“It was the best 85 km ride of my life. It felt divine!”
The cyclists look back at their experiences during the first section of the Olive Route Cycling Tour from Athens, Greece to Milan, Italy. The riders roll past the Acropolis and out into the Greek countryside, enjoying the perfect Spring weather. They spin past colourful flowers, surrounded by birdsong and the country’s rich history. Crossing the Adriatic Sea, the cyclists arrive in Italy and begin to climb up into the hills where they spin past mountainside villages and friendly locals before spotting the striking Duomo in Milan that marks the end of this amazing section.
#tdaoliveroute
Learn more at https://tdaglobalcycling.com/olive-route/kalamata
Yesterday is almost indescribable with words, but I’ll try. I’ll say it was the best 85 km ride I’ve ever done in my life. We began a descent that someone had said was 40 kilometers or so, but it felt like we descended for a day. It was amazing. It was truly incredible. I felt It felt divine. I think there are people who would look at a trip like this and think, “Oh, it would be so cool to do that, but I can’t.” And I’d suggest that if you think that way, you can change your mindset. You can do just about everything you want. And again, it’s a matter of what you expect of yourself. I’ve never done a tour like this. And tours like this are you don’t really know what you’re getting into. It was a little daunting. Day one, we were cycling up from the coast. You could see the coastline and see the islands dotted around. The first day of riding, I felt better. It was like medicine. And every day of riding since has been like more medicine. We’re in an unbelievably pristine environment. I think we are at a particularly nice time of the year cuz it’s spring. There flowers wherever you look. There’s birds all around me. I can probably hear 10 different bird songs as I’m speaking to you. And for me, that is a real highlight of the trip. We’re cycling through such amazing places, places with such rich history. I really wanted to make sure that I was as focused on my time on the bike as my time off the bike. The trick with the TDA is they put you into places where a lot of people just never get to and and you just have mindblowing experiences. You just have to open yourself up to that. You just figure it out, you know, and you get better at packing and unpacking and figuring out what you need for the day and you’re less nervous about whether you have the right stuff and you just get better at it. Cycling down into Petras was the most beautiful descent. And then you get to what is obviously a port town with hundreds of fairies just lined up along the dock, one of which was ours to take across the Sea to Italy. Cycling in Italy has been amazing for me because rural Italy is amazing. You know, the people are so friendly, so it’s it’s good fun. The other day we was Saturday and there was up teen uh riders on the road just blasting by. Not one of them didn’t say ciao like hey ciao like way to go. So it’s really cool to be immersed in that. Entering into Italy was um obviously a sea level and and very soon we started ascending mountains um and little mountain villages which are always seem to be perched on the most steep slope you can imagine. Everywhere you look, everywhere you go, it all just feels very soulful and old and rich and great. back. Cycling through that into really what defines the styles of Italy, which would be the towns and cities of Obino, which is where Raphael was born, Ravena, where a lot of interesting writers spend their time, and Cremonia. Cremona um is where Stratavarius um was born and lived and for those who don’t know is the luier that has made some of the most valuable and most beautiful sounding string instruments in the world. The end of the section is Milan. You couldn’t see the dwell until you turned around a corner and suddenly in front of you was this mystical piece of architecture. It is absolutely magical.