CYPRUS GRAVEL ESCAPES #3 - FROM APOSTOLOS ANDREAS TO NICOSIA — Activate Cyprus / EVENTS TOURS ADVENTURES

What a better way to spend a long day on gravel bike exploring Cyprus, especially if this happens in places you have never riden before! It sounds really strange but i have never biked before in the Northeast part of the island in Karpasia peninsula either on a road bike, a mountainbike or a gravel bike! The area near Apostolos Andreas Monastery is the most eastern edge of Cyprus.

The idea for this gravel bike adventure which would start from that part of the island was in my plans for some years now! The 6th of January was the day due to the holiday of the Epiphany day!

So after a few phone calls, it was a very easy decision! With a group of 4, Kostis and Nikolas and the best bike-tours supporter Ioanna, we met at at 5:15am at Ratio cycling cafe in Nicosia. After a strong early morning coffee, we started driving to our starting point which was 2:30h away. The scenery along the way and the sunrise kept us busy taking photos, videos and of course gossiping for all things about bikes! Nikolas was telling us how impressed he was with the “battles” of the Cyclo cross titans, Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and of course Tom Pidcock! Indeed their consecutive races during Christmas and New year holidays were very spectacular.

At around 8:30am we arrived at Hasan’s place, we got our staff and our selves ready and of course we had another coffee offered by Hasan! Now we are ready for our long trip back to Nicosia! it was a plan for 160 to 190km with more than 50% on gravel roads of which most of them where unknown to me by that time.

The first pedal strokes were on an idyllic place of Cyprus, the Golden beach. In the area there are many beaches with golden sand and crystal clear sea water which not much people know or visit due to the fact that there are no tourist services in the area! We crossed over the only tarmac road of the area and continued on gravel roads through green fields and the winter sun was keeping us happy and warm in this - not so cold - day of January. The stops for photos and some drone shots were the reason for having a very low avg speed so we decided to ride a bit faster if we didn’t want to reach home after midnight! But the area was amazingly beautiful and we couldn’t resist to make as many photos as possible.

After some short section on tarmac we got off again to gravel road that led us to Gold beach next to Rizokarpaso! Despite the fact that satellite photos on Komoot showed some gravel roads, there were none! So we had to push our bikes for about 45mins in the deep golden sand next to the Mediterranean sea! Not bad at all!

As soon as we managed to escape the sandy beaches we covered some more kilometers on tarmac before we start climbing up to Kantara castle! Amazing scenery, wide gravel roads and beautiful landscape all over the place.

At the top i was feeling already tired but i needed to be brave and keep going…we had long way to go and short time of daylight! The section from kantara to Nicosia i believe was the most amazing part of the route! Riding for long stretches about 500 to 600 meters of altitude it was the best way to enjoy the views to coastline and the Mediterranean sea to the north of Pendadaktylos mountain range and the Mesaoria plain on the southern side of the mountain. Spectacular views even along a recently burnt area of these mountains.

Our timing to arrive on tarmac just before sunset worked fine, so we starter the last long part to Nicosia on main roads. At that point i really felt exhausted and hungry, but a short carbo-loading stop at a petrol station things got back into control again! Soon we were going around in the heart of the old city of Nicosia. A total contrast of what was the ride for the whole day. The narrow roads of the old city are full of small bars and tavernas packed with people which are enjoying a drink and eating meze with the sounds of Greek rock music! We were jealous and we would loved to stop for a drink and a warm plate of food, but with the exhaustion of the day our only option was to ride home for a shower and dinner!

Another nice day on gravel roads was in the books and already planning the next one! Will you join us?