A couple of millennia ago, Epidavros is where stressed-out Greeks would come to get away from it all. Dedicated to Asclepius, god of healing, this little enclave on the eastern coast of the Peloponnese was the original spa resort, offering a chance to escape the pressures of everyday Greek life in 3rd century BC and enjoy a more relaxed pace. Today, nothing much seems to have changed.
The harbour town has its share of seafront restaurants and yachts bobbing on their moorings, but there’s a sense that this is a million miles from the bars and resorts of the Greek islands. There are no sunburnt tourists or two-for-one cocktails, and the roads in the vicinity are completely devoid of tour buses. In fact, they’re seemingly free from any traffic at all, whether buses, cars or bicycles. It’s part of what attracted Chris Ward to this area in the first place.
‘I’ve always taken a couple of cycling trips each year, just to escape to somewhere else, and I was riding through this part of Greece and thought, “This is paradise.” I was in my late fifties and had reached a plateau with work. I told myself, “This is a dream. I could do this. I could make it happen.”’
It’s a familiar fantasy among cyclists: ditch the nine-to-five, buy a villa somewhere sunny, set up a cycle touring business and spend your days riding with clients. Only in this case, Chris actually did it.
