Day 14: Ag Nikolaos -Mesolongi

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Distance - 91 km
Total Distance - 1000 km
Altitude Gain - 746

I left the 'hotel' relatively late - around 8am. The place had absolutely nothing for breakfast so I had to break into one of my emergency nutty nougat bars (which annoyed me greatly - they must have at least had some bread left over from last night?) I had to cycle for 20kms before I found a cafe that serves breakfasty type food (I say breakfasty because cheese pies and sausage rolls don't really make a good breakfast in my opinion). I was about to get up and go when I saw a group of cycling tourers. After nearly 1000 kms cycling in Greece, these four people were the only other cycling tourers I'd met. I was starting to think I was the only one. They were Italians, and this was their second year in Greece. Last year they did a tour of the Peloponnese, this year they are touring the mainland and will do a lot of my route but in the other direction. They will not, however, cross Olympus. It was nice to see them - I started to feel a little less like a creature from a far distant alien world, and more like an inhabitant of Earth.
The E65 was still windy this morning, although it had calmed overnight. Also, there was a lot less climbing than there had been the evening before. In fact, over the remaining 40kms on the road, I climbed around 350 metres, which is half what I did over roughly the same distance yesterday. These two factors meant I was able to keep up an average speed of 15km/h instead of around 8 yesterday evening! It's still very slow, though, which shows just how hard that road was. I should have exchanged blog addresses with those Italians: it would have been interesting to find out what they thought of the road. They might have loved it, actually. They were going the opposite direction, so the wind would have pushed them; there was a lot less traffic than yesterday; and I think it's fair to say that the views are more spectacular when you're going towards Itea than towards Patra.

The road seemed to go on forever - and the shrines marking past fatal accidents was hardly reassuring

Looking towards the Rio-Antirrio bridge. Beautiful, but very expensive (€13 to cross in a car)

 At the bridge between the mainland and the Peloponnese there was a long queue of cars, some police officers and the sound of protest. I can't imagine who was protesting or why, but as they were blocking the bridge I think it's logical to assume it had something to do with the bridge. I took a photo, which they noticed and which made them make defiant gestures just for the record. The photo didn't come out well though - I took it sat in the saddle and the camera on my phone is sooo slow.

Probably a protest about working conditions. The Greek public sector is on its knees at the moment.

I wasn't on the road (which becomes the E55 after the bridge) for very long before I realised that it had suddenly become a lot busier and that there were now a loads of trucks. Indeed, this was the busiest road I've cycled on in this tour and I was glad, about 35 kms later, to leave it safe and sound. I would definitely advise against taking this road on a bike. But it did have a couple of redeeming features: there was a short but pleasant climb just after I got onto it which had some lovely views. Even the trucks thundering past me couldn't take away my enjoyment of this climb. Also, there were lots of places where I could get water and refuel. But apart from that, best leave this route to the cars and trucks.

The E55 offers some beautiful views

The road is very busy and fast. A rare moment of calm

A salt mine

Once arrived in Mesolongi, I flowed the signs to a hotel and that was the end of today. I did think of putting in twenty or thirty more kilometres, but I don't know what the accommodation situation is like in the small villages further along the road. My route tomorrow will be the coast road through Lessini, Mitikas and finally onto Lefkada. So long as there isn't too much headwind, I should be with my family tomorrow evening.

One final comment: I noticed when I looked at my cycle computer that I have now done almost precisely 1000 kms. Almost, but not quite: I need to travel just 26 metres further!