Day 1 — 47 miles, 3,474 feet climbing.

I successfully navigated downtown Athens this morning, viewing the Acropolis on my way out. Hard to believe what I was looking at as I left town.

After navigating downtown Athens and the suburbs, I had a greater than 2,000-foot climb through a very desolate area. I pulled over near the top to rest next to a parked car. I glanced in and there were two people cuddling in the back seat. 😄 I think I disturbed some sort of private moment and left pretty quickly.

I finally made it to Thivas. The last few miles were a slight climb into a headwind. Hot, very tired, and lots of traffic. I was sure glad when I finally turned downhill into town.

When I arrived downtown, instead of the plaza being full of old men drinking beer in the afternoon, there were about 50 18-year-olds with the same haircut. Turns out there’s a military training base nearby and they had leave today and descended on downtown Thivas.

Overall, successful day. Very hard and very hot. My Koga did great. I have everything balanced and running, the electronics are operational, and I’m glad to have the first day of my tour under my belt. Looking forward to what’s next. 🚲🇬🇷Read more