Part 18: The Riders of Crete

It all boils down to planning. Anyone who embarks on a cross-country motorcycle tour, as we do, is aware of this. Between our tours, we sit down at the table, spread out the maps – digitally, but sometimes also in their paper versions – and cobble together a route.

Having just returned from a tour of Crete with our friend Max, the topic became topical for us too. We had to plan our next few hundred kilometers. And Max knew exactly the man who could help us with this. We arranged to meet up for dinner.

A Stone for a Stone 

But that was still a long way off. At the moment, the midday sun was still beating down on us. Soaking up the shade (and a few cool drinks) at the Agios Georgious beach bar proved to be just the thing. The next interesting person we met there was the eponymous Georgious. The bar owner was very interested in the stories of our travels.

Above all, however, Georgious liked the planned final destination of our journey. He himself has travelled to Nepal in the past and has a habit of collecting rocks from all over the world. And thus, he gave us a stone from his beach to carry to the Ganges for him. In return, he asked us to bring a stone from the Ganges to him as soon as we passed by again.

It’s a deal, Georgious. That’s exactly what we will do!

An Evening at „Raftis“

In the evening, we met up with Max at Raftis in Pitsidia, an idyllic wine bar and restaurant. Max’s contact was already waiting for us – as guests. Because “Crete Mike”, as Max called him, was the chef of this restaurant. Together with his wife Olympia, he entertained us royally that evening. We haven’t enjoyed a meal this good – Cretan specialties – so far during our trip.

Only the exchange with Mike turned out to be even more hearty. The man is what we in the Rhineland would call a “genuine original”. And a true Cologne native, born and raised. When it comes to music, it has to be BAP for him – and when it comes to soccer, FC Köln, of course.

Best of all, Mike told us about the Riders of Crete, the island’s own motorcycle club. After typing a few numbers into his cell phone, our host had the president of the club on the line and ordered a few T-shirts for us without further ado. Wherever you go, motorcycle enthusiasts are already there. And we are happy to join in.

Farewell Seems to Be the Hardest Word

The next day, we set off from Crete a little wistfully. But there’s still enough time for a coffee with Mike. Fortunately! Because Mike is an accomplished tour driver who unpacked a big map of Greece. His experience helped us enormously in planning our next stops.

And Mike had a last-minute surprise for us, too! Suddenly, a wildly approaching scooter carries Vasily, the president of the Riders of Crete. He has the club’s T-shirts for us and bids us a warm farewell on our next stage. We also say goodbye to Mike, the Colognian.

In the evening, we embark from Heraklion for the return journey – securing our BMWs has almost become routine. As we cast off, the streetlights were already twinkling and a salty wind is blowing from the sea. Once ashore, we fell into the trap to get some rest. We had a lot on our plate for the next few days: The most beautiful motorcycle routes in Greece, carefully selected by Mike himself. It was going to be an unforgettable tour.

So, check back soon. Or, to quote Wolfgang Niedecken, BAP’s lead singer: “Fochtsetzung folg’!” (“To be continued…”)

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Do you want to help us make the Rhein2Ganges tour a success? Then support the action group Kinder in Not e.V. with your donations! Every amount helps.

Berthold and I want to collect at least 1 euro in donations for every kilometer ridden – in the end this would be around 50,000 euros. The money will be used by the action group Kinder in Not e.V. to set up educational opportunities that will benefit children from poor population groups in India. We look forward to your donation!

Donation account: DE40 5745 0120 0030 5199 46
BIC: MALADE51NWD
Purpose: Rhein2Ganges

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