Off on family hols and fancy a guided day out. Anyone know if there's a decent outfit on the Island who can also rent me a bike ?
Thanks
Where are you heading for your holiday in Crete?
When are you coming to Crete? Sitting out on the terrace at the moment and it's 23 degrees, way to hot for riding during the day and fierce winds at the moment. There are places to ride - e4 west to east mountain path but not in summer unless you are well used to riding in high temps. Later in the year is okay but drivers are a bit mental. Come and enjoy the sun and take the excellent bus service to enjoy the island. Bring plenty if money though as food prices are high.
There are 2 bike higher places I know of but it depends where you are going.
We are about 10K east of Heraklion - happy to sweat for a day as i know its going to be Hot !
Thanks for your help
Good luck! I went there a couple of years ago. There are some cracking looking trails, but I didn't see many/any keen riders. We hired some bikes (fairly low end Scotts with semi slick tyres) and followed a local trail map and then did a guided ride. Most of the routes followed tarmac roads and a few dusty fire roads. Shame, as there could be some excellent rides in the mountains. From my expereience, mtbing just isn't that established over there.
I've been to Crete for about ten years for hols. Mainly walking but I have sometimes taken the bike. If you are in Elounda or Agios Nikolous then there is a company based in it's own hotel half way between called Martinbike. They have their own website. It's a german company and when I rode with them I was to only one without german as a first language. And everyone appeared to be very fit, living in or near the mountains at home. They have a set itinerary of rides on different days. I did one involving a climb up to the top of the Lassithi platuea. For an extra 10 euros they book you in for lunch at a taverna. I would do that as everyone else will be. They are linked to Scott and have a good fleet of top end scott full sus bikes.
If you are in or around Rethymnon then here is a company about six kilometers out at Agios Kampos called Olympic binke. They also have a site. These cater more for the tourist fancying a day trip with a difference, but they do have some more challenging rides on offer. They also do bike hire but not as top end as Martinbike. Places near them include resorts like Platanes, but you woudl be able to get there failry simply and quickly from somewhere like Bali. You can also hire a bike and GPS off them to do your own thing.
The final one I have heard of is in Gouvnes. Don't know much about them.
In the past I have taken my bike and done my own thing in the morning meeting the girlfriend at lunchtime. There are no such things as bridleways so you can pretty much ride anywhere if you are considerate. there are lots of tracks for farming and shepherds. It's quite liberating to just head out and see what you find. Sometimes it goes wrong and you have to double back. The e4 path would be like a lakeland hike a bike in some parts so you would have to choose the section carefully. Not easy when the Crete maps are so poor. I mean really poor. Hope this helps.Email me if I can help anymore.
Oh and the most important word to learn is "bukali nero "bottle of water". Really handy in that heat.
I did one involving a climb up to the top of the Lassithi platuea.
I did this about 12 or 13 years ago, having taken my bike on a package holiday.
Bit of a sweaty slog, even though I was a bit fitter then, but the stunning scenery more than made up for it.
Didn't find much in the way of singletrack, but then I was navigating with a car hire map.
banjowhacker your right. I was discussing this with a greek guide and he said they just don't get the attraction. Prefer to sit in taverna in mid day sun. Kind of understand. But with the downturn in tourism to the island, which started before the present crisis, they have real potential. There is so many paths and tracks through the main mountain ranges.