So, as promised we ventured to Mt. Kitheronas yesterday. After locating a couple of likely looking trails on the map, we decided to take the 4x4 and walking boots on our initial trip.  We left Nea Makri (where we live) at about 8.30am and drove to Villia near the west coast of Attika.

Villia is a town with many narrow streets and it was pretty difficult to find the start (or what would be the end) of the singletrack trail we were looking for. We finally found it - at the North end of town next door to a pig farm. We parked the car and put on our boots for the trek up the Gouras Gorge. I was expecting it to be too steep and rocky for a sensible mountain biking route - imagine my surprise when we reached the top of the 4km singletrack with a positive outcome! Its a tricky, but do-able trail - not for beginners! The top 400m or so of the trail was a bit difficult to find, but otherwise the whole trail was excellent!

At the top we walked a few km along the dirt road to the top of the next singletrack trail which would take us down the Proi Goudoura Gorge towards Erithres. It was similar to the last trail, except it was easier at the top and more tricky towards the bottom. It came out into some abandonded farmland. It was about 5km long and rideable by an experienced mountain biker.

Unlike Villia, the town of Erithres was distinctly lacking in Tavernas, so we sat on a bench in a wooded area on the edge of town, ate our sandwiches and prepared for the trek back to the car.

The scenery on Kitheronas was breathtaking, a real 'out in the middle of nowhere' feeling. We came across the usual Greek sights; a herd of goats, little churches and shrines. By the time we got back to the car we had walked 20km! My feet were telling me so.

To check the fireroad climbs, we would use for our route, we took the car. We also wanted to check out some springs marked on the map to see if they were of use as water stops. One of the water stops was at the church of Panayia. A great little church which looked like it started off life as a cave in the side of the mountain.

The route we put together will be about 27km total

Now we had the route together, we thought we would (a) drive up to the very top of the mountain and (b) drive back down to sea level and the seaside town of Porto Yermeno.  Which we did.

Now it was time to drive back to Nea Makri and partake in a proper mountain bikers' dinner at Nautilus restaurant. Its 2 mins from our apartment and overlooks the harbour. Massive quantities of Moussaka and Spagetti Bolgnaise were consumed before bed.

I can't wait to get back to Kitheronas next week with the bikes!