I slept very badly so left Anna’s home later than I might have. Firstly I had to climb back up the hill to drop down to Kavala then climb back up a headland to get out. After this warm up the road flattened out and made a long course across a hot, flat plain. I told myself this gave me a great opportunity to make up some time so really punished my legs, setting myself outlandish hourly targets and working much harder than normal through the first hours of the day.
Towards the end of the third, I saw I had another puncture in my front tyre. I pulled aside and fixed it, using the second of my spare inner tubes. Having started the week with two good fitted inner tubes and two fresh spares, I now had just two to run on, one with a shoddily glued patch and one out of action. The tyre still seemed fine save for one breach where a sharp stone seemed to have cut through several layers of nylon. The inside of the tyre was still fine but to make sure I glued a patch to the inside of the tyre, since a further puncture could leave me stranded out on the long and quiet road. Aside from the technical concerns, the enforced break did me good. I had been winding myself up about time and distance and the delay made these concerns academical – I would arrive when I would arrive.
By lunch I had covered just over 60 miles and expected around 45 to remain. I stopped in the farming village of Nea Kallista and pulled into a taverna outside which three enormous farmers ruddy from sunshine and tsipouro argued loudly. Passing into the cool interior, another large man sat at a table eating from several plates and watching a television I found unintelligible. He turned to me and frowned and I thought I might be better moving on. In perfect English, he then announced “Good afternoon, I am Angelo, sit with me”. I spent the next half an hour having a great conversation with Angelo, who had been on a football scholarship to the States before suffering a serious injury. He was now proprietor of the taverna and had his mother prepare salad, eggs and potatoes for me. With sadness I announced I had to leave and took out my wallet but he declined any payment and, further, gave me two little bottles of tsipouro, one large of retsina and a whole litre of ouzo. I left with my luggage somewhat heavier but my spirits buoyed by yet another surprise kindness.
From Nea Kallista I could and should have stayed on the national road which bypasses a network of hamlets. However, Google maps had told me I could save nearly ten miles by crossing through said network and despite Angelo’s warnings I felt like an adventure so made my way to the next settlement of Porpi. My plan worked for the first hour as I hopped from village to village but I came to a grinding halt at a fork. No one around had heard of Venna, the next village on my list. I had to choose one way or the other and in hindsight I must have chosen poorly as I spent the next three hours zigzagging across countryside as I had done on the first day in Essex. At length I was helped by a patently drunk tractor driver who told me in passable English that he had worked in the shipyards at Southampton. I followed his enormous wheels through to the road which would take me over the mountains to Alexandroupolis. Stumbling out of his cab, he shook my hand and presented me with one of his warm tins of lager. I indicated I would save it for later.
This character cheered my spirits for the climb through the mountains, though I could not ignore the fact that it was getting cold and dark and I still had many miles to go. Further, I had not packed any chocolate or fruit for the afternoon so I had not had any sugar through the hours of climbing up hills and falling down dales. Dropping down from the mountains after another hour’s hard work, I took a break in the dark about an hour short of Alexandroupoli. I needed sugar and had only four options – ouzo, tsipouro, retsina or lager. I chose the lesser of four absurdities and grimaced the warm beer down, following it with plenty of water. For the first time in the trip I used my rear light, detaching it from its bracket and dropping it flashing into one of my translucent back pockets. My front light had broken sometime on the first day so was of no use.
The last hour had to be quick. The sugar and the alcohol helped me to get through it and I arrived at the town hall safely. My host, Dimitrios, came to meet me and I have never been happier to see someone I do not know. He took me with his friends for a large supper of good local foods and I returned to bed and a deep sleep.
Distance covered 115 miles
