The Beauty and the Beast
60 km - 1490 m
What a beautiful ride! When first rode on those roads, we have never expected such beauty to be revealed in front of us. The route starts straight from the centre of Leonidio and the riders gain 900m of elevation in 14km. It is demanding, yes! After reaching the peak and once the descent begins, the riders can pay a short visit to the village of Vaskina. In the village’s centre (as the gpx trace indicates), riders can refill their bottles, or even enjoy a short meal, at a small traditional taverna. Important: the taverna is open only from late spring until mid autumn and we cannot guarantee that the owners keep that open every day.
Later on the tarmac ends and the riders have to cover 3-4 km of nicely preserve gravel road. This section of the route raises no safety issues, since the gravel road is very solid, although, in parts, a bit bumpy. Once the gravel part ends, the route continues on a cement road, which will get the riders at an altitude of 950m. That is the highest point, which signals that the rest of the way to Tyros Village, is only a superb downhill. Riders should remain extremely vigilant until the end of this particular descent, since the road has a significant amount of potholes and it is very steep (-22% during some curves). Riders should make sure that their braking system works seamlessly (especially disc brakes) since they will be under extreme load.
At Tyros village riders can enjoy a coffee break at the village’s beach side - Cafe Petra - stays open throughout all year). For the ones who want to enjoy a superb meal, look no further and trust the menu, containing normally fresh fish and traditional “meze” at Akrogiali taverna .
The beauty and the beast: Why the route is named like this? This stunning circle route can be also ridden the other way around. The beginning of the route will be the ideal warm up, whereas after Tyros the climbing is steep…. very! Riding up will require a tremendous effort and focus, as getting off the pedals is not always a options mainly due to the high inclines. That is the BEAST. All the rest is just the beauty. :-)