The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Crete, A Greek Adventure 2018

April 23rd to May 3rd

Ride Director: Robert Deering
Ride Co-Director: Betsy Laux
Report by: John McManus

About 10 years ago another couple, my wife and I looked into a BAC ride in Greece.  It would have cost $6,000 per person, way too expensive at that time.  So it was great to discover a 10-day, fixed base BAC ride on the Greek island of Crete in 2018 for only $1,400 per person.  And that included a great hotel on the beach (Everybody had a balcony.) with very good breakfast and dinner every day.  Wow.  The hotel would even launder your clothes for free.

Riding in Crete isn’t easy; there are lots of hills and you begin every ride at sea level.  But ride director Rob Doering had both easy, at least easier, and more difficult rides each day.  He sent out GPS routes for more rides than needed and created new rides on the spot if he discovered something new, like a local May Day festival.  In addition to riding, there were opportunities for the festival, hiking a gorge and spending a day on the water visiting the ruins of a Venetian village and one of the world’s best beaches.

Rob has led this ride two times previously and thus is very familiar with the area, the institutions and the people.  He constantly monitors what’s going on in the area to make sure we don’t miss anything.  We were pleasantly surprised by Greece overall.  The people speak English; they begin studying it in the third grade.  Everyone is hospitable, the food is great and cultural opportunities abound in the country.  What more could you want?

Navigation can be difficult because of the Greek language but Rob led us out of the parking lot every morning at 9:30. He’s a strong rider but doesn’t mind waiting at intersections so everyone can catch up.  Or even stopping for a capucinno.

Of course you can’t go to Crete without also visiting Athens and maybe even some of the Greek islands.  But all in all, this makes a great vacation.  We highly recommend it.