Timeline
Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
6 giorni fa
Objects Along the Way – Part 6: The Underpass
Long before the national road existed, people crossed this landscape. The underpass simply allows them to continue.
"Eyes are more exact witnesses than ears."
— Herodotus, The Histories, Book I
Most people pass beneath this concrete structure without a second thought. Drivers travelling along the Northern Road Axis of Crete…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
16 luglio 2026
Objects Along the Way — Part 5: The Road Sign
Every village sign marks a destination. Few reveal the history hidden inside the name.
Most of us drive or ride past village road signs without giving them a second thought. They tell us where we are, reassure us that we are on the right road, and then disappear in the…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
14 luglio 2026
Objects Along the Way — Part 4: The Dry Stone Wall
Following the walls that shaped the landscape of Apokoronas
Objects Along the Way explores the ordinary features of the Cretan landscape that most of us pass without a second thought. Today's object is one of the most familiar—and perhaps the least appreciated—of them all: the dry stone wall.
The Ride
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
12 luglio 2026
Objects Along the Way — Part 3: The Church Gate
This ride covered 29.6 km, climbing 674 m and descending 675 m, reaching a maximum elevation of 355 m. Moving time was 1 hour 58 minutes, with a total elapsed time of 3 hours 59 minutes, reflecting numerous stops for photography and field observation. Maximum speed reached 58.5 km/h, while…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
7 luglio 2026
Objects Along the Way – Part 2: The Mitato
This morning's ride explored one of the most distinctive features of the White Mountains: the mitato, a traditional Cretan shepherds' stone hut. Starting at 378 metres above sea level, the route climbed steadily to a maximum elevation of 1,147 metres before returning along the same mountain track. The ride covered…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
5 luglio 2026
Objects Along the Way Part 1 – The Roadside Shrine
Today's ride marked the beginning of a new series. Rather than following battles, myths or historical figures, Objects Along the Way turns its attention to the ordinary features of the Cretan landscape—the things that are seen every day yet rarely examined closely. Together they form another way of reading the…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
28 giugno 2026
The Ground Decides - Part 10: The Ground Remains Unchanged
The ride covered 33.3 km with 650 m of ascent and 660 m of descent, set along a stepped rolling profile linking successive ridge systems, forest tracks, and village lanes across the Apokoronas uplands. Moving time totalled 2:09:49, with the principal ascents completed in approximately 24:51 and the major descents…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
25 giugno 2026
The Ground Decides - Part 9: The Long Way Still Works
The ride covered 41.2 km with 907 m of ascent and 914 m of descent, set along a stepped, rolling route linking a series of distinct climbs across the Apokoronas hills. Moving time totalled 2:33:09, with an ascent time of 1:27:50 and descent in 1:05:19. Gradients reached +16.2% on the…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
23 giugno 2026
The Battle of Crete Through the Life of Hanan Hess (1893-1941) E-MTB Battlefield Ride
The ride covered 29.9 km with 440 m of ascent and 447 m of descent, set along a stepped battlefield circuit linking a series of key locations associated with the Battle of Crete and the German occupation that followed. Moving time totalled 1 hr 46 min, with an ascent time…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
18 giugno 2026
The Ground Decides - Part 8: The Climb Decides
The ride covered 30.0 km with 721 m of ascent and 726 m of descent, set along a rolling ridge-and-valley profile characterised by repeated short climbs and descents. Moving time totalled 2:08:29, with an ascent time of 1:11:06 and descent in 0:54:55. Gradients reached +25.1% on the steeper sections and…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
16 giugno 2026
The Ground Decides - Part 7: No Short Way Across The old tracks still hold: how WWII movement corridors survive beneath modern roads.
The ride covered 33.3 km with 850 m of ascent and 870 m of descent, set along a rolling profile comprising an initial ridge climb, a central basin of repeated short climbs and descents, and a return to the higher ground before the final descent towards Kokkino Chorio. Moving time…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
14 giugno 2026
The Ground Decides — Part 6: The Route Is the Route Why mountain terrain changes small-unit movement speed far more than maps suggest
The Ground Decides – Part 6
The Route Is the Route
Why Mountain Terrain Changes Small-Unit Movement Speed Far More Than Maps Suggest
The ride covered 32.3 km with 712 m of ascent and 713 m of descent, set along a rolling ridge-and-valley profile that continually gained and lost height…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
11 giugno 2026
The Ground Decides — Part 5: Nothing Given on This Route Crete underwent its first systematic census under the Egyptian administration of Crete (1830–1840)
The ride covered 39.5 km with 831 m of ascent and 833 m of descent, following a rolling profile of repeated climbs and descents across the hills of the Apokoronas before a sustained final climb back towards Kokkino Chorio. Moving time totalled 2:28:03, with an ascent time of 1:18:14 and…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
9 giugno 2026
The Ground Decides — Part 4: The Hills Make the Decision The operational importance of wells in the Apokoronas withdrawal routes, May 1941
The ride covered 35.9 km with 853 m of ascent and 851 m of descent, set along a rolling profile that combined short technical climbs with a longer sustained ascent through the centre of the Apokoronas before returning by a series of ridges and descents. Moving time totalled 2:08:36, with…
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Alan McWilliams ha fatto un giro in mountain bike
7 giugno 2026
The Ground Decides — Part 3: No Easy Line Through “Venetian watch systems and line-of-sight control across Western Crete.”
The ride covered 35.2 km with 801 m of ascent and 803 m of descent, set along a stepped and rolling profile made up of repeated ridge crossings, short valleys, wooded tracks, and agricultural lanes. Moving time totalled 2:11:44, with an ascent time of 1:16:14 and descent in 0:55:30. Gradients…
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