Captivating Crete Bike Ride Oct 9-Oct 23, 2025 (NOT FINISHED!)
CRETE BIKE RIDE with Cycle Greece, Colleen McGuire
Oct 8, 2025-Oct 23, 2025
On 10/9/25, we flew into London Heathrow in 'business class" with a little different arrangement; "1, 2, 1" seat layout. Definitely a new plane. We walked to the Hilton Garden Inn, right on the airport property, then headed to town on the "express train" ending up at Paddington Square. We wandered around Hyde Park, Kensington Palace & had a fish & chips dinner in a busy little pub invited by a couple young men to join them at their table. Headed back to the hotel and went to bed, around 8:30pm London time.
Then on to Athens. We stayed a couple nights close in, before the biking crew arrived giving us a chance to do some sightseeing. The first day, we walked up to the Philopappos Monument behind our hotel. The next day we hiked the very visible" triangle peak," Likavittos by trekking across Athens to find the trail up. Granite steps meandered up to the peak where there was a chapel, restaurant & funicular.
Princess Diana's fountain outside Kensington Palace, London
A turtle? (on our walk down from the Philopappos Monument.)
On our 1st night in Athens, we walked down many steps from our hotel and this was beside the staircase. Just when we thought we were getting away from all the divisions in the states, this shows up.
We happened upon a chapel in downtown Athens and took an underground tour. This symbol (which I recognize growing up Catholic) was on the walls where the nuns hid out during the Ottoman occupation.
The views from Likavittos (triangular hill hike)
View of Athens from Likavittos
On our last day on our own before the bike tour, we went to the Akropolis Museum. Afterwards , inside the cafe, we saw this beautiful plant, like the ones Ellen gave me. Kind of like the olive branches that Athenians wore around their heads.
Met up with the bike crew on our hotel rooftop and after introductions, we walked in the opposite direction from Athens on the Acropolis walkway to Jacqueline de Romilly Square. Colleen McGuire ordered our dinner with her favorite wine. Several of the crew were not there as they were hiking the Samaria Gorge, southern coast of Crete. Michaelis guided them on the hike going to Agia Romeli, where he lived.
We had our first delightful Greek meal, complete with amazing views & a feisty black cat.
Dinner guest
Parking in Athens. How on earth do they get in their cars?
We boarded the ferry & got checked into our room. Two single beds with a full bathroom. Then we ate dinner in the cafeteria. Sleeping was underwhelming as I felt the vibration of the ship all night. In fact I could tell when we docked as it got really quiet.
Cycling Day 1: Akrotiri Loop, 38 miles, 2522 feet elevation gain.
Oct 14, 2025
Oct 14, 2025
After we disembarked, we went to a coffee shop then rode in a fancy van to Sweet Dreams Bakery where we met up with the rest of the cyclists & bikes. (there was no food except chocolate pastries. We waited & eventually they brought out bagels & croissants. We cycled to our first stop which was a monastery full of cats! We went to the gift shop where a guy told us all about the wine & olive oil of the area. He'd been to Sonoma CA & I asked if he'd been to the Willamette Valley OR; nope. I asked about Raki as our taxi driver had warned us to watch out for the Cretans who drink it & drive! Surprisingly, he poured each of us a taster, and wow! It was strong & he described it accurately as "moonshine!"
Then on to our next stop, Gouvernato Monastery or Virgin of the Angels Monastery. The writing was on the wall, as Bruce & I were dead last, climbing uphill, with one stretch on rocky concrete & 14% grade! The 5 e-bikes & excellent cyclists were all in the parking lot waiting for us.
From the parking lot, we hiked to the Monastery Katholiko, believed to be the oldest monastery in Crete, dating back to the 6th or 7th century. It entailed a walk which was a little over a mile on windy, rock steps. But what goes down, must come up! About 2-1/2 miles round trip.
We rode back down the horrible road, braking the whole way, ending up at our lunch stop of the Akrotiri Peninsula at Stavros Beach, where Zorba the Greek was filmed. A beautiful peaceful setting, which usually is packed with tourists in the summer.
We rode on a "well trafficked" road with a pretty big climb through a neighborhood. At a busy intersection, "Jerry" guided me to turn right and said stop at the top & wait for he & Bruce. I continued until I felt lost. No one ahead of me and no one behind. So I decided to pull over and wait. Finally Bruce & Jerry came up from behind. We rode further to our coffee stop, where a monument of one-time prime minister, Eleftherios Venizelos is buried. It had a beautiful overlook of Hania & Julie snapped this picture of us. Honestly, I was not too happy.
