon as I’ve put in a few more hours using them. However, I think I’ve given them a pretty good fear-factor test on that rocky track and I’m still planning to carry on riding with them so it’s all good so far 😉!