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As the winner of an article-writing competition in the Hungarian Bringa magazine, I could spend 11 days together with the Hungarian MTB squad in a training camp 80 kms from Athens...

Training Camp in the Greek spring (2002)

Gyorgyigabor
2004-02-05 19:15:22

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got up to 1420 m high into more and more cold weather. As I got used to it I was pushing the pedals on the open climb to Trikalon; I could continuously look out to the mountains around me. In the height of Trikalon (1000m) on the flat stage I could gather some power for the rest of the climb. Although from the restaurant at 1420m high there was some km long road in between the highest mountains, because it was foggy and the wind was also too strong for me. I decided to turn back. It wasn’t worth pedalling on. The guy from our room cycled there on the next day; he realized that the asphalted road went up only 2 km. Upper to that point the road is only for mountain-bikers.

· On a medium long tour the panoramic ascent (and descent) between Kiato and Nemea is worth cycling. The people who like steep ascents (like me) or serious speed down on a good road have to visit the road from Kiato through Souli up to a 1050 m pass. The ascent from Nemea through Kastraki to Souli goes through a varied land. For some 100m it goes up with a steepness of 12-14%, then it’s almost flat, then steep again, etc. Around the silenced road there were a lot of planted grapes, and some fir trees and beautiful panoramas and small villages too. The third road ascends from Nemea on a hilly road up to the height of 770m, from where we could see a fantastic panoramic view to the wide sea. It is the best between 4 and 6 pm. This picture is a great surprise at the end of a day. I think we could see about 60-80 km of the wide the sea.

· Through the time of the training camp the guys already visited 4-6-8 times the 700m high pass above Pissia, not far from Loutraki, I cycled up only on the day before the last, but it was one of the most beautiful. From Loutraki it is a 18 km long sometimes windy climb to Pissia, which through there is a view to the gulf and the mountain of Peloponnesus, where I biked before a lot (Trikalon, Nemea, etc.). From the pass ...