Slow start of the day, we do some quick shopping with Apollon and then check from the hotel before splitting, I have to bike 10km and Apollon will meet me at the rental bike shop with a taxi. This ride is brutal, the drivers are not careful which forces me to be extra careful. By the time I arrive at the shop, I am already exhausted but my legs feel rested.
The bike shop owner is really nice and gives us some tips for the road, he also tells us that exiting Athens the way we planned is too dangerous and not nice, he recommends us to take a small train to exit the city and avoid the busy roads and sketchy neighborhoods.
After getting off the train, and almost missing our connection, we finally get to our starting point. Today will be hilly, and warm since we starting in the middle of the day. The first is brutal, and Apollon is taking a bit time getting adjusted to the bike, but after the first break and rebalancing the weights and changing the height of the seat, Apollon is feeling better on the bike. We keep climbing for for the rest of the day, not steep but long hills.
We took a long and deserved break on the top. Before going down, 10 minutes we get stopped by Paul, a bikepacker from Poland, drinking coca cola with another newly met biker from France (Bastien). They are going in the same direction, towards Athens and decided to sleep together tonight. We fill up our water bottles, order coca cola, and spend 30 min together talking about life, and traveling… but time to go and we get back on the road.
We arrive in Thebes right when the sun starts to disappear between the horizon. We decide to get food in a restaurant before figuring out what we do tonight. We are hesitant to keep going, the night is already there, and we are not sure to find a place to sleep, we have to find a field or abandon house. We finally decide to sleep in a hotel, it is over our budget, but a safer choice, and it means we can rest before the big day tomorrow. At the restaurant, we meet Siobhan, a bikepaker from the UK, she flew to Athens and is doing a solo tour in Greece for 2 weeks. She is also going to Delphi tomorrow, which confirms that it is a possible stint.
I planned to do much more today, but it is important to stay flexible during these biketrips. The most important is safety, we have to avoid cars, manage fatigue, hunger, thirst, and stay focused on the bike. Today was a beautiful day, full of emotions and good vibes.