I was a little frustrated, feeling frightened about getting lost (who would I call?) yet feeling pushed to hurry. I felt a bit of a respite as we were told we would ride a bike path downhill into our hotel in Hania/Chania.
A fountain right on the Hania harbor with lots of "free Palestine" graffiti.
The sleeping dogs got our attention so we decided to sit and enjoy the view and a beer.
(popular brands are Mythos & Alfa)
(popular brands are Mythos & Alfa)
The harbor view reminded me of Poisitano, Italy
The buildings were built right on top of old ruins. Our hotel room looked right out over the boats in the harbor. Beautiful. We ate dinner that night just a couple doors down. I asked Colleen about all the Palestinian tagging I'd see around town. She kind of came unglued at me that I didn't know about the all the Palestinians who had been trapped in a platoon. After all, that was why I was asking. I needed to hear another perspective)
The fortification as the sun started to go down. Hania overall was one of my favorite spots, except the cobblestones coming in & leaving were pretty rough on their aluminum bikes. (My Trek would have absorbed a lot of the roughness.)
Cycling Day 2: Therisos Gorge Loop, 37 miles, 2308 elevation
Oct 15, 2025
Oct 15, 2025
We rode the cobbles out of Hania harbour, through intense traffic & onto a narrow 2 lane road through the Therisos Gorge. It was quiet, little if any traffic (except for the goats on the road) and beautiful shady scenery. I passed Katie who had fallen over, cut her leg & needed help with her clips.
Therisos was pivotal during the Turkish revolution as troops were stranded in the gorge & led to the surrender of the Ottomans to the Cretans around 1866. Crete became part of Greece in 1913.
We stopped for a coffee break in Therisos, where I cut my finger on a lemonade metal bottle top. From here we had more climbing to do. There were a bunch of kids from Denmark training on this section; they'd go up & down what I could barely do once. At the first hairpin out of Therisos, I was barely hanging on as a couple of young girls were groaning but climbing none the less.
We continued on our climb to the turn off to the Botanical Parks, 4.80 miles roundtrip. We rode down an extremely steep cobblestone road to a busy she-she restaurant for lunch overlooking the gardens. Another extravagant Greek meal, as dish after dish appeared, when we were already full. Most all of us walked our bikes up the steep grade to the main road.
A familiar site along the Therisos Gorge
Meskla
Lakkoi
Back at the harbor
Cycling Day 3: Hania to Rethymno, 49 miles 5085 elevation
Oct 16, 2025
I don't remember alot about today's climbs, except that the notes said, "There is one big climb, ascending to 1500 feet, the route's highest ascent." No wonder I don't remember much; I was too busy climbing! We rode until 1pm stopping for lunch in Vryses. A shaded, quaint little restaurant where they had a pig on a rotisserie. We walked down to a patio overlooking a creek filled with honking geese. There was this cute little kitten that kept looking for a lap. Jerry, the cat whisperer, was intrigued, as was I until I found a flea on the sweet little thing.
Riding into Rethymno was pretty relaxing. We left our bikes in a parking lot then walked with all our luggage through the corridors of the town to our beautiful hotel for 2 nights, the Veneto. (accent on Ven...a to...unlike the Italian pronunciation) The receptionist took us on a tour of the building, a Venetian "mansion" from the 15th century. We stayed in a new section while the rest of the crew were in the old section.
As is our tradition, right after the bike ride we found a nearby pub and relaxed with a beer. Not all places had draft, let alone local draft. This was an "Irish Pub."
Another bottle of wonderful Greek wine. (Katie & Art in background. Katie is a marathon, triathelon competitor. She is 71 yrs. old. Husband, Art has prostate cancer so B & he talked alot.
Cycling Day 4: Arkadi Loop, 27 miles 2598 elevation gain
Oct 17, 2025
Oct 17, 2025
I was exhausted & thought about "laying over" & shopping at the cute stores in Rethymno. However, I was convinced it wasn't that hard of a ride. So onward I go.
We started out with a 30 minute van ride to Pigi Village, where we met up with an owner of ancient olive tree orchard.
