CRETE
A Killer Climb - Crete - Franco Castello to Kalikratis (Via Kalikratis Gorge) Climb 720m distance 18.5Km The view from near the top of the gorge down to the Libyan Sea and Franco Castello |
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| Being fairly new to road cycling at the time. I decided after a pretty poor Summer here in Wales that I needed some warm weather training and somehow managed to convince my better half that a holiday/training camp in Crete would be an ideal way to get some much needed sun on our backs as well as some quality training in. |  |
| Andy took us on several amazing trips all over the west and central parts of the island. The place has some awesome scenery and some huge climbs one of which Andy kept telling us about at the start of the holiday. Early one morning we set off from our base and travelled over to the South side of the Island over the White Mountains and down to our drop off point, the red Venetian fort at Franco Castello. |  |
| It was 7am and the sun was already hot when we set off on our killer climb up to the village of Kalikratis some 28 switchbacks and 720m above us. From sea level with a stiff headwind, the `gentle` 2 mile cheeky flat to the start of the gorge has us clicking away looking for the granny gears almost immediately. |
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| Arriving at the turn into the gorge we were hit with feelings of real excitement and dread at the truly vicious climb ahead of us. The first mile of the ascent was at over 20% and really had the heart rate monitors screaming. This was followed by 3 miles of continuous steep ascent of between 15% and 20%. The Switchbacks helped and allowed a little relief to burning legs, thighs and lungs. |  |
| Hitting the village of Kalikratis at the top of the climb after 1 hour of continuous climbing we stopped for a quick re-fresh with the ever-welcoming locals and took in the truly fantastic views of the Libyan Sea below us. Then it was all on the brakes for the descent of a lifetime and a return to the Fort for a well-deserved dip in the inviting blue waters. |  |
Total return ride time 2hrs. Climb time 1hr, (Better 50mins best 45mins) Climb 720 metres |
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