Kalavrita to Dimitsana

May 4, 2009

In the right conditions, I'm sure that the ride through northern Arcadia from Karkalou to Dimitsana is beautiful. For us though it was to be the hardest day of the tour. We awoke to a very grey and menacing sky, and with 50 miles in the mountains ahead of us we decided to start off quickly and get as many miles in as we could before they turned to rain.

No luck - on the outskirts out of town it began drizzling, and intensified as we climbed steeply out of the valley. After gaining 1500 feet in about four miles we crested the 4000 foot summit and began a long, wet, freezing fifteen mile descent that dropped 2500 feet before bringing us to Klitoria, the first place with facilities since leaving our hotel.

I don't think poor Rachael has ever been colder or more hypothermic. We stopped in a bar, the only place we could find open, and quickly put her hands around a cup of steaming tea, following it up with hot chocolate and coffee. As I remember it now, she didn't quit shaking for about twenty minutes.

We holed up for about an hour or so, waiting for the restaurant across the street to open up so we could invade it also and have lunch. Finally, fully recovered and warmed up further by hot soup and roasted chicken, we set off again. Fortunately the worst conditions had passed on and we avoided rain for most of the remaining miles of the ride. It remained cold but we were helped in keeping our temperatures up by the fact that most of the rest of the ride was uphill. We climbed another few thousand feet over the next twenty miles before finally dropping to Dimitsana, high in the Lousos River basin.

We were more than relieved to arrive at our inn, Guesthouse Karkazou. It's a lovely place in an old stone building (of course - Dimitsana consists entirely of old stone buildings), and we got a great reception. After warming up with showers and hot tea, we went out to explore the town a bit before sundown. It was quite pretty, with its wet stone streets glistening under the sun weakly breaking through the clouds.

It was with great relief that we reached Dimitsana, after a long, wet, frigid day in the mountains.

Dimitsana, an Arcadian village where we stayed two nights.

Our room in Guesthouse Karkazou - a beautiful haven in an old stone building that we quickly fouled by blanketing it with our soaked belongings.

Once you leave the main strip in Dimitsana, it's all paving stones and stairways.

Many of the old roadways in Dimitsana have central channels for rainwater drainage.

Today's ride: 53 miles (85 km)
Total: 262 miles (422 km)

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