Cats, goats, and olive trees.
From Pigi we ride up a steady climb. Bruce got in the van and I kept plugging away, until I could climb no more. Then Photi, the van driver, came back for me & took me up to the Arkadi Monastery. Bruce was already up there waiting. Kind of a chaotic day...I was about to cry once I got up to the monastery. We were told we were not at the top so I got in the van with Photi. After about 1 mile, we started downhill so I got out. The downhill was great, smooth rollers, and I was alone. I loved it. Along the way, Bruce was coming up a hill to find me. We rode down together to the sea.
The brochure says we got a van ride back to Rethymno, but I don't remember that.
Amnatos
Cycling Day 5: Rethymno to Zaros, 46 miles, 6177 elevation gain (!)
Oct 18, 2025
Oct 18, 2025
The notes from Colleen say "this is the hardest ride of the tour with high climbs & hills in the mountains." I told myself I can do this.
My first picture of this day begins in Vistagi.
Jerry, who followed Bruce & I most of the trip.
A little restaurant in Apodoulou where the owner served us a grand meal. A couple from Berlin, who were bike camping, also stopped to eat here. I chatted with them a bit. They left home in August.
Traditional Spanish tortilla
Kamares Caves, a trail down, but I rode right by it. Beautiful. Met up with Bruce right around the next hill.
The view behind a random chapel on the climb. I stopped to take a picture & Jerry asked if I was "looking for other options." Ha-ha!
The hotel had "trout ponds" with a friendly variety of sturgeon
In this picture you see Alan (his wife was Karen) & Barb (the youngest of the PT's Her husband was retired & was capturing birds of prey & tagging them. Colleen is on the right in the black dress.
Beautiful "evil eye" wine bottle. Robin in the background. A PT professor at U of Utah. Most of the biking crew were from Salt Lake City/Park City & were somehow related to PT.
Ampelouzos
CYCLING DAY 6: Matala Loop, Zaros to Gortys, 8.70 miles 1361 elevation gain
Gortys to Matala, 15 miles 541 elevation gain
Oct 19, 2025
Today is a relatively easy day with 4 miles of climbing and 4 miles of descent. We made our way to the Gortys Archaeological Site. 
We made our descent to the sea town of Matala where we ate yet another lunch.
Apparently, the caves of Matala were created in the Neolithic Age. Then in the 1960's were inhabited by hippies. The hippies were driven out by the church and the military junta. Matala's hippie history is celebrated during the three-day Matala Beach Festival, held every June since 2011.
Since most of us were pretty beat, Colleen called taxis to take us back to the Idi hotel at Zaros.
For dinner, we walked up a gravel road, just as it was getting dark, to the Eleonas Hotel for a buffet dinner. The salads & desserts were great the main course were not so great.
CYCLING DAY 7: Zaros to Knossos, 43 miles; 4668 ft elevation gain
Oct 20, 2025
We left the Idi Hotel, said good-bye to our kitty friend, and headed towards Arhanes. Along the way we stopped in Panasos to see the Monumental Olive Tree, believed to be 3,000 years old.
Greetings by out favorite kitty
Nyvritos
Nyvritos
Panasos
Wind mills of Panasos
Monumental Olive Tree, said to be over 3000 years old
After Panassos, we climb for several miles to reach the highest point of the day of 2040 feet at Agia Varvara. In Archanes, we had lunch in a taverna in the town square.
Panasos
Agios Thomas
Agios Thomas, probably my favorite view of all Crete!
Sort of a good selfie, except for the shadow! But check out that background!
I was tootly along with this view on every side of me and then...I saw this hill!
Going home, we flew from our ending spot to Heraklion (pronounced Ir-RAC-lio) to London, regular seats. Bruce accidently had us fly into Gatwick airport, and found us a nice AirBNB near the airport since we got in late, around 10:30pm. The drive to the AirBNB was intense; the driver rode on the wrong side of the road, it was a very narrow road, raining intensely, too. We had a lovely room overlooking their gardens. Talked to the owner more in the morning. They fixed us breakfast...I ordered eggs with salmon, unfortunately, it was raw smoked salmon that I couldn't eat. Lovely couple who had run the place for several years. Also, had remodeled the breakfast room by enclosing it, adding air tight windows. We waited past check-out in a cozy sitting room, where I started this blog of our trip to Crete.
