The Serpentine Magic
Crete is a mountainous island and there’s no
shortage of gorges, caves, valleys and hills providing
As we zigzagged among the truck drivers exiting the a perfect playground for either on and off road riding
- there’s something for both switchback ninjas and
enormous belly of the Aneke lines ferry and rolled
gravel maniacs out there and we wanted to
into the sleepy streets of Heraklion, all I wanted on
this good earth was coffee and warmth. The lingering experience it all.
chill of mainland Greece still plagued my shivering
On a side note, riding tarmac usually means office
soul and the ever watchful ferry crew of Teutonic
time for me: I either work on my articles and blog
disposition did their best to make sure passengers
posts or take photos when we’re riding on pavement.
adhered to the mysterious rule of ‘No Sleeping on
Twisty roads are great when you’re the rider – flying
the Deck’. In those unholy hours of the morning the
astonishing ancient bastion walls of Heraklion barely over curves is ridiculous fun – but when you’re a
Glorified Sack of Potatoes on the back seat, even the
registered and we rode out of the city heading for
the little town of Anogia where we’d planned to hole Transfagarasan can eventually get a little
commonplace.
up for the winter and wait the European cold out. I
was drowsy, tired and freezing as Paul dove in an out
In Crete, though riding on tarmac meant enjoying
of the blind corners on the road along a dry, rocky
spectacular vistas of rocky canyons, lush green
canyon dotted with scrawny bushes and grazing
plateaus of endless olive gardens, sleepy villages
goats.
perched on cliff tops and the bright blue and white of
the Mediterranean Sea. Clicking away on my camera
But when we set out to explore the island the
incessantly and taking the jaw – dropping views in
following day, things started to look up: well rested
and refreshed, having ditched most of our minimalist while Paul enjoyed the hell out of the twisty roads
was a very welcome change to our usual pavement
luggage we were now ready to thoroughly
routine.
investigate our temporary winter refuge.