Staying in porto rafti nr Athens. Having seen the hills near it it looks ace but anyone have any advice? I did spot a bike shop on the high street last time I was there

nobody ridden in Greece then?

Ask ed from great rock, he was out there earlier this year lining up a course I think, they walso did an article for the mag that may have got trashed when Jon’s laptop with the pictures got stolen.

Anyway, there’s excellent riding in Greece, but its a big country and I don;t know what it;s like where you’re going

how are you anyway, not seen you in months, shall we have a pootle when you get back?

Pootle is long overdue!!

Only ridden proper off road in Rhodes , got to agree though the mountains surrounding Athens look very inviting.

It’s gonna be hot over there! Did Bulgaria last year and it was too hot really for cycling.

Alaric off here used to run a guiding/holiday company near Athens – one of the best weeks I ever had on a bike

Give him a shout, he may have details of the trails, there were some great ones around the the [now empty] royal summer palace, wonderful place

http://www.singletrackworld.com/members/alaric/profile/

Cheers all – and evening both! Yes a pootle is on the cards. Greece is a few weeks away yet so there’s potential before then.

I’m good though – just been bloody busy these past few weeks – all a bit mental and knackering. Still – pootles are called for!

A Greek pootle would be fun.

I’ve just got images of riding down through olive groves to a beach side bar….

Kefonlonia has some great mtb riding!

Porto Rafti is not far from Athens, Athens having three major mountain ranges to the North, North East and East.

To the North is Parnitha which is great for a “Proper” mountain ride, road or off road. Good singletrack there, though, is hard to come by – it’s very steep, so a lot of the trails that start off well soon become a bit of a hike. However, at the foot there is the old royal palace at Varibopi, This is a lovely, wooded area with loads of great singletrack, pick a trail ride it, come back for more!

Pendelli to the NE has a lot of great trails, few singletrack, but the rocky nature of the trail makes even the widest track “interesting”.

For tight, steep, technical trails Ymittos takes some beating, there are some awesome trails there.

I can also put you in touch with some of the locals (all who speak excellent English) if you want to try and hook up with a guide for some of the better trails. Let me know if you want me to give a few of them your email address.

It’s also well worth taking a bike and just going out exploring. The Greeks don’t really worry about rights of way in the way we do. If you’re not wanted somewhere it will be obvious – so feel free to check out any interesting looking trails off-road, just don’t climb gates and fences!

Anavasi will get you the Greek equivalent of OS maps, and they’re pretty good.

Hopefully that’s given you a few pointers, let me know if you need to know any more…

Alaric.

Alaric – you’re a star. Cheers for this

No problem!

On the more run of the mill touristy side, try to get to Sounion at Sunset, have a look around Vravrona / Temple of Artemis & museum (cycle distance from Porto Rafti), and maybe a day trip to Delphi if you have transport.

Alaric.

On a completely unrelated note, I use Grecian 2000.