6/10 - day 1 of VBT trip

 We always find it amusing to guess who are the other people on our VBT trip in the hotel lobby based on street clothes. Since VBT attracts a demographic of older individuals who aspire to be active and have the money to afford a VBT trip, it is hard to distinguish them from ordinary tourists. Sometimes we are surprised.

We were met at the lobby by a local guide (Paula) hired by VBT to escort us to the start of the ride. We had to walk a couple of blocks with our luggage to our bus since the street in front of the hotel was only a single narrow lane. We were warned to use the bathroom before getting on the bus.

We had a three hour ride out of Athens ahead of us. I made myself comfortable in the back row.

We stopped after about two hours at a huge rest area. It was mobbed with kids. I don't remember seeing any other rest areas (but I guess I was sleeping, so what do I know?), so this might have been the only option for people headed our direction. It was a guessing game to figure out which bus was ours.

This was the view from the other side of the rest area.


About an hour later we arrived at our lunch stop in Myestras.


Here's the group. It's a small group, 13, when usually there are 20. It made getting to know names a little easier.


This is the view looking across the street from the restaurant. That's a castle at the top of the hill.


We met our VBT guides, Michalis and Fotis here and drove back to where we were going to stay the next two nights.


 It really was a resort - an oasis of luxury in what was otherwise a pretty humble region.

My room was in this building. I'm right by the pool.


I had a patio and this was the view.


Here we are getting our safety and equipment orientation.


This is my bike, a Fuji Gran Fondo 1.1. It is a serviceable, entry-level road bike with 105 components, similar to most of our VBT bikes.


The first day ride is really a shake-down ride to get everything adjusted and dialed in. We did more fiddling around than most an we were the last ones out. 


Here Michalis is riding sweep while Stu is getting something adjusted.



Any thoughts about doing the loop again got settled by this.


It didn't rain, but it wasn't worth the risk.

We ended the day with a meet-and-greet and dinner. It was the same routine as all VBT trips.

Here are my stats for the day: https://www.strava.com/activities/9239010009

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