Day 18 – Saturday, August 23, 2025

I started the day with a nice swim and was in the saddle by 8 am.

It was a good way to start that day

I had to backtrack for a while, then I got back to my “favorite” two-by-one lane highway. Athanasios had suggested that I visit the island of Zakynthos; the ferry heading there was in my vicinity. At about 13 kilometres from the ferry terminal, at around 9:50, I checked to see when the ferries left. There would be one at 10:30, by the time I had found it, it was 9:55. So I had 33 minutes (to get there 2 minutes prior to start) for 12 kilometers – meaning I would need to ride at a speed of 22 km/h on average. Oh, this would not be the last ferry, there was one at 1 pm, too. I just made a deal with myself: should I make it, I will go to the island; if not, then I skip it. I evidently wanted to reach it, so I pedalled as if there were no tomorrow, taking a shortcut, not the route that Google had recommended. At 10:26, so says Google Timeline, I reached the ferry and shouted at the loading agent, telling him I had no ticket. He was very relaxed, no issues: you can board the ferry and buy the ticket online for the next ferry. Cost was €13.50, end of topic. That is what I did and I was quite pleased with myself, taking a nice spot at the back.

On the ferry to Zakynthos

I did notice that something was not “kosher” with my bike; when changing gears there was this unpleasant noise – plus the hub at the back wheel was clicking. I thought I might find a place on the island that could look at it.

The crossing was about an hour and really pleasant; I enjoyed it – when I lived in Seattle, I would often take a ferry ride, usually with my bike. In the busy town of Zakynthos, I found a bike shop, but just by looking at the friendly, yet rather inexperienced young bike guy, I knew he would not be able to really help. He did his best, but that did not help. They gave me the address of another bike shop – on a remote section of the town. On the way there, still in the busy downtown section, an incredible smell of delicious grilled meat hit my nose. I stopped; it was actually a butcher, but he also had a restaurant – I ordered a pita with the köfte (or biefteki) – it was truly delicious. Still on the culinary trip, I saw a very inviting bakery, where I bought some Greek orange pie; it was delicious.

One of the unfriendliest places was the bike shop; this kind of behaviour is more typical in Austria. The owner explained that the earliest he could help was the following Monday, as his mechanic had already left and they were closed for the following day. Well, it was quite a detour I had taken, so I decided not to backtrack, but discover other remote corners of the island.

For a while, I was riding on the untouched parts of Zakynthos, i.e., untouched by mass tourism. The rest of it was not untouched – very much not. There were hotels, motels, beaches, groups of people riding quads, sightseeing open buses, restaurants, more restaurants, and even more restaurants. I was not really impressed. I had this grand plan to circle around the entire island, but I gave up on this quickly, seeing how narrow and busy the roads were.

I was headed for a beach called Dafni, just some 12 kilometres from the town of Zakynthos. However, there was an altitude gain (and loss) of some 170 meters, meaning a gradient of over 13% – pretty much double a comfortable incline. It took me over an hour to get there, but it was worth it – an amazing beach with crystal-clear water, the side of which was not very busy. I tried not to think about the way back; I knew the ascent from the beach would be a crazy ride – especially on that bad surface.

Wonderful views...

...and more...

At the beach

Anyhow, I relaxed for a couple of hours, taking long swims, then showered and changed. At least at the beginning, I could only haul my bike, then a gruelling ascent started. Some cars even stopped to congratulate me (or to pay their condolences), and I chatted with two ladies from Berlin for a while. This incline did not help the general health of the bike; it was ticking and clicking – I was not a happy fellow.

I decided I had seen enough of the island and it would not help my bike trip to spend a lot longer time there, so I bought a ticket to the evening ferry. While waiting for it, I saw some kind of a marching band procession; also at the local church there was quite a commotion. I went back to the butcher for more of the delicious grilled meat. Near the ferry, I met a group of Hungarians who were headed back to Budapest that evening, having spent a week on the island and starting a 26-hour bus trip.

Grand church

Leaving the island behind, feeling somewhat unimpressed

It was dark by the time we got to the other side and I thought I might as well sleep in linen. There was a restaurant and I asked if they knew a place. They called a lady, she showed up with a car, asking for €60; I tried to bargain, but in vain. I got an entire apartment for that, washing machine included. I had so much laundry that it did not fit in one machine, so I had to stay awake till like 1:30 am by the time everything was done and hung. I finally retired. Not a bad day, but I have had better ones.

The ride was in 2 parts (as I forgot to shut off my watch on the ferry), altogether 62 km and about 555 meters of altitude gain.