Today would be the longest of the trip. Thessaloniki lay around 120 miles from the bed in a family home in Bitola, where I woke at 7 am. After a quick, light breakfast I made my way out of the town and onto the plain at the base of the valley I had dropped from the previous day. The shape of the mountains around me suggested a broad basin tipping me out toward Greece, as the higher summits to my rear gradually gave way to lower ridges at my sides which in turn lowered to foothills in front of me.
The weather was good and I passed through the border ahead of time. I felt good and the bike was in good order. My only problem was that the forward flange on the cleat of my left shoe had sheared off during the snow walking of the day before. This did not hold me up too much save that when I changed gear my foot would leap out of its place and my calf or shin would feel the hardness of the moving pedal. I tried to remedy the problem by attaching my shoe to the pedal with microporous tape from my first aid kit. It was clear, however, that this tape could be breached by the flatulence of a mouse so I resigned myself to a day of sporadic shin pain.
Crossing the foothills at the south end of the valley, I joined the main road which bypassed Amyntaio and looped eastwards to Edessa. I entered a valley which channelled a headwind and the quality of the road became quite poor. This made for a slow couple of hours and I began to think that if the remainder of the day was like this I may not make it to Thessaloniki before dark. However, I soon left the low valley and came out onto another bypass, this time round Edessa. The road was new and arced broadly around the town, descending at least two hundred metres over a distance of a few miles. I was as fast as ever down this short stretch and by lunch I was back on track to finish by early evening. I tried to enjoy innominate meat with chips from the back of a roadside van before joining a series of long and straight roads which would take me through the rest of the day. As the afternoon progressed, a low haze became less translucent and so more scenery became hidden. I passed through endless fields of olive trees, orchards and vineyards but there was nothing of great note to distract me from the straight road. A light headwind picked up so progress was slow.
At a distance of around 20 miles, a cream conurbation could be seen sprawling up a high hillside and I suspected this to be my target. I made my way towards it on legs that became more and more tired. The road, which had been a single lane provincial affair, widened to three lanes and entertained a far greater number of cars and lorries, all driving with equal disregard for my health. I was happy to enter the outskirts where the roads narrowed again. The last few miles of the day and of the week were good. I craned round corners at swish mediterranean apartment blocks, squat Orthodox churches and ancient ruins and soon found myself at the shady, green central square from where I called my host. After another short cycle I found a bike shop where I repaired my shoe and met Igor, who took me home to a large supper.
I was very tired after a tough week and looked forward to two restful days in the large but peaceful city.
Distance covered 119 miles
