Epilogue

Well, folks, this is it. This had been a wonderful voyage – I enjoyed nearly every day (granted, with a few notable exceptions). I had been to the Balkan countries earlier by bike, and on this trip, I enjoyed them perhaps even more than before. Bosnia was, as always, great; I plan to explore more of western and southern Serbia. The national park in Montenegro was amazing, and I regained my faith in Albania. Not to be forgotten, I still need to return to North Macedonia.

I spent the majority of my time in Greece, which has become a new-found love of mine. I saw so many wonders – the people, the mountains, the coast, the food – and had unforgettable encounters throughout the country.

I am already looking forward to my next longer ride – who knows where the wheels will take me next!

Some statistics

So, regarding this trip, let us do some statistics. You can see below the kilometers I had ridden and the altitude gains per day and the cumulative values.

Altogether, I had ridden a bit over 2,000 kilometers of tracked distance - in reality, I made about 100 km more, with all the riding that was not tracked (before the trip, within cities, etc). Quite a lot was the altitude gained, over 27 kilometers, which is like going up to Mount Everest from the sea - three times.

The daily average was not too high, just 80 km, especially in the second part of the trip were days I either decided to "slack" on a beach, or I faced some bike issues - still, it was just below 80 km a day, with an ascent of just over 1,000 meters.

Daily and Total Summary

Day	Daily Km	Daily Ascent	Total Km	Total Ascent
1	133	977	133	977
2	97	1.833	230	2.810
3	103	1.374	333	4.184
4	97	2.454	430	6.638
5	70	1.870	500	8.508
6	80	1.408	580	9.916
7	100	380	680	10.296
8	100	1.128	780	11.424
9	112	1.472	892	12.896
10	45	439	937	13.335
11	103	895	1.040	14.230
12	133	1.486	1.173	15.716
13	73	1.414	1.246	17.130
14	75	2.101	1.321	19.231
15	83	905	1.404	20.136
16	58	210	1.462	20.346
17	99	653	1.561	20.999
18	62	553	1.623	21.552
19	21	213	1.644	21.765
20	35	76	1.679	21.841
21	10	85	1.689	21.926
22	91	1.561	1.780	23.487
23	91	1.287	1.871	24.774
24	61	1.238	1.932	26.012
25	63	788	1.995	26.800
26	40	750	2.035	27.550
Total	2.035	27.550
Average	78	1.060

Gratitude

This trip was made sweeter by a lot of unsung "heroes" (well, they were my heroes)...this includes receiving a plate of watermelon at a shop, getting half a loaf of bread at a remote Bosnian border station, receiving ice-cold water - handed to me as a complete stranger. Being allowed to pitch my tent in the backyard, lunch getting paid for, drivers offering me a ride (which I would then decline), a truck driver making an extra tour to fetch me to something to drink, the bus driver who helped load my bike. Many many thanks!

Amazing that my bike was fixed by Harry at the bike shop called "To Podilato" in Patras.

How nice of Dimitra to write a story about me and of Athanasios of packing lunch for me.

Thanks to Peter for helping me write this blog and offering advice. Also, a big nod to Márta for guiding this trip to head to the south.

Gratitude to my parents, who are probably worried every minute they don't hear from me. I do call them often and tell them a lot of details - but I only divulge information about my "adventures within adventures " once the mini-adventure is over! I guess you get the point.